Arye Gross

Citing Danny Kaye as one of his foremost idols, American actor Arye Gross has done well for himself in a variety of supporting roles in television and film; like Kaye, he shows a particular talent for playing affable, if quirky, young men. While his feature debut was rather unremarkable -- he was credited as, simply, "Turbo" in 1984's forgettable The Exterminator 2 -- he was able to achieve top billing throughout the late '80s and mid-'90s for his performances in House 2: The Second Story (1987), The Couch Trip (1988), Coupe de Ville (1990), For the Boys (1991), and Hexed (1993). 1992's A Midnight Clear earned him particular acclaim for his role as a GI alongside Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinise. However, it wasn't until 1994, when Gross landed the part of good-hearted but somewhat hapless Adam on the award-winning sitcom Ellen, that he found prominent mainstream recognition. Gross continued to work in film during Ellen's four-year run -- in 1996, he was able to act with Kirsten Dunst and Nick Nolte in Keith Gordon's war-themed satire Mother Night, and during that same year, he played Tadpole opposite Tony Curtis in The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man and His Faithful Sidekick Tadpole. Several years later, critics praised Gross' performance as a metropolitan artist forced to return to his hometown in Montana in Big Eden. After appearing in Seven Girlfriends (2000) and Burning Down the House (2001), Gross played the ill-fated, would-be criminal Howard Marks in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report. In 2003, Gross could be seen in a recurring role on HBO's hit series Six Feet Under.

~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide