Born and raised in Hempstead, N.Y. He earned degrees from Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. He moved to New York, where he performed in an off-Broadway production of "Jeffrey" and "Playboy of the West Indies" at the Lincoln Center. Relocated to San Antonio, Texas for his television/film debut in the miniseries "Heaven and Hell: North and South, Part II." He returned to the New York stage to appear in "Richard II" at the Public Theatre and "Incommunicado." He was active in the Virginia Avenue Project, a theater outreach program for youth at risk.