Freckle-faced redhead Noah Emmerich began acting in theater productions in his native NYC before relocating to Los Angeles, where he made his feature debut as the Rookie in "The Last Action Hero" (1993). He paid his dues in small roles in TV-movies, like playing policemen in "Precious Victims" (CBS, 1993) and "Jack Reed: A Search for Justice" (NBC, 1994), as well as making guest appearances on series including "Flying Blind" and "Melrose Place". Emmerich began his feature collaboration with director Ted Demme with "Beautiful Girls" (1996), playing the sole married member of a group of male friends. The actor easily conveyed the maturity and dedication of his character and provided the backbone of the film's ensemble. Demme further tapped the actor to play a blue collar resident of Boston entangled with Irish-American gangsters in "Monument Ave." (1998) and a 1940s baseball scout searching jails for talented players in "Life" (1999). He achieved prominent exposure as Jim Carrey's best friend Marlon in Peter Weir's "The Truman Show" (1998). Many critics dazzled by Carrey's dramatic turn and the performance of veteran co-star Ed Harris tended to overlook Emmerich's solidly outstanding work. Emmerich would continue to turn out a solid assortment of supporting turns in films including "Tumbleweeds" (1999), "Crazy in Alabama" (1999), "Frequency" (2000), "Windtalkers" (2002) and "Beyond Borders" (2003) before being cast by his "Tumbleweeds" director Gavin O'Connor as Craig Patrick, the kind-hearted assistant coach to Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) in "Miracle" (2004), the true-life Cinderella sports story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Emmerich's performance made for an important counterpoint to Russell's driven, uncompromising Burns and added an important balance of compassion among the adults in the film.
Profession(s):
Actor, director
Sometimes Credited As:
Noah Nicholas Emmerich
Family
brother:Toby Emmerich (born c. 1962; wrote script for "Frequency"; in January 2001 assumed presidency of New Line Cinema)
father:Andre Emmerich
wife:Melissa Ann Fitzgerald (born c. 1969; met c. 1990 when as a producer she cast him in the play "North Shore Fish"; married on November 28, 1998 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
2006 Co-starred in Todd Field's "Little Children"
2005 Cast opposite Debra Winger in "Sometimes In April"
2004 Cast in "Miracle," with Kurt Russell and Patricia Clarkson; based on the true story of the 1980 USA Hockey team
2003 Acted with Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen in "Beyond Borders"
2002 Appeared in the WWII drama "Windtalkers"
2000 Co-starred in "Love & Sex"
1999 Appeared in Antonio Banderas' "Crazy in Alabama"
1999 Played a baseball scout in Demme's "Life" starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence
1998 Played Jim Carrey's best friend in Peter Weir's "The Truman Show"
1998 Reteamed with Demme for "Monument Ave."
1997 Portrayed Deputy Bill Gelster in "Cop Land"
1996 First collaboration with director Ted Demme, "Beautiful Girls"
1995 Acted in episode of Fox's "Melrose Place"
1993 Appeared in episode of Fox college series "Flying Blind"
1993 Feature acting debut in small role as a rookie in "The Last Action Hero"
1990 Met future wife Melissa Fitzgerald when she cast him in the play "North Shore Fish" (date approximate)
Raised in NYC
First professional role, played Corporal Dunn in the national tour of "A Few Good Men"
Moved to Los Angeles
