Peter Weller
Birthdate:	June 24, 1947
Birthplace:	Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Role:	Christopher Henderson

Peter Weller played Christopher Henderson during Season 5 of 24. He is well known for playing the title character in the 1987 film RoboCop (which also starred Paul McCrane, Ray Wise, Kurtwood Smith, Jesse D. Goins, and Edward Edwards). Due to his role in that film, fans use that as a nickname. He has also hosted several episodes of the History Channel's Engineering an Empire for 12 episodes.

Biography Edit

Weller's father was a helicopter pilot for the Army, which meant that he spent many years abroad. His family lived in Germany for several years, before eventually moving to Texas. He enrolled at North Texas State University because he wanted to play trumpet with the jazz band there. After graduating, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and performed on Broadway and the West End before making his film debut in 1979. He is the cousin of In Plain Sight actor Frederick Weller.

Although he has appeared in over fifty films and television series, he is best known for his appearances as the title character in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and the blockbuster hits RoboCop and RoboCop 2. He has also appeared in critically acclaimed movies such as Mighty Aphrodite and Naked Lunch and in the short-lived TV show Odyssey 5. He has made a guest appearance in the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes "Demons" and "Terra Prime". In recent years he seems to favor directing over acting, helming two episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street and three episodes of the aforementioned Odyssey 5.

Weller is a graduate of Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas, received his Bachelor's Degree in Theater at North Texas State University (later The University of North Texas) and a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He also holds a Masters Degree in Roman and Renaissance Art, and teaches a Literature and Fine Arts course at Syracuse University, where he is also pursuing his PhD. He is currently the host of the History Channel's Engineering an Empire series, which debuted in September of 2005.

24 marks his third collaboration with Manny Coto: Coto was a creator and executive producer of Odyssey 5, and an executive producer during the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise, in which Weller guest-starred. For his 24 appearance, Weller was credited with the "and" credit (during his first episode it read "and Peter Weller as Christopher Henderson") at the end of the guest star list. He was the third person to receive such a credit, after Sarah Clarke as Nina Myers in seasons 2 and 3; Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dina Araz in Season 4; and before Ricky Schroder as Mike Doyle in Season 6.

Weller is a member of the famed Actor's Studio and studied under Uta Hagen, Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg.

He is also a skilled trumpet player, and he occasionally performs throughout LA in a jazz band with fellow Buckaroo Banzai actor Jeff Goldblum.

Selected filmography Edit

• Star Trek into Darkness (2013)
• Once Fallen (2010)
• Prey (2007)
• The Hard Easy (2006)
• Top of the World (1997)
• Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
• Screamers (1995)
• Naked Lunch (1991)
• RoboCop 2 (1990)
• RoboCop (1987)
• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
• Butch and Sundance: The Early Years (1979)

Television appearances Edit

• Longmire (2012)
• Psych (2010)
• Dexter (2010)
• Fringe (2010)
• 24 (2006)
• Engineering an Empire (host) (2005-present)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (2005)
• Odyssey 5 (2002-2005)

External links Edit

• Peter Weller at the Internet Movie Database
• The History Channel's Engineering an Empire