Thomas Gibson

Thomas Gibson
Gibson on the set of Criminal Minds, 2010
Born	Thomas Ellis Gibson (1962-07-03) July 3, 1962 (age 54) Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, film director
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Christine Gibson (1993–2015) (divorced)
Children	3

Thomas Ellis Gibson (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for having portrayed Daniel Nyland in the CBS series Chicago Hope, Greg Montgomery on the ABC series Dharma & Greg, and Aaron Hotchner on the CBS series Criminal Minds. (2005–2016)

Gibson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the youngest of four children of Charles M. "Mac" and Beth Gibson. His mother was a social worker, and his father was a lawyer and liberal Democrat who served in the South Carolina state Senate and House. He was raised Roman Catholic. Gibson's interest in the performing arts began at a young age. Gibson was fascinated with Louis Armstrong. He and his sister were on a swim team together and they frequented a pizza parlor after their swim meets. It was at this pizza parlor that Gibson would sing along with a Dixieland band, complete with his attempt at a Louis Armstrong voice.

As a child, Gibson enrolled in Little Theater School and later graduated from Bishop England High School. He then attended the College of Charleston (1979–1981) and became an intern at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where he was encouraged to apply to the prestigious Juilliard School. After a year and a half at Charleston, Gibson won a scholarship to Juilliard's Drama Division (Group 14: 1981–1985), where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1985.

Gibson started acting when nine years of age in children's theater. He appeared in Julian Wiles' Seize the Street: the Skateboard Musical, a Young Charleston Theater Company (now Charleston Stage) production. As a teenager, he began his classical theater training by becoming a member of the Young Charleston Theater Company and the Footlight Players, often performing at the historic Dock Street Theatre. During his time at College of Charleston, Gibson was an intern at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Gibson made his stage debut in David Hare's A Map of the World in the New York Shakespeare Festival. He subsequently appeared in more plays for producer Joe Papp, both in Public Theater and in Central Park. He worked on and off Broadway for the next ten years in a diverse range of plays by Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Molière, Tennessee Williams, Howard Brenton, Romulus Linney, Noël Coward, Alan Ball and many others before turning to the small screen. Gibson also waited tables at Tavern on the Green.