Jerry Doyle 

Character: Captain Simian
Birthdate: July 16, 1956

Born on July 16, 1956, Jerry Doyle is the son of a police officer father and a stay-at-home mother.

After the death of his father, at age 41, Jerry and his family moved to New Jersey. He completed high school there, then moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, to attend Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Jerry graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautics.

Upon graduating, Jerry's first job as with Falcon Jets back in New Jersey. At Falcon, Jerry was involved with both the sales and marketing of private and commercial jets.

Jerry's next job proved to be a complete career change. He became an investment banker on Wall Street, working for Drexel Burnham. Staying in this field, Jerry moved to Prudential Bache, where he remained for the next nine years.

Around 1987, while still working on Wall Street, a friend of Jerry suggested him for a part on the television series "Moonlighting." Jerry flew to Los Angeles, did the audition, and received the part; albeit a small part. After completing filming, Jerry returned to New York, but not for long; the acting bug has bitten him!

In 1991, Jerry decided it was time for another career change. He moved to Los Angeles, found an agent, and began his new acting career. When he was asked in a recent interview why he decided to become an actor, Jerry quipped "babes and bucks."

His first role, as a new "official" actor, was on the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful." Other roles followed on Television programs such as "Home Front," "Reasonable Doubts," Renegade, and finally, "Babylon 5." He has also provided the voice for a cartoon character, Captain Simian on "Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys." More recently, Jerry was host and narrator for "Sun Storms," part of The Learning Channel's Science Frontiers series.

Jerry's acting career has not been limited to just television. He has also appeared in a couple of feature films, including "Kidnapped" and "Being in Time."

In 1992, not long in Los Angeles, Jerry met his future wife, Andrea Thompson. Jerry and Andrea were divorced in 1997.

"Babylon 5" has provided Jerry with many opportunities. He is a huge supporter of NASA (the folks at NASA are themselves huge fans of "Babylon 5") and he has attended no less than 7 launches. Jerry is one the rare civilians who has had to opportunity to have actually been inside a space shuttle, and done so while wearing a spacesuit. To quote Jerry, NASA's astronauts are "the true pioneers of the modern age. They are extremely professional, talented and committed."

More recently, Jerry was invited to train and fly F-16's at Edwards Air-force Base. He and fellow co-worker, Bruce Boxleitner, performed maximum performance take-offs, formation flight, and dog-fight intercepts. As Jerry puts it, "there's nothing like doing a 9-G maneuver in an F-16."

While Jerry shares many personality traits in real life with his Babylon 5 character, Michael Garibaldi, a love of the cartoon character, Daffy Duck, is not one of them. Jerry, by his own admission, is not a big Television watcher. He rarely watches cartoons, preferring instead to tune in CNBC for its market reports. You can take the man out of the market, but not the market out of the man.

Now that Babylon 5 has finished, Jerry is once again looking at changing careers. His next job may be as a U.S. Senator, for the state of California. He would be running in the 2003 elections, serving in 2004. A registered Republican, Jerry had this to say when asked why "I think that it's about time there's somebody out there who cuts through the bull, tells people exactly what's going on, exactly what they think. Politics aside, this is what I like. If you believe it vote for me; if you don't, don't. The only thing you're going to get from me that you got from Garibaldi is the straight shot."

An admitted technophobe, Jerry hates surfing the Internet or chatting online. As disappointing as that may be to his fans, Jerry loves attending conventions and meeting his fans in person. Numerous reports from fans who have met Jerry at conventions can attest to the fact that Jerry is very warm and witty in person.

Filmography

• Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (1999, TV Movie) [Michael Garibaldi]
• Babylon 5: The River of Souls (1998, TV Movie) [Michael Garibaldi]
• The Outsider (1998, TV Movie) [Rains]
• "Babylon 5" (1994, TV Series) [Security Chief CWO Michael Alfredo Garibaldi]
• Babylon 5: The Gathering (1993, TV Movie) [Security Chief Michael Alfredo Garibaldi]

TV Guest Appearances

• "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) [Russell in episode 10.15, "Fertile Ground," 1/26/2000]
• "Sliders" (1995) [Sgt. Vernon Larson in episode 5.3, "Strangers and Comrades," 6/25/1999]
• "Renegade" (1992) [Mo Moseley in episode "Honeymoon in Mexico," 1995]
• "Reasonable Doubts" (1991) [Gary Furlong in episode 1.11, "Pure Gold," 12/13/1991]
• "Homefront" (1991) [Stan in episode "So all alone"]
• "Moonlighting" (1985) [in episode "Cool Hand Dave (Part 2)"]