With his deep, expressive baritone and California-kissed looks, there was never any doubt that actor Grant Show was anything but a leading man. Show made his mark with his role of Jake Hanson on Fox’s nighttime ‘90s soap phenomenon, “Melrose Place” (1992-99). As the motorcycle-loving Hanson, Show was off and running, but was also an accomplished actor with an increasing number of stage, television and film credits under his belt.Grant Alan Show was born on Feb. 27, 1962 in Detroit, MI, where his father worked as a local police officer. His parents packed up the family and headed for San Jose, CA when he entered his teens. Show was used to being bullied in junior high, but by the time he attended high school, he was nurturing his wrestling and basketball skills. Despite his athleticism, he never felt part of the popular set and soon found his strongest kinship with the theater kids, alongside whom he took to the stage in productions of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Barefoot in the Park.” He studied theater at the University of California, Los Angeles, and upon graduation, was hired onto the then popular ABC soap, “Ryan’s Hope” (1975-1989), which shot in New York City, NY. From 1984-87, he lived in the city while he taped his role as Officer Rick Hyde. During that time, he also made his first Broadway appearance in 1985’s “The Boys of Winter” and cruised onto a two-episode part in ABC’s starry-eyed series, “The Love Boat” (1977-1986).
Show realized “Ryan’s Hope” was not what he was looking for, so he studied acting in England at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts for a year. When he returned and settled in Los Angeles, he went through a frustrating year and a half without an acting job. By 1989, things were picking up. After appearing in series of made-for-television projects such as the sprawling NBC miniseries” Lucky” (1990), Show found something of a rarity – a character that would seep into three different television series. In 1992, he was cast in a multi-episode arc on Fox’s long-running teen drama “Beverly Hills 90210” (1990-2000). Show tantalized audiences and Jennie Garth’s character Kelli as Jake Hanson, the mysterious, somewhat older bad boy biker. It was a brief gig, but it landed him a leading role in “Coopersmith” (1992), CBS’ backdoor pilot about a biker-claims investigator. The 90-minute movie did not develop into a series, but Show’s “90210” alter-ego Jake rode off into another of Fox’s Aaron Spelling nighttime sizzlers, “Melrose Place.”
In June 1994, Jake put made an appearance on a third series, the pilot for Fox’s, “Models, Inc.” (1994-95), but the show failed to take hold of an audience and was cancelled during its first season. While doing duty on “Melrose Place,” Show began dating series co-star Laura Leighton (Sydney). Oddly enough, as the show became darker in tone, his character became less of a brooder. Leaving behind the leather jacket, in April 1995, Show got the chance to flex his acting muscles a bit further as William Barret Travis in ABC’s western epic miniseries “Texas.” As Dennis Pitt, Show next toplined Fox’s television remake of the romance/thriller “Pretty Poison” (1996).
Jake Hanson moved out of “Melrose Pace” for good in 1997, sending Show back to Broadway, appearing alongside Judith Light in the 1999 production of “Wit” and as the Jim, the Gentleman Caller, in a 2001 revival of “The Glass Menagerie.” Show then bounced back into television roles, often ones that allowed him to come back more than once – including one episode on NBC’s “Ed” (2000-04) in 2000; two on NBC’s “UC: Undercover” (2001-02), whose pilot he starred on before it was picked up, in 2001; and three on HBO’s “Six Feet Under” (2001-05) in 2002. In 2003, Show had a minor cable hit with Lifetime’s “Sex & the Single Mom” (2003). In the telefilm, Show played opposite actress Gail O’Grady as Alex Lofton, the object of desire of a single mother trying to educate her daughter about promiscuity. He quickly switched gears and took a plum part in NBC’s “Homeland Security” (2004), a movie-of-the-week about the impact of the September 11th events on America’s national security agencies.
Show’s appeal with women was utilized once again in Lifetime’s “Strong Medicine” (2000-06), in which he portrayed a hospital administrator from 2003-05. Offscreen, one particular lady who found him appealing, model Pollyanna McIntosh, his girlfriend of two years, became his wife. A sure hit with Lifetime’s core female audience, he was also back with O’Grady filming “More Sex & the Single Guy” in December 2004, which aired shortly after in February 2005. Ever the busy actor, a month earlier, Show had been back as a regular on yet another new Fox series, the supernatural chiller “Point Pleasant” (2005). Instead of charming audiences, he got to frighten them as a sinister stranger who drifts into a seaside New Jersey town. In 2006, Show softened in a guest spot on ABC Family’s “Beautiful People” (2006- ), acting opposite his old “Melrose Place” love interest, Daphne Zuniga (Jo).
Suiting up for duty as the hunk once more, Show added more projects to the pipeline. He played the secretly gay actor in a relationship with the brother of editor-in-chief Lucy Spiller on FX’s “Dirt” (2007- ). In 2007, he then segued into the CBS pilot, “Swingtown” (2007), a moody period series revolving around couple-swapping, while awaiting the release of his most terrifying project yet – the film adaptation of novelist Jack Ketchum’s harrowing domestic drama, “The Girl Next Door” (2007).