| Birth Name: | Ronald Jason Eldard |
| Birth Place: | Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Education: | State University of New York, Purchase (BFA) |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Yearsactive: | 1989–present |
Ronald Jason Eldard is an American actor.
Eldard was born on Long Island, New York. He is the sixth of seven children, and has four sisters and two brothers. He is of Irish and Scottish descent.[1] Eldard's mother died in a car accident when he was a child, and Eldard and his siblings were sent to live with various family members. He attended grade school in Utah while living with his aunt and uncle.
Eldard made his film debut in the comedy True Love (1989), written and directed by Nancy Savoca, and co-starring Annabella Sciorra. This film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Eldard has performed on Broadway in critically acclaimed productions of On the Waterfront, Biloxi Blues, Bash: Latterday Plays, and Death of a Salesman. The latter two were filmed for Showtime productions.
Eldard is known for his film roles as Mickey Bunce in the cult comedy Drop Dead Fred (1991);[2] as street thug John Reilly in Sleepers (1996), and as Dodge, a Marine Salvage Expert, in the horror film Ghost Ship (2002).
Beginning January 11, 2006, he starred as Father Flynn in the Tony Award– and Pulitzer Prize–winning Broadway production of Doubt, opposite the British actress Dame Eileen Atkins. He was scheduled to assume the role for the January 10 performance, but was ill.[3] The production closed July 2, 2006. In 2014, he starred in the indie horror film Poker Night.[4]
Eldard was in a relationship with his ER co-star Julianna Margulies from 1991 to 2003.[5]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | True Love | Michael | ||
| One Life to Live | Blade | Television series | ||
| 1991 | Drop Dead Fred | Mickey Bunce | ||
| 1992 | Jumpin' Joe | Joe Dugan | Television film | |
| Arresting Behavior | Officer Donny Walsh | Television series | ||
| Scent of a Woman | Officer Gore | |||
| 1993 | Tribeca | Phil | Television series | |
| 1993–1994 | Bakersfield P.D. | Detective Wade Preston | Television series | |
| 1995 | Sex & the Other Man | Bill Jameson | ||
| Pete | ||||
| 1995–1996 | ER | Paramedic Ray 'Shep' Shepard | Television series | |
| 1996 | Bastard Out of Carolina | Glen Waddell | ||
| Sleepers | John Reilly | |||
| 1996–1997 | Men Behaving Badly[6] | Kevin Murphy | Television series | |
| 1998 | Deep Impact | Oren Monash | ||
| When Trumpets Fade | Pvt./Sgt./Lt. David Manning | Television film | ||
| 1999 | Emmet Carey | Television series | ||
| Delivered | Reed | aka Death by Pizza | ||
| Edward Harrington | ||||
| Mystery, Alaska | Matt 'Skank' Marden | |||
| 2000 | Death of a Salesman | Biff Loman | Television film | |
| 2001 | Television film | |||
| Black Hawk Down | CWO Michael Durant | |||
| 2002 | Just a Kiss | Dag | ||
| Ghost Ship | Dodge | |||
| 2003 | House of Sand and Fog | Lester Burdon | ||
| 2005 | Fathers and Sons | Tom | Television film | |
| Blind Justice | Detective Jim Dunbar | Television series | ||
| 2006 | Freedomland | Danny Martin | ||
| Diggers | Jack | |||
| 2007 | Demons | Gus | Television film | |
| Already Dead | Thomas Archer | |||
| 2008 | Daniel Stone | Television film | ||
| 2009 | Geno Parnell | Television series | ||
| 2011 | In Plain Sight | Carl Harris | Television series | |
| Super 8 | Louis Dainard | |||
| Roadie | Jimmy Testagross | |||
| 2013 | Justified | Colton "Colt" Rhodes | Television series | |
| Jobs[7] | Rod Holt | |||
| 2014 | Poker Night | Cunningham | ||
| 2018 | Higher Power | Joe Steadman | ||
| Odds Are... | The Homeowner | |||