Jason Patric (born June 17, 1966) is an American film, television and stage actor. He is known for his roles in films such as The Lost Boys, Rush, Sleepers, Geronimo: An American Legend, Your Friends & Neighbors, Narc, The Losers, The Alamo, and Speed 2: Cruise Control. His father was actor/playwright Jason Miller and his maternal grandfather was actor Jackie Gleason.
Early life
Born in New York City in the borough of Queens, Patric is the son of Academy Award-nominated actor and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jason Miller (born John Anthony Miller Jr.) and actress Linda Miller (born Linda Mae Gleason), and his maternal grandfather was actor/comedian Jackie Gleason. His half-brother is actor Joshua John Miller. His ancestry is mostly Irish, with some German.
Growing up in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, he attended schools such as Cavallini Middle School and the all-boys Catholic school Salesian Roman Catholic Don Bosco Preparatory High School (Ramsey, New Jersey). In California, he attended Saint Monica Catholic High School (Santa Monica, California).
Career
After graduation, he was cast in the television drama Toughlove with Bruce Dern. The following year, Patric was cast in Solarbabies alongside Peter DeLuise, Jami Gertz, Lukas Haas, James LeGros and Adrian Pasdar. Within a couple years, Patric would reunite with Gertz in The Lost Boys and After Dark, My Sweet with Dern. He co-starred with George Dzundza and Stephen Baldwin in The Beast.
In 1993, he starred alongside Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall as 1st Lt. Charles B. Gatewood in the movie Geronimo: An American Legend. His scenes in The Thin Red Line were cut before the film's release. He turned down the lead role in The Firm (1993), which went to Tom Cruise. He garnered excellent reviews for his performances as undercover narcotics officers in Rush (1991) and Narc (2002).
In 2005, Patric appeared on Broadway as "Brick" in a revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opposite Ashley Judd, Ned Beatty and esteemed character actress Margo Martindale. He next appeared on Broadway opposite Brian Cox, Chris Noth, Kiefer Sutherland and Jim Gaffigan in a revival of his father Jason Miller's play, That Championship Season, which began previews on February 9, 2011, and closed on May 29, 2011. The play (written by Jason Miller) debuted in 1972, and won, among other awards, the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award.
In 2012, he began filming the Civil War film, Copperhead, but several weeks into the shoot, he was removed from the project by the director, Ronald F. Maxwell for "failing to look good". His replacement was Billy Campbell.
Personal life
Patric began dating actress Julia Roberts days after she canceled her wedding to Kiefer Sutherland in June 1991.
Patric then dated Danielle Schreiber off-and-on for approximately ten years. During the relationship, they conceived a son through in vitro fertilization. They separated in May 2012. Schreiber's attorneys argued that Patric was merely a sperm donor, as Schreiber and Patric had not married and the conception of the child was by artificial means; therefore, they argued that Patric had no custody rights. Patric sued for parental rights to the child, but lost the case at the trial court level. Following his loss in trial court, Patric lobbied the California legislature to give parental rights to sperm donors. The Court of Appeal of California, however, ruled that the California Family Code did not preclude Patric from establishing that he was presumed a parent based on his post-birth conduct. In late 2014, he was legally recognized as the father of his son. This decision was upheld on appeal.
