Bio
Dylan McDermott is an American actor best known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama series The Practice, from 1997-2004.
He also starred as Carter Shaw, the leader of a black ops undercover team, in the television action series Dark Blue, from 2009-2010.
He starred as Ben Harmon in the first season of the horror anthology series American Horror Story in 2011 and the following year played a different character in the second season.
McDermott was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to Diane and Richard McDermott, who owned the West Fourth Street Saloon in New York City.
His Italian-American mother was 15 and his Irish-American father was 17 when he was born; the couple, divorced early on during his childhood. His mother was later accidentally shot and killed by a boyfriend when McDermott was five.
His father's third wife was Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues, who legally adopted McDermott when he was 19 years old, although she has since divorced his father. He has a sister, Robin, and was partly raised by his grandmothers.
McDermott was encouraged by Ensler, with whom he has remained close, to pursue an acting career. He attended acting school at the Jesuit-run Fordham University, as well as The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
McDermott got his first break as an actor in the acclaimed hit film In the Line of Fire (1993). Through his connection with Clint Eastwood, McDermott was able to land his first major gig in The Practice.
Other television shows he has appeared in include Ally McBeal (as his character from The Practice, Bobby Donnelson), Will & Grace, and Big Shots.
Other films he has appeared in include Hamburger Hill (his screen acting debut in 1987), Twister (1989), Steel Magnolias (1989), The Cowboy Way (1994), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995), Three to Tango (1999), Wonderland (2003), Runaway Jury (2003), Edison (2005), The Messengers (2007) and Burning Palms (2010).
McDermott married actress Shiva Afshar Rose, who is of half Irish and half Persian descent, on 19 November 1995. They have two daughters - Colette (born 1996), and Charlotte Rose (born on 8 September 2005). They separated in 2007 and divorced in 2009.