Biography

Christopher Evan Welch (born September 28, 1965, in Fort Belvoir, Virginia; died December 2, 2013, in Santa Monica, California) was an American actor, 6′ 1″ (185 cm) tall, raised in Dallas, Texas, the oldest child of a Korean War veteran and a homemaker. He earned a BFA from the University of Dallas on a full scholarship and an MFA from the University of Washington School of Drama, where he also fronted the indie-rock band Ottoman Bigwigs. He began his career at the ACT Theatre in Seattle before moving to New York, where he made his Broadway debut in London Assurance (1997) and won an Obie Award for A Streetcar Named Desire (1999). He was married to Emma Roberts (since 2008) and had one daughter, June Harper. He died of lung cancer at age 48, just two months after the death of his friend and frequent collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman. His most notable film credits include Edward McPherson in Lincoln (2012, directed by Steven Spielberg, with Daniel Day-Lewis), Frank in The Master (2012, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, with Philip Seymour Hoffman), the narrator in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, directed by Woody Allen), a role in Synecdoche, New York (2008, also directed by Charlie Kaufman), a role in War of the Worlds (2005, also directed by Steven Spielberg), a role in The Stepford Wives (2004, with Nicole Kidman), a role in The Interpreter (2005, with Nicole Kidman), and a role in Admission (2013). On television he is best known as Peter Gregory in Silicon Valley (2014, HBO, posthumous release) and as Grant Test in Rubicon (2010, AMC, 8 episodes), with additional credits in The Sopranos (2004), Nurse Jackie (2009), The Good Wife (2010), and three different Law & Order series. On stage he appeared in the 2002 Broadway revival of The Crucible with Laura Linney and Liam Neeson, and in Scapin (1997, with Bill Irwin).