John Shea

Born: April 14 1949
Where: North Conway, New Hampshire, USA

The actor first attracted attention as the son of Jack Lemmon who disappears in Latin America in Costa-Gavras' Missing.

Other notable appearances have included the 1984 drama Windy City with Kate Capshaw and 1998's Southie, which he directed and starred in.

Shea studied at Bates College and then qualified as a director at Yale School of Drama and also attended the university film school.

He made his feature debut in Hussy in 1980 and has enjoyed a successful career, mainly in TV but also on the big screen.

Shea well known for his role as the evil Lex Luthor in the international hit series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

He also co-wrote and directed the independent film Southie, starring Donnie Wahlberg, Rose McGowan and Amanda Peet.

A drama set in Irish-American South Boston, Southie won the Jury Award for Best Independent film at the 1998 Seattle International Film Festival and is distributed by Lion's Gate Films.

On stage he has starred in the Pulitzer Prize winning hit, How I Learned To Drive, starring Molly Ringwald.

Recent work has included Heartbreak Hospital with Patricia Clarkson and The Empath.