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Jonathan Gries ( ; born June 17, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite (2004), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, the recurring role of Roger Linus on Lost (2007–2010), and Greg Hunt on The White Lotus (2021–present). He is also known for other film and television credits such as Real Genius (1985), The Monster Squad (1987), Martin (1992–1994), Get Shorty (1995), The Pretender (1996–2000), the Taken trilogy (2008–2014), and Dream Corp LLC (2016–2020).
In the historical Western film September Dawn, he played executed murderer John D. Lee, in a performance praised by critics who otherwise panned the film. The Hollywood Reporter He played Casey in the films Taken (2008), Taken 2 (2012), and Taken 3 (2014), and was in TerrorVision, as O.D. He lent his voice for the video game .
Among his television roles are that of a terrorist in season two of the hit show 24 and as Broots on the NBC series The Pretender. He had a guest role on The X-Files in the episode "Sleepless". He played Dylan McKay's drug dealer in season 5 of Beverly Hills, 90210. He played Ben Linus's father Roger in a recurring role on the TV series Lost. He played Shawn on the Fox sitcom Martin during the first two seasons. He appeared twice in the TV series Quantum Leap—first, as a bookie in the episode "The Right Hand of God" and then as a band member in the episode "Glitter Rock". He appeared as Rusty the Bum in two episodes of Seinfeld.
In 2007, he played the menacing dad to Samaire Armstrong in Around June. In 2008, he appeared in the episode "" as the father of that episode's victim. In 2010, he wrapped production on A True Story. Based on Things That Never Actually Happened. ...and Some that Did and appeared in one episode of Nikita. He played Martin in the TV show Supernatural in the episodes "Sam, Interrupted" (2010), "Hello, Cruel World" (2011) and "Citizen Fang" (2012). He played Bob, a former drug addict who operates a safe haven for abused Mexican women, in The Bridge. He played Strabinsky in the TV Show Psych in the episode "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out" (2010).
It was announced in March 2025 that Gries is a part-owner of a Northwoods League baseball team that will begin play in 2026 in Richmond, Indiana.
| 1968 | Will Penny | Horace (Button) | Credited as Jon Francis |
| 1976 | Born of Water | Friend | Credited as Jonathan Gries |
| 1977 | The Chicken Chronicles | Tom | |
| 1979 | Sunnyside | Wild Child | |
| More American Graffiti | Ron | ||
| Swap Meet | Doug | ||
| 1983 | Joysticks | King Vidiot | Credited as Jonathan Gries |
| 1985 | Real Genius | Lazlo Hollyfeld | |
| 1986 | TerrorVision | O.D. | |
| Running Scared | Det. Tony Montoya | ||
| 1987 | Number One with a Bullet | Bobby Sweet | |
| The Monster Squad | Desperate Man/Wolfman | ||
| Che's Revenge | Jack | Short | |
| 1988 | Fright Night Part 2 | Louie | Credited as Jonathan Gries |
| 1989 | Kill Me Again | Alan Swayzie | |
| Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog | Max | ||
| 1990 | The Grifters | Drunk's Friend | |
| 1993 | Ed and His Dead Mother | Rob Sundheimer | |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Ronnie Wingate | |
| 1997 | Casualties | Bill Summers | |
| Men in Black | Van Driver | ||
| The Maze | Dr. Holmes | ||
| Mitzi & Joe | Joe | ||
| 1999 | Twin Falls Idaho | Lawyer Jay Harrison | |
| 2001 | The Beatnicks | B Cool | |
| Jackpot | Sunny Holiday / Glen Allen Johnson | Also co-producer | |
| 2003 | Northfork | Arnold | |
| The Big Empty | Elron | ||
| The Snow Walker | Pierce | ||
| The Rundown | Harvey | ||
| 2004 | Napoleon Dynamite | Uncle Rico Dynamite | |
| 2005 | Confessions of an Action Star | Donald Buckheim | |
| Waterborne | Ritter | ||
| Last Best Chance | Bernard Wheeler | Video | |
| 2006 | The Sasquatch Gang | Chilcutt | |
| Stick It | Brice Graham | ||
| The Astronaut Farmer | FBI Agent Killbourne | ||
| Car Babes | Gary | ||
| 2007 | American Pastime | Ed Tully | |
| Bicentennial Curious | Mick Jones | Short | |
| Fathom | |||
| September Dawn | John D. Lee | ||
| The Comebacks | Barber | ||
| Frank | Colin York | ||
| 2008 | Taken | Casey | |
| Bar Starz | Ricky Fabulous | ||
| South of Heaven | Hood #1 | ||
| So Long Jimmy | Levi Franklin | ||
| Around June | Murry | ||
| 2009 | Elsewhere | Mr. Tod | |
| The Smell of Success | Early Dunchamp | ||
| A Lone Star State | Wyatt Kinney | Short | |
| 2010 | Crazy on the Outside | Edgar | |
| Good Intentions | Sheriff Ernie | ||
| Pearblossom | Harry | Short | |
| 2011 | Natural Selection | Peter | |
| Not Quite College | Tone Cash | ||
| 5 Time Champion | Melvin Glee | ||
| Tom Sutter | |||
| 2012 | Deep in the Heart | Dick Wallrath | |
| Unicorn City | Shadowhawk | ||
| Noobz | Greg Lipstein | ||
| Taken 2 | Casey | ||
| Byron's Theme | Butcher | Short | |
| 2013 | Bad Turn Worse | Sheriff Shep | |
| A True Story | Richard Simpkins | ||
| Skinwalker Ranch | Hoyt | ||
| 2014 | Barry Goldfield, Jr. | ||
| Faults | Terry | ||
| Locker 13 | Archie | Segment: Title Story | |
| After We Rest | Mr. Norman | Short | |
| The Last Survivors | Carson | ||
| Brothers | Ronnie | Short | |
| Taken 3 | Casey | ||
| 2015 | Pass the Light | Franklin | |
| Endgame | Principal Thomas | ||
| A Country Called Home | Tyler | ||
| Mucho Dinero | Jon Waters | ||
| 2016 | Durant's Never Closes | Dizzy Dean | |
| The Axe Murders of Villisca | Greg | ||
| Falsely Accused | Gus | ||
| The Knife Thrower | Circus Manager | ||
| Operation Chromite | Hoyt Vandenberg | ||
| 2017 | All About the Money | Jon Waters | |
| Americons | Billy | ||
| 2018 | Glass Jaw [2] | Sam Austin | |
| 2024 | Solvent | Gunner S. Holbrook | |
| TBA | Carolina Caroline | Filming |
| 1976 | Helter Skelter | William Garretson | TV movie |
| 1977 | Uncredited | ||
| Mulligan's Stew | Adams | Episode: "Melinda Special" | |
| 1979 | 240-Robert | Brad | Episode: "Poison Air" |
| 1980 | The White Shadow | Uri Kogenski | Episode: "The Russians Are Coming" |
| 1983 | The Powers of Matthew Star | Brad | Episode: "The Road Rebels" |
| September Gun | Brian Brian | TV movie | |
| The Jeffersons | Frank | Episode: "I Do, I Don't" | |
| High School U.S.A. | Dirty Curt | TV movie | |
| 1987 | The Twilight Zone | Nick Gatlin (Segment: "Shelter Skelter") | Episode: "Joy Ride/Shelter Skelter/Private Channel" |
| Cagney & Lacey | Hands Callahan | Episode: "The City is Burning" | |
| 1988 | Tattingers | Rick Jurasky | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Paradise | Emmett | Episode: "Dead Run" |
| 1990 | Falcon Crest | Stone | Episode: "Finding Lauren" |
| Jake and the Fatman | Lenny Maddox | Episode: "By Myself" | |
| Tour of Duty | Maj. Rex Chapman, USAF | Episode: "The Raid" | |
| Rainbow Drive | Azzolini | TV movie | |
| 1991 | Quantum Leap | Flash McGrath | Episode: "Glitter Rock–April 12, 1974" |
| Fever | Bobby | TV movie | |
| 1992 | L.A. Law | Dr. Harold Benson | Episode: "I'm Ready for My Closeup, Mr. Markowitz" |
| Four Eyes and Six Guns | TV movie | ||
| 1992–1994 | Martin | Shawn McDermott | 54 episodes |
| 1993 | Bakersfield P.D. | Ray Coombs | Episode: "A Bullet for Stiles" |
| 1994 | The X-Files | Salvatore Matola | Episode: "Sleepless" |
| Beverly Hills, 90210 | Mr. Trilling, Dope Dealer | 4 episodes | |
| 1995 | Chicago Hope | Jack Kimball | Episode: "Hello Goodbye" |
| Strange Luck | Henry Bloom | Episode: "Last Chance" | |
| Seinfeld | Homeless Man | Episode: "The Beard" | |
| 1996 | Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah | Steve | TV movie |
| 1996–2000 | The Pretender | Broots | 82 episodes |
| 1998 | Seinfeld | Rusty | Episode: "The Bookstore" |
| 2001 | The Pretender 2001 | Broots | TV movie |
| ER | Defense Attorney Marty Nesmith | Episode: "Fear of Commitment" | |
| Broots | TV movie | ||
| 2002 | 24 | Joseph Wald | Episode: "Day 2: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m." |
| 2003–2005 | Carnivàle | Texas Ranger | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Las Vegas | Greg Walker | Episode: "Sons and Lovers" |
| 2007–2010 | Lost | Roger Linus | 6 episodes |
| 2008 | Jim Warren | Episode: "The Box" | |
| 2010 | Cold Case | Bill Shepard '78 | 2 episodes |
| Sons of Anarchy | Passport Forger | Episode: "So" | |
| Psych | Strabinsky | Episode: "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out" | |
| Nikita | The Engineer | Episode: "Dark Matter" | |
| Supernatural | Martin Creaser | 2 episodes | |
| 2011 | Hawaii Five-0 | Liam Miller | Episode: "Lapa'au" |
| 2012 | Dr. Fubalous | Dr. Reed | 2 episodes |
| Napoleon Dynamite | Uncle Rico | 6 episodes | |
| BlackBoxTV | Dad | Episode: "Silverwood: The Hunger" | |
| 2013–2014 | The Bridge | Bob | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | Criminal Minds | Clifford Walsh | Episode: "The Road Home" |
| 2016–2020 | Dream Corp LLC | Dr. Roberts | 28 episodes |
| 2021–present | The White Lotus | Greg Hunt | Recurring in seasons 1 to 3 |
| 2024 | It's Florida, Man | Denver | Episode: "Saucy" |
| 2025 | Saturday Night Live | Howard Lutnick | Episode: "Jon Hamm / Lizzo" |
| Devil May Cry | President Hopper | Voice role |
| 2012 | Sheriff Clive Skurky (voice) |
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