Scott Patterson

Scott Gordon Patterson (born September 11, 1958) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role as Luke Danes in Gilmore Girls and as Special Agent Peter Strahm in the Saw films. He also starred as Michael Buchanan in the NBC drama series The Event and as a Tenctonese alien commander in the TV film Alien Nation: Dark Horizon.

He was born September 11, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Hope Gordon, a homemaker, journalist, and actress in the Haddonfield Plays and Players Theatre Troupe, and Francis Ford Patterson IV, an advertising executive. His parents divorced in 1974. Patterson formed The Unknowns, his first band, in the third grade with longtime friend Tommy Poitras. They played just two songs – Back in the U.S.S.R. and (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone. The Unknowns added to their set list and performed throughout grade school and high school but disbanded after high school graduation.Patterson was raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey and attended Haddonfield Memorial High School. He attended Rutgers University, pursuing a degree in Comparative Literature. He studied acting in New York with renowned coaches Robert Lewis and Sondra Lee. He was exposed to the teachings of such luminaries as Paul Newman, Arthur Penn, and Frank Corsaro at the Actors Studio, where he also participated in the Producer's Unit chaired by Penn. He appeared in numerous productions, including Rasputin and Miss Julie.

Patterson spent seven years, from 1980 to 1986, as a professional pitcher in minor league baseball, topping out at the Triple-A level (the highest before the major leagues). He played in two major league farm systems for seven different minor league teams and was selected to four All-Star Teams (two with Atlanta and two with the New York Yankees). Patterson was initially selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round (12th overall) of the 1980 Major League Baseball secondary draft (an event distinct from the Amateur draft). He played his first pro season with their Class A Anderson Braves in 1980. In 1981 Patterson won 13 consecutive games as a starting pitcher between Class A Durham and Double-A Savannah to set a Braves record for most consecutive wins to start a season. He was named the Braves Minor League Pitcher of the Month twice.

In 1982, Patterson was traded from the Braves to the New York Yankees for Bob Watson, and was placed on the Yankees Major League roster in 1983. Patterson was named as an All-Star both with the Yankees' Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees and Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 1986. In 1985 he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the Rule 5 draft but subsequently returned to the Yankees. While in the Yankees organization Patterson was named their minor league Pitcher of the Month once, and Pitcher of the Week three times. Patterson also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League with the Lobos de Arecibo in 1984-85, and the Dominican Professional Baseball League with Santo Domingo in 1985-86. Patterson signed a minor league contract with Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate the Albuquerque Dukes in late 1986 but never played at the major league level.

In 1988, Patterson formed the Arclight Theatre Company in Soho, NYC with John Bishop. Patterson played Jedediah Kohler in Bishop's The Great, Great Grandson of Jedediah Kohler in the Company's debut production. One night, George Wolfe was in the audience and offered Gordon-Patterson a role in the European Traveling Company's Tamara but he turned it down to continue work with Arclight.

In 1993, Patterson was slated to play the lead in Castle Rock's Little Big League opposite Sela Ward. The producers recast the role at the last minute with Revenge of the Nerds star Timothy Busfield, opting to offer Patterson the role of Mike McGrevey.

Patterson completed filming the leading role in the feature film Her Best Move, directed by Norm Hunter and co-starring Lisa Darr. He also appeared on the big screen in Little Big League, with Jason Robards, and in Three Wishes, with Patrick Swayze and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. He also starred in the independent films Highway 395 and Rhapsody in Bloom with Penelope Ann Miller and Ron Silver, Boys of Abu Ghraib with Sean Astin, and Other People's Children with Diane Marshall-Grant.

On television, he has landed romantic roles; his most notable role, which he played for seven years on the television show Gilmore Girls, is Luke Danes, the on-again, off-again love interest of the show's protagonist, Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham.

On Seinfeld, Patterson was deemed "spongeworthy" by Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). He had a profound effect on Grace (Debra Messing) in the "Das Boob" episode of Will & Grace, and he played the love interests of Jennifer Grey in It's Like, You Know and Sharon Lawrence's character in Fired Up. He has also guest starred on Arli$$ and Get Real.

Among Patterson's recent projects are a co-starring role on Aliens in America and voicing the character of King Faraday in the 2004 animated series Justice League Unlimited, from Warner Bros. Animation. He has also starred as Agent Strahm in two iterations of the Saw franchise, Saw IV and Saw V, also appearing through flashback sequences in Saw VI.

Patterson appeared in some episodes of the second season of 90210 as Liam Court's ex-con father who has recently been released from prison and wants to reconnect with his son.

Patterson starred as Michael Buchanan in the NBC drama series The Event, which premiered on September 20, 2010. His character was killed off in episode 18.

In 2016, Patterson reprised his role as Luke Danes for the revival miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which streamed on Netflix on November 25, 2016.