Biography
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. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide