# Jason Patric
**Jason Patric** (born Jason Patric Miller, Jr., 1966, in Queens, New York) is an American film, television, and stage actor and producer known for *The Lost Boys* (1987), *Rush* (1991), *Sleepers* (1996), *[Narc](https://www.edgepedia.org/narc-film)* (2002), and *The Alamo* (2004).[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jason-patric/) • [2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Jason-Patric/) He was born into a prominent performing family: his father was the playwright and actor Jason Miller, who won the [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) for drama and the Tony Award for best play for *That Championship Season* in 1972 and played Father Karras in *The Exorcist* (1973), and his maternal grandfather was the comedian and actor [Jackie Gleason](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackie-gleason).[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-feb-27-la-ca-jason-patric-20110227-story.html) He shortened his stage name to downplay that lineage.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jason-patric/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name / birth | Jason Patric Miller, Jr.; 1966, Queens, NY[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966) |
| Family | Son of playwright-actor Jason Miller and actress Linda Miller; grandson of Jackie Gleason[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966) |
| First screen role | The 1985 made-for-TV movie *Toughlove*, with Lee Remick and Bruce Dern[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html) |
| Breakout role | Michael, a teenager drawn into a vampire cult, in *The Lost Boys* (1987)[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jason-patric/) |
| Signature 1990s roles | Jim Raynor in *Rush* (1991), Lt. Charles Gatewood in *Geronimo: An American Legend* (1993), Shakes in *Sleepers* (1996)[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966) |
| Production company | Fleece Productions; *Your Friends & Neighbors* (1998) was its first produced feature[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000574/) |
| Broadway | Brick in *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof* (2003 revival); Tom Daley in *That Championship Season* (2011 revival)[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Jason-Patric/) |
## Early life and start in acting
Patric grew up with parents active in show business but says they neither opposed nor encouraged his ambitions, telling a 1991 *Los Angeles Times* profile that they "forewarned" him.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html) He appeared in plays at [Santa Monica High School](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-monica-high-school), and a summer with the Vermont Champlain Shakespeare Festival after 11th grade confirmed his interest, where he built sets and played small parts.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html) His first screen job was the 1985 television movie *Toughlove*, followed by his feature debut as a roller-skating character in [Mel Brooks](https://www.edgepedia.org/mel-brooks)'s science-fiction film *Solarbabies* (1986), a commercial disappointment he later described as four difficult months that nearly made him quit acting.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html)
## The Lost Boys and early film career
[Joel Schumacher](https://www.edgepedia.org/joel-schumacher)'s *The Lost Boys* (1987) made Patric known to a wide audience as Michael, the disaffected older brother of [Corey Haim](https://www.edgepedia.org/corey-haim)'s character who is drawn into a vampire cult, opposite [Kiefer Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/kiefer-sutherland).[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jason-patric/) The film became a generational hit and a cult favorite for its take on the vampire genre aimed at a young audience.[7](https://www.cineol.net/gente/jason-patric) Patric himself was dissatisfied with his part, noting that six or seven of his scenes were cut and that critics largely overlooked his performance.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html)
He followed with roles that drew more respect from critics: Koverchenko, a Soviet tank driver in Afghanistan, in *[The Beast](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-beast-1988-film)* (1988); the drifter Kid Collins in *After Dark, My Sweet* (1990); and a cameo as [Lord Byron](https://www.edgepedia.org/lord-byron) in [Roger Corman](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-corman)'s *Frankenstein Unbound* (1990).[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966) *The Beast*, directed by Kevin Reynolds, had a troubled commercial run, and the 1989 film *Loon* went directly to video under the title *Denial*.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html)
## Rush and the 1990s
*Rush* (1991), the story of two Texas undercover narcotics agents who spiral into the drug use of the world they are investigating, paired Patric with [Jennifer Jason Leigh](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-jason-leigh).[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html) The production, made for $17.5 million by Oscar-winning producers Lili Fini and Richard Zanuck, who had paid $1 million for the rights to Kim Wozencraft's first novel, cast Patric despite his lack of proven box-office appeal; it was Lili Fini Zanuck's directorial debut.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html) The role brought Patric critical acclaim.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000574/)
Through the rest of the decade he played lead and major supporting roles: Lt. Charles Gatewood in *Geronimo: An American Legend* (1993), the title role in *The Journey of August King* (1995), Lorenzo "Shakes" Carcaterra in *Sleepers* (1996), Harry Donovan in the art-forgery thriller *Incognito* (1997), Alex Shaw in *Speed 2: Cruise Control* (1997), and Cary in [Neil LaBute](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-labute)'s *Your Friends & Neighbors* (1998).[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966) *Your Friends & Neighbors* was also the first feature he produced through his company Fleece Productions.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000574/) His work earned a Bronze Wrangler from the Western Heritage Awards for *Geronimo* in 1994, and for *Your Friends & Neighbors* a Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Award for best supporting actor in 1998 plus Online Film Critics Society, Golden Satellite, and Satellite Award nominations in 1999.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966)
## Later film and television work
Patric played the narcotics detective Nick Tellis in *Narc* (2002) and Jim Bowie in *The Alamo* (2004), then moved toward independent and lower-budget features: *Walker Payne* (2007), in which he played an out-of-work miner drawn into 1950s dog fighting; *My Sister's Keeper* (2009); *The Prince* (2014); and a series of genre titles including *The Vanished* (2020), *MK Ultra* (2022), *Terrifier 3* (2024), and *Armor* (2024), in which he starred opposite [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone).[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966) • [1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jason-patric/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000574/) On television he appeared as Detective Tim McKenna in three 2025 episodes of *Law & Order: Organized Crime*, and his later credits include *A Line of Fire* (2025) and the upcoming *Man of War* (2026).[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000574/) • [1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jason-patric/)
## Stage career
Patric has returned periodically to Broadway, playing Brick in the 2003 revival of *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof* and [Tom Daley](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-daley) in the 2011 revival of *That Championship Season*, his father's Pulitzer-winning play.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Jason-Patric/) The 2011 Broadway production came nearly four decades after his father's play won its prizes, and Patric has spoken about the experience of connecting with his father's most famous work.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-feb-27-la-ca-jason-patric-20110227-story.html)
## Personal life
In 2014 a California appellate court ruled that Patric could pursue a paternity claim to establish that he is the father of a four-year-old boy, Gus, born in 2009 after he and his former girlfriend Danielle Schreiber agreed to conceive a child through in vitro fertilization; because he was not married to the mother and had written a letter saying he was not ready to be a father, initial standing to establish parentage was contested, and the case returned to trial court.[8](https://time.com/100292/jason-patric-paternity-claim-returned-to-trial-court/)
## References
1. [Jason Patric, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jason-patric/)
2. [Jason Patric, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Jason-Patric/)
3. [Jason Patric communes with his father's spirit, Los Angeles Times (2011)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-feb-27-la-ca-jason-patric-20110227-story.html)
4. [Patric, Jason 1966, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/patric-jason-1966)
5. [Jason Patric's in No Rush, Los Angeles Times (1991)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-ca-1254-story.html)
6. [Jason Patric, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000574/)
7. [Jason Patric, CINeol](https://www.cineol.net/gente/jason-patric)
8. [Lost Boys Star Jason Patric Can Pursue Paternity Claim, TIME (2014)](https://time.com/100292/jason-patric-paternity-claim-returned-to-trial-court/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames O to Pa*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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