Judson Mills was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in northern
Virginia in a house built by George Washington. Washington was a young
surveyor in the area and the home is a historical landmark. Mills grew
up hunting and fishing, and was most interested in sports, particularly
football.
Judson attended High Mowing in Wilton, New Hampshire, a private school,
for his junior and senior year. It is a Waldorf school and rich with
history and the arts. Not until his senior year did he involve himself
in the theater. He was pushed into performing in his first play and
received a standing ovation for his relatively brief cameo.
This approval met Judson's liking and he began pursuing a career in
acting. Judson first attended Barry University, a liberal arts college
in Miami, Florida, but quickly realized that training in New York was
what he needed if he really wanted to succeed.
He moved to Long Island with the intention of attending the prestigious
American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He auditioned and was accepted. Only
250 people are accepted for the first year of their program, and of
those, only 60 are asked back to the second, final year. After two
years at AADA, and only two weeks before graduation, Mills was thrown.
His bold, reckless personality would prove to be an asset as well as a
handicap throughout his career.
While being made an example of for his tardiness and absences was
humbling, it also fueled his drive. Two weeks later
Jung und Leidenschaftlich - Wie das Leben so spielt (1956)
called AADA looking for an actor for a summer romance storyline. They
spoke to a faculty member who was a friend and fan who recommended him
for the audition. Judson audition and gained the role
Mills spent two and a half years on the show, laying the foundation for
the rest of his career. He was then signed for an episode of
Law & Order (1990). Realizing
California had more career options, he left everything behind and moved
to Hollywood.
The cocky young actor landed a role in a made-for-TV movie starring
Alyssa Milano and
Jamie Luner shortly after arrival. But
again, Mills brash attitude and wild personal life continued to be his
worst enemies. Over the next decade, Mills appeared on upwards of 30 TV
shows including New York Cops: NYPD Blue (1993),
J.A.G. - Im Auftrag der Ehre (1995),
Mord ist ihr Hobby (1984),
Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990),
Akte X: Die unheimlichen Fälle des FBI (1993), and
CSI: Miami (2002). He also broke
into feature films, starting in independents like
American Perfect (1997) with
Paul Sorvino,
Robert Forester,
Amanda Plummer, and
David Thewlis,
Joyride (1997) starring
Tobey Maguire,
'Benicio DelToro', and
Adam West. Judson's first starring
role was as surfer/pitcher Hog Ellis, in the third installment in the
Major League trilogy,
Zweite Liga - Die Indianer von Cleveland sind zurück (1998).
He also went on to work with such greats as
Cuba Gooding Jr., in
Der Chill Faktor (1999), Sir
Ian McKellen and
Brendan Fraser in the Academy
Award-nominated
Gods and Monsters (1998), and
Charlize Theron and
Bill Paxton in Disney's
Mein großer Freund Joe (1998). He also
spent two years in Dallas with Chuck Norris
filming the last 52 episodes of
Walker, Texas Ranger (1993).
Connection with the Norris family (Chuck, his brother Aaron, and son
Eric) proved to be valuable when after finishing Walker, they continued
working together filming the movie of the week
McCord - The President's Man II (2002).
The movie drew 16 million viewers opposite the Golden Globe Awards.
Talk of a spin-off series was shelved due to 9-11.
Judson lives in Los Angeles with his two sons, Jagger with wife Morgan
and Dalton with ex-wife Julie. He is very close to his mother and
father, who have been married nearly 40 years, as well as his brother
and sister-in-law.
