Gregory Itzin

"Aside from the fact that it’s nice to be employed, it’s nice to be employed on a show that everybody considers important. Everybody considers the result to be worthy of the work they do. Nobody phones it in on 24."

— Gregory Itzin on the appeal of 24

Gregory Itzin (born April 20, 1948; age 75) played Charles Logan on 24.

Biography

Gregory Itzin was born in Washington, D.C., to Evelyn Loretta (née Smith) and Martin Joseph Itzin. When he was in sixth grade, his family moved to Burlington, Wisconsin, where his father served as mayor. Itzin studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco with the intention of becoming a theater actor, but eventually branched out to television and films. He is more known as a character actor and has been working since 1979.

Itzin has appeared on numerous stages around the country, including the Mark Taper Forum, Seattle's Intiman Theatre, San Diego's Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, the Kennedy Center and the New York Public Theatre. He received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his performance on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize winning play "The Kentucky Cycle."

On television, Itzin has held recurring roles on popular TV series such as Friends, NCIS (with Pauley Perrette), Judging Amy, Boston Legal, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and the short-lived science fiction series, Firefly. He has bit roles in movies like Original Sin and Law Abiding Citizen (with Michael Irby), and was also a frequent Star Trek guest actor, having played 5 different roles in the three of the show's spin-offs over the years, starting with his first appearance in 1993 on Deep Space Nine to his most recent on Enterprise. In 2003, Itzin portrayed John Ashcroft in the TV movie DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, along with co-star Penny Johnson Jerald who played Condoleeza Rice.

Itzin currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children, three dogs and four cats. He golfs with an 11 handicap.

Role on 24

Itzin plays the recurring role of Charles Logan, former President of the United States. His first appearance was in Season 4, but the producers liked the character so much that decided to expand his role in the next season. During Season 5, Itzin was a member of the Main cast and appeared in all but one episode. He reprised the role in Seasons 6 and 8. On July 6, 2006 and later in 2010, Itzin was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor for his role on 24.

Itzin has said on interviews that when the producers approached him, they weren't sure "where [Logan]'s going", so he decided to play him two different ways during takes. "I gave them choices from semi-staunch leader of men to abject coward, and they inevitably picked the abject-coward takes, so I knew where we were going." He also described the character of Logan as a change of pace since the show had always featured Presidents "you could trust, count on, and they would always back Jack Bauer."

After Season 5 revealed that Charles Logan was working with Christopher Henderson, show executive producer Evan Katz said that the President was more of a man hiding a secret and was just being a little smarter about how he projects himself. Star Kiefer Sutherland also noted that people like Logan who are underestimated can become very dangerous because it gives them a sort of cover.

Producer Katz also said that the resemblance between Logan and Nixon was "not deliberate; it was merely a coincidence." Itzin himself has said that he's "not modeling myself after anybody."

24 credits

• Season 4
  • "Day 4: 10:00pm-11:00pm"
  • "Day 4: 11:00pm-12:00am"
  • "Day 4: 12:00am-1:00am"
  • "Day 4: 1:00am-2:00am"
  • "Day 4: 2:00am-3:00am"
  • "Day 4: 3:00am-4:00am"
  • "Day 4: 4:00am-5:00am"
  • "Day 4: 5:00am-6:00am"
  • "Day 4: 6:00am-7:00am"
• Season 5 (all episodes except "9:00pm-10:00pm")
• Season 6
  • "Day 6: 3:00pm-4:00pm" (uncredited)
  • "Day 6: 4:00pm-5:00pm"
  • "Day 6: 5:00pm-6:00pm"
  • "Day 6: 6:00pm-7:00pm"
• Season 8
  • "Day 8: 8:00am-9:00am"
  • "Day 8: 9:00am-10:00am"
  • "Day 8: 10:00am-11:00am"
  • "Day 8: 11:00am-12:00pm"
  • "Day 8: 12:00pm-1:00pm"
  • "Day 8: 1:00pm-2:00pm"
  • "Day 8: 2:00pm-3:00pm"
  • "Day 8: 3:00pm-4:00pm"

24-related appearances

• Itzin provided DVD audio commentary for the following episodes:
  • "Day 5: 4:00pm-5:00pm" (with Jean Smart)
  • "Day 5: 6:00am-7:00am" (with Robert Cochran)
  • "Day 6: 6:00pm-7:00pm" (with Jean Smart)
• Supporting Players, Season 5 DVD
• 24 and the War on Terror: Can Truth Learn from Fiction?, 24: The Official Companion: Season 6 DVD

Selected filmography

• Lincoln (2012)
• The Ides of March (2011)
• The Change-Up (2011)
• Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
• Float (2008)
• I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
• Forfeit (2007)
• Fearless (2004)
• DC 9/11: Time of Crisis (2003)
• Adaptation (2002)
• Life or Something Like It (2002)
• Original Sin (2001)
• Evolution (2001)
• What's Cooking? (2000)
• Johnny Tsunami (1999)
• The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (1999)
• The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998)
• Small Soldiers (1998)
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
• The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
• Teen Wolf (1985)
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)
• Airplane! (1980)

Television appearances

• Covert Affairs (2010-2012)
• Big Love (2011)
• Desperate Housewives (2011)
• The Mentalist (2008-2010)
• 24 (2005-2007; 2010)
• Hannah Montana (2008)
• Robot Chicken (2007)
• Boston Legal (2005)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (2002, 2005)
• The O.C. (2004)
• Friends (2004)
• NCIS (2003)
• Firefly (2002)
• The West Wing (2002)
• Star Trek: Voyager (2001)
• Strip Mall (2000-2001)
• Profiler (2000)
• JAG (1997-1998)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993, 1998)
• Murder One (1995-1996)
• Something Wilder (1994-1995)
• Quantum Leap (1993)
• Over My Dead Body (1990)
• The Nutt House (1989)

External links

• Gregory Itzin at the Internet Movie Database
• Gregory Itzin on Memory-Alpha.org