A hulking, imposing blond stage actor, Jay Patterson has also turned in a number of good supporting performances on film and TV. He began acting professionally in the late 1970s, doing Shakespeare and such modern shows as "The Taking of Miss Janie" and "Of Mice and Men" (as Lenny), in Minneapolis, Chicago and Cincinnati. Moving to New York in 1980, Patterson studied with Terry Schreiber. This came in handy in 1983 when a last-minute replacement was needed for a co-star in the Broadway show "K2" which Schreiber was directing. Patterson made a critical hit as one of two climbers stranded atop
