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Rex Maynard Linn (born November 13, 1956) is an American actor. With his bald head and beefy exterior, Hollywood character player Rex Linn quickly built up an acting resumé replete with many portrayals of toughs, feds, cops, thugs, and occasionally
unremarkable, beleaguered everymen. Born in the panhandle of the Lone Star State, Linn came of age in the small Texas town of Spearman. He discovered a lingering interest in drama during his teenage years, but buckled under the weight of discouragement from an acting coach, and put acting on the shelf to focus on career pursuits in banking and the oil industry. Dissatisfied with these fields, Linn convinced an Oklahoma talent agent to sign him, and made the leap from commercials to feature roles with his portrayal of serial murderer Fred Epps in the Peter Masterson-directed thriller Night Game (1989), opposite Roy Scheider. The pleasure of this experience prompted Linn to head to the West Coast, where he worked construction, landed intermittent acting assignments, and studied the craft under the tutelage of Silvana Gallardo in Studio City, CA. Linn was memorable as the rogue treasury agent who assists terrorist John Lithgow in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Cliffhanger (1993), which brought the actor the recognition he so persistently sought and led to a series of supporting roles in dozens of feature films. Linn's portrayal of Frank McLaury in Wyatt Earp (1994) marked the first in a series of several onscreen collaborations with Kevin Costner that also included the romantic comedy Tin Cup (1996) and the laborious sci-fi epic The Postman (1997). Linn also landed guest appearances on such series as JAG and 3rd Rock From the Sun. He is best known, however, for his fine portrayal of Miami-Dade Police Department detective Frank Tripp on the hit crime series CSI: Miami. Linn was born in Ochiltree County, Texas, the third child, and second son, of Darlene (née Deere) and James Paul Linn. He grew up on a ranch outside Spearman, Texas, a small agricultural, ranching, and oil town, with his sister Rhonda Lou and brother James Paul II, attending Spearman Elementary and Spearman Junior High School. Linn's first public performances included playing drums with his band, The Beach Bums, in the Junior High Auditorium to entertain his classmates. Summers were spent working cattle with cowboys and going to movies in town. It was in this small Texas community that Linn developed an appetite, at an early age, for movies and acting. The Lyric theater on Main Street, which is still in operation, provided the people of Spearman with the only movie house in the area. Linn frequented the little movie house often and enjoyed its menu of horror films and Westerns. In August 1969, his parents relocated the family to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where his father practiced law. There he attended Heritage Hall and later Casady School, an independent school affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and was employed part-time at the Oklahoma City Zoo. It was in November 1975, after seeing Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, that Linn announced that he really wanted to be an actor. Unfortunately, it was also in high school that he was first discouraged in the pursuit of his dream to become an actor. After the first night of the school’s production of Fiddler On The Roof, in which he very nearly demolished a set during a dance number, Linn was asked to leave the play by Prof. Gill, his drama coach. He was told it would probably be wise to direct his energy to some other field of endeavour, which effectively ended his high school acting career. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1980 with a degree in Radio/TV/Film. After graduation, Linn decided on a banking career. He worked his way up to VP of Energy Lending for the Lakeshore Bank, remaining with it until July 5, 1982, when the bank was shut down for insolvency. Linn was able to convince a talent agent to take a chance on him and represent him in the Oklahoma market. At the same time, he accepted a job with an oil company, overseeing field operations in western Oklahoma, all the while auditioning for film and TV commercial parts. After shooting some very bad commercials, he started landing small roles in various projects. It was during this time that he was given the opportunity to act in his first film, Dark Before Dawn, which was being produced by his best friend, Edward K. Gaylord II. More importantly, he became an associate producer on the film. That opportunity provided him with great insight into the creative process of filmmaking, which would later prove to be a valuable asset to him in the world of acting. In 1989, he was cast in his first substantial role, as serial killer Floyd Epps, in Night Game, starring Roy Scheider. Following this film, and a part as the sheriff in the TV series, the Young Riders, he decided it was time to head west. Surrendering to the acting bug, Linn sold his house, loaded all his possessions into a U-Haul, and, on February 5, 1990, headed to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. For the first three years, he studied acting with Silvana Gallardo in Studio City and worked with a close friend and fellow struggling actor, Robert Knott, on various construction jobs. In 1989 he was cast in his first substantial role as serial killer Floyd Epps in Night Game starring Roy Schneider. Following this film he decided it was time to head west. In February of 1990, Rex moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. For the first three years he studied acting with Silvan Gallardo in Studio City and worked with a close friend on various construction jobs. In April of 1992 he got his first break. Rex was cast as the bad U.S. Treasury agent Richard Travers in the very successful movie, Cliffhanger. That film proved to be very instrumental in providing the necessary exposure Rex needed to get to the next level. Since then he has appeared in over thirty films and has had a recurring role in four television series. His past film credits include After the Sunset, Cheaper By the Dozen, Rush Hour, Breakdown, Jack Bull, Ghosts of Mississippi, Tin Cup, and Clear and Present Danger to name a few. Some of his television credits include "JAG," "Third Rock From the Sun" and "Snoops." But gradually, the roles started coming, small ones in theatrical films such as My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991), Thunderheart (1992), and Sniper (1993), and guest shots on TV series including Northern Exposure, Raven, and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. In April 1992 he got his first real break. Linn was cast as the bad U.S. Treasury agent, Richard Travers, in the very successful movie Cliffhanger. That film proved to be pivotal in providing the exposure Rex needed to get to the next level. Since Cliffhanger, he has appeared in over 35 films, with that number growing annually. Linn's most recent work includes an independent production, Cockfight, originally titled The Round and Round, which was released in 2004, Zodiac in 2005, and Abominable in 2006, with another picture, The Garage, in production in 2006. He has also had recurring roles in several TV series, most recently as Sgt. Frank Tripp on CSI: Miami, a role for which, according to an article in the Dec. 27 2004 issue of the Oklahoman, he was tricked into reading during the first season and which he has held, as a series regular, ever since. On June 29, 1994, Linn was honored with a star on Carpenter's Square Theatre Walk of Fame, in Oklahoma City. He was a celebrity co-host of the Oklahoma Film Society Real to Reel 2005: "Classic Monster Mash". In the past couple of years, he has narrated three audio books, One Ranger (2005), A Man Called Cash (2005), and Missing Persons (2006), as well as a documentary for the Oklahoma University InvestEd program, Anatomy of Fraud Catching a Con in Pottawatomie County in 2004. A similar documentary, Anatomy of a Fraud: Catching Con in Logan County, also to be narrated by Linn, is described as being 'in production' in 2005. He currently is reported to be living in Sherman Oaks, California, with his dogs in cat suits, Jack and Choctaw. Linn is a die-hard Texas Longhorns fan, even taking the day off his CSI: Miami work to attend the Rose Bowl game when his beloved team was playing and winning the national championship. He also admits to the enjoyment of outdoor cooking, with a smoker and a grill, and lots of spices, but his love of the outdoors is not limited to cooking and football. He is a former chairman of the Oklahoma City chapter of Ducks Unlimited, and in 1986, he won the state duck-calling competition, and came fourth in the national competition. Linn is an active supporter of children’s charities as well as the arts, including playing golf in celebrity tournaments for children’s charities, arthritis, and the blind, allowing himself to be auctioned to support the ballet and participating in the team roping competitions at the Ben Johnson Rodeo fund raiser. On May 12, 2007, he was a celebrity award presenter at the National Association of Police Organizations Top Cops award ceremony In Washington D.C. His television credits include 3rd Rock from the Sun, Northern Exposure, Nash Bridges, Bonanza: The Next Generation, and, of course CSI: Miami, to name but a few. |
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