Patterson was born September 11, 1958 in Philadelphia, but was raised in Haddonfield, N.J. and Baltimore. He attended Rutgers University, studying comparative literature, but dropped out to study acting in New York. He was exposed to the instruction of Robert Lewis, Sondra Lee and Paul Newman and appeared in Actor’s Studio productions of “Rasputin” and “Miss Julie” under Frank Caruso before minor league baseball drafted him. Patterson joined the minor leagues in 1980 and wore Yankees,’ Braves’ and Rangers’ jerseys until he was dropped in 1988.
He first appeared in Hollywood as a stunt man on Rupert Wainwright’s “Blank Check” (1993). His first role was in “The Return of Ironside” (1993) with Raymond Burr. He followed up with “Little Big League” (1994), the baseball trivia hound’s dream flick, starring Jason Robards and Dennis Farina. In 1994, Patterson starred in “Alien Nation: Dark Horizon” as a ruthless alien sent to Earth to investigate the disappearance of 250,000 slaves. He then played smaller roles in “Three Wishes” (1995) with Patrick Swayze and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio; “A Boy Called Hate” (1996) with James Caan, Scott Caan and Elliot Gould; and “Rhapsody in Bloom”(1998) with Penelope Ann Miller and Dan Castellaneta.
Patterson carved out an attractive niche for himself as the hunky love-interest type when Elaine dubbed him “sponge-worthy” on an episode of “Seinfeld” (NBC, 1995). He then piqued the interest of Sharon Lawrence’s on “Fired Up” (NBC, 1997), also starring Leah Rimini; attracted Jennifer Grey on the L.A. satire “It’s Like, You Know” (ABC, 1999); and had a profound effect on Debra Messing in a “Will & Grace” episode (NBC, 1999). In 2000, Patterson was tapped for his breakthrough role as Luke Danes on “Gilmore,” and he began winning the hearts of millions of women every Wednesday night--though it took him five seasons to win over the unpredictable Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham).