Actor: Tom Downing

Biography: Tom Downing is an Irish-American television and film actor, producer, and writer. Along with his work on the Emmy Winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Chicago PD, Shameless, and BULL, his first major film was playing the lead in the dark comedy The Life & Death of an Unhappily Married Man. The film went on a 50 city international film festival tour winning over 20 awards including 14 for Best Film and over 30 nominations. Winning Best Actor and Actor of the Year, he garnered acclaim for a "truly great lead performance". That year, Whistler International Film Festival named it a Top Pick alongside Carol (Cate Blanchett), Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), and Born To Be Blue (Ethan Hawke). The film went on to win the Canada Int'l Film Festival "Rising Star Award" and the "Extra Mile Award" from the Sydney Indie Film Festival. Following a worldwide release, it became a "Top-Selling Comedy" distributed through Time-Warner, Sony, Amazon, and iTunes platforms. The following year, he appeared in Keep The Change (Best U.S. Film Winner, Tribeca Film Festival - Kino Lorber North American Theatrical) and Hustlers starring Jennifer Lopez which grossed $157.6 million globally. Tom recently starred in the multi award-winning film Skeletons alongside Robin Lord Taylor (Gotham). Tom is the creator, producer, and writing supervisor of Greetings! From Prison, an award-winning dark comedy series starring himself along with Rusty Schwimmer (The Perfect Storm), John Reynolds (Stranger Things), and Chris Redd (Saturday Night Live). The show is a Silver Award Winner for Excellence in Internet Television (DC Webfest) and winner of Best Premise and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (LA Webfest). Tom was born to a large Irish Catholic family in Cleveland, Ohio. At 14, he began his creative work by taking music, singing, and acting classes while making small indie films and running his own radio show in Lafayette, IN. where he spent his formative years. Tom is a graduate of the world famous training centers The Second City Conservatory, The iO Theatre, Chicago's Artistic Home, and Purdue University where he was named the first recipient of their Outstanding Alumni Award in Film & Video Studies. In addition to acting, he is also a country and western singer and guitar player and drummer and is also an experienced acrylic painter. He splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City.