Biography for
Dominic Purcell More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

17 February 1970, Wallasey, England, UK

Birth Name

Dominic Haakon Myrtvedt Purcell

Nickname

Dom

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Biography

Born in England but raised in Australia by his Norwegian father and Irish mother, Purcell was a bored landscaper who decided to attend a drama school. He became a TV star in Australia before debuting in America as the title character in "John Doe" (2002). In 2000, he won the Green Card lottery and now lives in Los Angeles with his family.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Nichol

Mini Biography

At the age of two, Dominic and his family moved from England to Sydney's Bondi and then moved to the Western Suburbs. After becoming a landscape gardener, he soon tired of the profession and, whilst watching the war movie Platoon (1986), decided to become an actor. Due to his working-class background, acting seemed a very unlikely choice of career, so he didn't pursue it until sometime later. He studied at The Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) and then later enrolled at the Western Australian Academy of Performing arts where he met his future wife Rebecca and studied with Hugh Jackman.

In 1997, Dominic scored a role in the TV series "Raw FM" (1997) and then landed a part in Mission: Impossible II (2000), which was filmed in Australia. He was soon spotted by a US talent scout and went off to LA. Since then, Dominic has been working constantly with roles in the movie Equilibrium (2002), the TV show "John Doe" (2002), Blade: Trinity (2004), and in the upcoming thriller Three Way (2004) and a new police television drama, Strut.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Aeryn

Spouse

Rebecca Williamson

(1 August 1998 - 22 October 2008) (divorced) 4 children

Trivia

He was a classmate of Hugh Jackman at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts.

Left high school to form a landscape gardening venture with some friends. His pre-acting stints also included surfing.

Has four children: Joseph (b. August 12th 1999), Audrey (b. October 30th 2001) and twins Lily-Rose and Augustus (b. July 7th 2003).

Did all of his stunts in the sword fight scene against Blade in _Blade: Trinity (2004)_.

His mother is Maureen (she's Irish).

He's the oldest of five children. Sibling's names: Damian Purcell, Jaime Pucell, Patrick Purcell and Marie-Therese Purcell.

Has two nieces named Claudia and Eilisha (Marie-Therese's daughters).

Former son-in-law of David Williamson.

Whilst in Ireland at Christmas 2007 he and his brother saved the life of a 16 month old boy, who was choking, by slapping his back to dislodge an onion ring and then Damian giving CPR until he started breathing again. Til this day both Dom and Damian keep in touch with the child and the boy's family.

Dom's parents and siblings all live in Dundalk,Ireland.So twice a year he flies in to see the family.

Personal Quotes

I've been here for five years, maybe four. I was doing 'John Doe,' and I was working ridiculous hours on that, and I was speaking American all day and then I'd get home and speak Australian and I just felt so exhausted by going back and forth that I just decided to speak it all the time. Now I just speak American.

Where Are They Now

(2003) Lives in Vancouver, Canada with his family while filming the series "John Doe".

(2005) Official residence, with his family, is Los Angeles. But he lives in Chicago, Illinois during filming of "Prison Break" and flies home to his family on weekends.

(2009) Lives in San Clemente, California

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