Biography

BORN: in New York, c. 10th August 1965 (male). Starsign - Leo

NATIONALITY: American

EDUCATION: Attended Haverford Preparatory School in Haverford, Pennsylvania. (check the arts department on their website) in 1983 and was Student Council President.

'None of us who saw him on Haverford's stage in The Man Who Came to Dinner and You Can't Take It with You were surprised when he went on to play starring roles in television and films, including The Puppet Master with Donald Sutherland'

- Quote from the Haverford School website.

Attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Majored in engineering. With the encouragement of his acting teacher Richard Bruer, left school after his first year to pursue acting. Attended The Neigborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York, New York. Studied with Richard Pinter. Studied classical theater with Ada Brown Mather.

OTHER OCCUPATIONS: magician

MILESTONES:

Family moved from upstate New York to suburban Philadelphia when Thal was young Acted in high school productions Entered college to study engineering
1984: Left college and moved to New York to pursue a career in acting; supported himself by appearing in commercials
1992: Feature film debut in a leading role, "A Stranger Among Us"
1993: Appeared in a pivotal supporting role in "Six Degrees of Separation"
1996: Made Broadway debut opposite Sigourney Weaver in "Sex and Longing"
1997: TV-movie debut in title role of Samson in "Samson and Delilah"(TNT)
1998: Co-starred with Halle Berry in the ABC TV-movie "The Wedding"

BIOGRAPHY:
After working in commercials in NYC to support his acting studies, handsome dark-haired Eric Thal auditioned for a small role in Sidney Lumet's "A Stranger Among Us" (1992). Lumet was so impressed by the young actor, the director invited him back to audition for the leading male role. Although he had virtually no professional credits, Thal landed the role of an Hasidic scholar who becomes involved with an undercover police officer (Melanie Griffith). While the film failed to impress critics or the public, Thal's carefully measured intensity and equanimity were praised. He subsequently played a police officer (and the anti-heroine's husband) in the farcical "The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag" (1992) and followed up with a small role in "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993), as a heterosexual driven to suicide after an intimate encounter with a con artist (Will Smith). Thal later co-starred as Donald Sutherland's disaffected son in "The Puppet Masters" (1994) and as a man who must face romance after the excitement has worn off in "Joe's So Mean to Josephine" (1997). He segued to the small screen playing the hirsute strongman in the TNT Biblical epic "Samson and Delilah" (1997), opposite Elizabeth Hurley. The following year, Thal was cast as a musician engaged to Halle Berry in the ABC TV-movie "The Wedding".

FAMILY MEMBERS:
Siblings: Has four; all older.

TRIVIA
He wrestled for legendary coach Neil Buckley.

CONTACT - ACTING AGENCY
Carlson-Menashe Agency, 149 Fifth Avenue, suite #1204, New York, NY 10010, (212)228-8826 - (FS-A)

Quotes

"I think it's good not to have too strict a plan because if you're not writing and producing your own projects, you don't have that much control over what comes your way. But I think it's important to have guidelines. If it's a big part, then you've got to get something out of it that can have significance in tour life because that's the only way you can have passion towards what you're doing."

--Eric Thal in SCENE,
November-December 1994

LAST UPDATE DATE: February 15, 2001
Copyright 2001 Hollywood Media Corp. All rights reserved.

Thal said he used the Bible as a reference when researching his role. He said it provided a small framework for the story but after that "you have to go with the script and find the human element and bring the character to life."

- Eric Thal taking about his preparation for his role in Samson & Delilah.

"It's not that he is uncaring of his wife, Betty Lou. He's just so absorbed in his work that he tends to overlook the needs and concerns of others around him. Her bold actions allow him to re-evaluate their relationship and Alex realizes how much he has taken for granted. With this realization comes his desire to change".

- With regard to his character Alex in 'Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag'. (From Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag Press Kit pack/production notes)

"Brian's book and career planning session are filled with invaluable information. I highly recommend it." -Eric Thal, featured, SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS

- Eric Thal commenting on Brian O'Neil's book 'Acting as a Business'

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