Dean Winters

Dean Winters
Winters in October 2010
Born	Dean Gerard Winters (1964-07-20)July 20, 1964 New York City,U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1995–present
Relatives	Scott William Winters(brother)

Dean Gerard Winters(born July 20, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his role asRyan O'Reilyon theHBOprison dramaOzand his roles in the TV seriesMillennium,Rescue Me,30 Rock,Sex and the City,andLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit,as well as portraying "Mayhem"in a series ofAllstate Insurancecommercials. He co-starred in one season of the CBS Network cop drama seriesBattle Creekand had a recurring role as "The Vulture" on the comedy seriesBrooklyn Nine-Nine.He also appeared in the 2023 Netflix filmThe Out-Lawsand the 2024 AMC seriesMonsieur Spade.

Early life

Winters was born inNew York Cityon July 30, 1964.He was raised onLong Island.He is of Irish and Italian descent, and speaks fluent Italian.He has two brothers, actorScottand writer Bradford, and a sister, Blair.Winters spent his teenage years inScottsdale, Arizona.He attendedChaparral High Schooland graduated fromBrophy College Preparatory,a Jesuit school inPhoenix,in 1982,and fromColorado Collegein 1986.

Career

Winters has appeared in two of theLaw & Ordertelevision series:Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,where he was a regular in the first season, and as a guest star in theLaw & Order: Criminal Intentepisode "Purgatory".He also made an appearance in Season 2 of the television seriesSex and the Cityas John McFadden. More than ten years after his final appearance onSVU,he again portrayed DetectiveBrian Cassidyin the 13th-season finale "Rhodium Nights",became a recurring character in the 14th season and, in the 15th season, also became CaptainOlivia Benson's love interest. He has also made guest appearances onHomicide: Life on the Street,Third Watch,NYPD Blue,CSI: Miamiand asDennis Duffyin30 Rockas well as previously having an accompanying role inRescue Me.

He starred in the 1999 romantic comedyUndercover AngelwithYasmine Bleethand the 2002direct-to-videohorror filmHellraiser: Hellseeker.He played Tom inP.S. I Love You.Winters played DetectiveSam Tyler's father in the US version ofLife on Mars.He also playedCharley Dixon,Sarah Connor's love interest, inTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Winters performed stand-up comedy atCatch a Rising Star,The Comic Strip,and theComedy Cellaralongside notable comediansJerry Seinfeld,Paul Reiser,andChris Rock.AnHBOcomedy special led him to the role he portrayed onOz,the HBO-produced prison drama.

Winters was cast in theABCdrama pilotHappy Town,from the creators ofOctober Road,but was replaced bySteven Weberafter shooting the pilot.

Winters was away from acting until 2010, whenTina Feybrought him back to30 Rock.Also that year, Winters was introduced as "Mayhem",a recurring character in a television and radio advertising campaign forAllstate Insurancecreated by the advertising agencyLeo Burnett Chicago.In 2019, Fey joined Winters in a series of "Mayhem" commercials.

Winters played Avi inJohn Wick.Winters co-starred in one season of the CBS cop drama seriesBattle Creek,playing a small-town police force detective oppositeJosh Duhamel,the FBI resident agent assigned to the town. The series was canceled in May 2015. He had a recurring role onBrooklyn Nine-Nineas The Vulture and had a supporting role as a divorce attorney on the HBO seriesDivorce.

In 2018, he was cast as Mr. Town in the second season ofStarz'sAmerican Gods.

In 2019, he was in the filmFraming John DeLorean.

Personal life

Winters hasneuropathy,resulting in numbness and sensitivity issues in his hands and feet. In 2009, Winters contracted a bacterial infection and went into cardiac arrest. He underwent multiple surgeries and developedgangrene,resulting in theamputationof two of his toes and half of one of his thumbs.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Conspiracy Theory	Cleet
	Lifebreath	Chrystie's Lover
1999	Undercover Angel	Harrison Tyler
2001	Snipes	Bobby Starr
2002	Hellraiser: Hellseeker	Trevor	Direct to video
2004	Brooklyn Bound	Danny
	Love Rome	Dean
2006	Bristol Boys	Randy
	Dead Calling	Nick
2007	P.S. I Love You	Tom
2009	Winter of Frozen Dreams	Ken Curtis
	Splinterheads	Reggie
	Today's Special	Steve
2013	The Devil You Know	Jake Kelly
2014	Don Peyote	Gun Dealer
	John Wick	Avi
2016	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows	Bartender
2017	Rough Night	Detective Frazier
2018	After Everything	Blake
	Father of the Year	Geoff
2019	Framing John DeLorean	John Valestra	Documentary
2020	Lost Girls	Dean Bostick
2021	Palmer	Jerry
	Christmas vs. the Walters	Brian Walters
2023	The Out-Laws	Vince Millen
2024	Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Three	Captain Storm(voice)	Direct-to-video
2025	High and Low	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995–1996	Homicide: Life on the Street	Tom Marans	3 episodes
1996	NYPD Blue	Larry	Episode: "Where'd the Van Gogh?"
	The Playroom	Unknown	Short
1997	Firehouse	Nick Wilkinson	Television film
1997–1999	Millennium	Young Michael Lanyard/Mr. Crocell	2 episodes
1997–2003	Oz	Ryan O'Reily	Series regular; 56 episodes
1998	New York Undercover	Paul Delaney	Episode: "Rat Trap"
1999	Sex and the City	John McFadden	Episode: "The F**k Buddy"
	Saturday Night Live	Ryan O'Reily	Uncredited; Episode: "Jerry Seinfeld/David Bowie"
1999–2019	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Brian Cassidy	Recurring role
2001	Deadline	Des Lonegan	Episode: "Shock"
2002	Third Watch	Bill Stram	Episode: "The Unforgiven"
	The Twilight Zone	Gordon	Episode: "Future Trade"
2004	Strip Search	Ned McGarth	Television film
2004–2011	Rescue Me	Johnny Gavin	Main role
2005	CSI: Miami	Raymond Caine	Episode: "10-7"
2006–2012	30 Rock	Dennis Duffy	Recurring role Nominated – Gold Derby Award for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated – Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
2008	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Mike Stoat	Episode: "Purgatory"
2008–2009	Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles	Charley Dixon	Recurring role
	Life on Mars	Vic Tyler	3 episodes
2012	Up All Night	Casey Brinkley	Episode: "Preschool Auction"
2013	Westside	Robbie Carver	Television film
2013–2019	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Detective Keith 'The Vulture' Pembroke	Recurring role
2014	American Dad!	Edward	Voice role; Episode: "News Glances with Genevieve Vavance"
2015	Battle Creek	Russ Agnew	Main role
2016	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Bunny	Episode: "Kimmy Kidnaps Gretchen!"
2016–2018	Divorce	Tony Silvercreek	Recurring role
2017–2019	Tangled: The Series	Andrew	Voice role
2019	Berlin Station	Birdman	Episode: "The Dream of the Four Policemen"
	Wayne	Daddy/Bobby Lucetti	Recurring roles
	American Gods	Mr. Town	Episode: "The Beguiling Man"
	City on a Hill	Ralph Hook	Episode: "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"
2021	Girls5eva	Nick	3 episodes
2022	Joe vs. Carole	Jeff Lowe	Limited series
2024	Monsieur Spade	Father Morgan	Miniseries
	So Help Me Todd	Dick Franks	Episodes: "Dial M for Margaret" & "Is the Jury Out?"

External links

• Dean WintersatIMDb