Quick Facts
Biography
Mark Colson is an American actor and theatre professor at Michigan State University.
Education
Colson received his BFA at Webster University-Conservatory for the Performing Arts and his MFA from the National Theater Conservatory, Denver Center. He also studied at the Yale School of Drama and the British American Drama Academy in Oxford.
Career
Colson's theatrical background includes work at The Denver Center, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Odyssey, Theatre Banshee in Los Angeles, The Hudson Theatre, The Boarshead Theatre, and The Sierra Repertory Theatre. In 2016, he played the role of Richard in the Purple Rose Theatre's world premiere of The Gaps in the Fossil Record Record. He has also performed as Iago in the American Shakespeare Collective's Othello.
In 2008, Colson was nominated for an Ovation Award for his performance of "Slim" in Theater Banshee's Of Mice and Men.
In 1992, Colson's film career began with the recurring role of Gabriel in the television series Days of Our Lives. His film and TV work includes Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Father, Mad Men, Demolition Man, Bones, and with Amy Poehler on Parks and Recreation.
Colson also used professional motion capture to play George A. Romero in the 2010 video game Call of the Dead.
Colson works as a film and theater professor at Michigan State University. In 2015, he pioneered the now annual Theatre2Film project which gives filmmaking and theater students a hands-on learning experience. A student-written piece is performed as a stage play then transformed into a screenplay to be acted by the same students.
Awards
Resident Artist
The Purple Rose Theatre Company
2016
Awarded for work as an actor in "Gaps in the Fossil Record."
Thespie Award
Lansing State Journal
2014
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Cyrano) - "Cyrano de Bergerac"
"A flawless performance by Mark Colson." - Lansing City Pulse
Pulsar Award Nomination
Lansing City Pulse
2013
For the performance of Iago in "Othello" at The American Shakespeare Collective.
"Mark Colson was exceedingly eely as the classic Shakespearean villain, in the TASC production of 'Othello.'" - Lansing City Pulse
Best Ensemble Award
LA Weekly & Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
2011
"The Crucible" at Theatre Banshee.
Best Revival Award
LA Weekly
2011
"The Crucible" at Theatre Banshee.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Demolition Man | Warden William Smithers - Young | |
| 1997 | Profiler | Carter Poole | Episode - "Venom" |
| 1998 | Star Trek Voyager | Dream Alien | Episode - "Working Memory" |
| 1998 | Working | Prison | Episode - "The Consultant" |
| 1999 | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Security Attendant | Episode - "Salem and Juliette" |
| 2000 | Judging Amy | Motorcycle Cop | Episode - "The Wee Hours" |
| 2000 | Locked Up Down Shorty's | Man At Bar | |
| 2002 | Grounded for Life | P.E. Coach | Episode - "Eddie Said Knock You Out" |
| 2002 | Gilmore Girls | Western Shirt Man | Episode - "Lorelai's Graduation Day" |
| 2002 | Alias | OPS Director | Episode - "Cipher" |
| 2003 | The Curse and the Smoking Jacker | Mark | |
| 2003 | Carnivàle | Farmer | Episode - "Tipton" |
| 2004 | Angel | Izzy | Episode - "Not Fade Away," "Power Play," "You're Welcome" |
| 2005 | The King of Queens | Gus | Episode - "Deconstructing Carrie" |
| 2005 | Pendulum | ||
| 2006 | Invasion | Deputy Munger | Episode - "Run and Gun," "The Sun Also Rises," "All God's Creature," "Redemption, "Power" |
| 2006 | Hi, Hello | ||
| 2006 | Flags of our Father | Reporter (in LA ) #2 | |
| 2006 | CSI: NY | Kevin Green | Episode - "And here's to you, Mrs Azrael" |
| 2007 | Marked | Dr. Frederickson | |
| 2007 | Heroes | Dr. Zern | Episode - "Chapter Three - 'Kindred'," "Chapter Two 'Lizards'," Chapter One - 'Four Months Later'" |
| 2008 | Passed the Door of Darkness | Murphy McCasey | |
| 2008 | My Own Worst Enemy | Second Prisoner | Episode - "Love in All the Wrong Places" |
| 2009 | Medium | Balding Man | Episode - "A Person of Interest" |
| 2010 | Lie to Me | Angry Man | Episode - "Angry Man" |
| 2010 | Mad Men | Bill Shepard | Episode - "Chinese Wall" |
| 2011 | Justified | Hobart Curtis | Episode - "Debts and Accounts," "Brother's Keepers" |
| 2011 | Parks and Recreation | Head Chairman | Episode - "Jerry's Painting" |
| 2011 | Bones | Todd Belacleets | Episode - "The Change in The Game" |
| 2013 | Low Winter Sun | Ken Benson | Episode - "Surrender" |
| 2016 | Banshee | Aaron Boedicker | Episode - "The Burden of Beauty," "Something Out of the Bible" |
| 2016 | Outsiders | Pat Kersey | Episode - "All Hell," "Day Most Blessed," "Trust," "Its Good to Be King" |
Theatrical resume (since 2008)
| 2008 | Of Mice and Men | Slim | Theatre Banshee | Rebecca Marcotte |
| 2009 | The Field | Mick | Theatre Banshee | Sean Branney |
| 2010 | The Crucible | Putnam | Theatre Banshee | Sean Branney |
| 2010 | Macbeth | Ross | Theatre Banshee | Sean Branney |
| 2010 | The Hostage | I.R.A. Officer | Theatre Banshee | McKerrin Kelly |
| 2012 | Othello | Iago | The American Shakespeare Coll. | Vincent Murphy |
| 2014 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano | MSU Fairchild Theatre | Edward Daranyi |
| 2014 | Gravedigger (World Premiere) | Kurt | Williamston Theatre | John Lepard |
| 2015 | Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley | Williamston Theatre | Julia Glander |
| 2016 | Gaps in the Fossil Record (World Premiere) | Richard | Purple Rose Theatre Company | Guy Sanville |
| 2016 | Pulp | R.A. Lyncroft | Williamston Theatre | Tony Caselli |
Union affiliations
- Actor's Equity Association: 1990 – present
- SAG-AFTRA: 1993 – present