Jim Fitzpatrick

Man, Jim Fitzpatrick’s life could fill a whole Netflix docuseries. This guy kicked things off at just 13, already on stage at Seminole High, goofing around in “A Thousand Clowns.” Next thing you know, he’s nabbing a football scholarship to Illinois State, majoring in theater, and hanging with Steppenwolf Theatre Company—yeah, the one Gary Sinise and John Malkovich started. But then, plot twist: he drops the acting dreams for pro football, charging onto the field with the Hamilton Tiger Cats, then the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Colts, and finally three seasons with the Tampa Bay Bandits. Wild ride, right? And get this—Burt Reynolds owned the Bandits. Yeah, that Burt Reynolds. Turns out, Burt helped launch Jim’s Hollywood journey. During off-seasons, Jim started hustling for auditions, scoring parts in “Miami Vice,” “Cocoon” (where he hit it off with Richard & Lili Zanuck), and “D.A.R.Y.L.” After that, the credits just kept rolling in—over 70 film and TV roles, from “Armageddon” to “Enterprise,” “JAG,” “Dolphin Tale,” and even “Soulmates” in 2023. Dude’s a workhorse. But he’s not just acting—he’s written, produced, and directed a bunch of plays and films (seven stage plays in LA alone, 33 screenplays). Toss in a TV pilot for “Supernatural” (yep, that one), and you get the picture: a guy who never really sits still. These days, he splits time between LA and Florida with his wife Jodi Knotts and their kids, still churning out scripts and movies like “Adventure Scouts.”