Paul Adelstein

Paul Adelstein — Biography

Born in Chicago to a Reform Jewish family, Paul Adelstein attended the progressive Francis W. Parker School and then Bowdoin College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in English; he began his acting career with John Cusack's New Crime Productions and later the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He made his film debut in The Grifters (1990), then appeared on series including Cupid, ER, Without a Trace and Scrubs, and took supporting roles in Bedazzled (2000), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and Be Cool (2005).

Though he had originally auditioned for the lead role of Lincoln Burrows, his breakout came in 2005 as the mysterious operative Paul Kellerman on Fox's Prison Break; when he left the show in 2007 he joined the regular cast of ABC's Private Practice for its entire six-season run. He went on to play Leo Bergen on Scandal, Jake Novak on Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce and David Sweetzer on I Feel Bad, and co-created the dark comedy Imposters, receiving a writing credit on six episodes while also playing the role of Shelly Cohen.