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by Amanda Southall Eric Close isn’t a savvy, hardworking member of the New York Missing Persons Squad of the FBI. That’s just who he plays on TV. Close, 41, is the co-star and a director in the CBS hit series Without A Trace, a drama featuring Anthony LaPaglia. The show, which revolves around the agents who work to locate missing persons, debuted in 2002. Close plays Martin Fitzgerald, a driven, intuitive detective. The blue-eyed actor fills many other roles. He is a dedicated husband, father of two girls, and athlete; Close (along with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey) competed in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on Sept. 14th, and took seventh place. Born in Staten Island, New York, his family eventually settled in San Diego when he was seven years old. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in communications in 1989. Close met his wife Keri at a friend’s wedding in Dallas and the couple were married in 1995. They have two daughters, ages 10 and 7. “We love to travel, be adventurous, play sports,” he says of his family. “When I got out of college and faced the real world, I looked at my life and decided that no matter what I did with my life, I wanted to have a relationship with God” Recently, the adventurous couple went on a trip to South Africa through CBS’s Watch! magazine, which they both describe as “life-changing.” “It was my first time in Africa and it was really unbelievable,” he says. Close says the trip highlighted Africa’s dichotomy of life and death; rich, exotic wildlife juxtaposed with the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic. While in Africa, Close visited orphans, many of whom have AIDS, and villages rampaged by the virus. “Seventeen million people have died and there are 12 million orphans,” Close says. Close also filmed Public Service Announcements for the Africa Foundation, which works to protect and promote conservation and responsible ecotourism in Africa as well as focusing on education, health care and income-generating activities. “If seeing me somehow gets people’s attention or motivates someone to act, then I hope to do anything I can to help,” he says. The down to earth star feels blessed to be where he’s at today. Close began acting in a few plays in elementary and junior high school, but lost interest when he reached high school. In college, however, he started to think more about life after graduation. During a trip to Spain in 1987, Close got some experience in production. “I really liked it and thought it was something I wanted more experience with,” Close says. He went back to school and started acting in student films and commercials, then decided to try to build a career as an actor. Close’s decision to pursue acting was not flippant, and it came at a time he’d made another important decision in his life. Close says he became a Christian at age 13 at a youth group event one of his friends invited him to. “They shared the gospel and I still remember the reason I wanted to accept God was because He wasn’t out for His own glory and He didn’t play favourites, He loves everyone,” Close remembers. “That really resonated with me as a 13-year-old.” Close describes his relationship with Christ as complacent throughout his teenage and college years. Then at age 22, he surrendered his life to God. “I made that journey back to God and started walking with Him,” he says. He also put the decision to pursue acting in God’s hands. “I prayed to God and said, ‘If this is really Your plan for my life, if this is Your will for me, I surrender that to You,’ ” Close says. “After I prayed, I landed a role in a play and I really felt that this is what God was calling me to do.” Close did theatre and a few bit pieces until he was cast as a regular in the daytime drama Santa Barbara in 1992. “That role really opened a lot of doors for me,” Close says. Since then, Close has appeared in several television series including Now and Again, The Magnificent Seven, Dark Skies, McKenna, and Sisters. He says it also helps him to maintain humility in a very self-seeking industry. “With what I do, you want to be recognized, and if you don’t promote yourself, you might get looked over,” he says. “When you’re not in the spotlight, you can handle that in one of two ways, you can get bent out of shape or you can say, ‘Well, that’s just the way it is,’ and try next time.” While Close would love to pursue more movie roles, he feels blessed doing what he does for a living. “When I first started, I thought I was going to be in the movie business and 18 years later I’m in television,” he says. “You never really know what God has in store for you.” Trusting God is a message Close shares with fans. When he signs autographs, he often includes Philippians 4:13 from the Bible. “The verse says ‘I can do all things through God who strengthens me.’ Especially if someone’s struggling or going through a hard time, I write the verse because I hope it spreads some encouragement and reminds them of God’s strength and love.” photos courtesy Eric Close and CBS
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