John Diehl's father, John A Diehl, was a civil engineer, and his mother, Mary, was a social worker.
14 Facts About John Diehl
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In 1970, John Diehl moved to New York, encouraged by his sister, who had just graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
3.
John Diehl spent 1971 squatting in Amsterdam and returned to New York in 1972.
4.
John Diehl had always been interested in drawing and making things, and intended to pursue a career in the visual arts there.
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John Diehl took a three-hour scene studies class in Hollywood twice a week, and in 1979 he was cast in Action, a one act play written by Sam Shepard.
6.
John Diehl worked with all of the playwrights in residence over the course of his several years as an acting member of the festival.
7.
In 1983, John Diehl appeared in National Lampoon's Vacation, which Harold Ramis directed.
8.
In 1984, John Diehl was cast as Detective Larry Zito in Miami Vice.
9.
John Diehl moved into a basement apartment in Greenwich Village in New York, and despite a drastic reduction in his income, he declined television roles, and chose instead to continue working in film while pursuing a serious stage career.
10.
In late 1988, John Diehl relocated to Los Angeles after he was cast in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind at the Mark Taper Forum.
11.
John Diehl continued to work in theater in New York and frequently returned to the stage there, most notably for a Shepard play at the Public Theater with Shepard in residence at the Signature, and Mednick's Joe And Betty, which was produced twice on Theater Row in New York.
12.
In 1997, John Diehl reprised his role in Action at the Public Theater, and in 2005 he worked with Padua Playwrights, appearing in two plays in Mednick's Gary Trilogy.
13.
John Diehl played G Gordon Liddy in Oliver Stone's Nixon, the mercenary Cooper in Jurassic Park III, and in recurring roles on The Shield, Friday Night Lights, The West Wing and The John Larroquette Show.
14.
John Diehl boxed as a middleweight in two professional matches, and participated in several exhibition shows for charity.