Who is Jeff Kober?
A writer and actor with 140 acting credits to his name, Jeff Kober, is still perhaps known best for his role as Sergeant Evan ‘Dodger’ Winslow in the series “China Beach“, which aired from 1988 until 1991. He had notable roles in the series “Sons of Anarchy“ and “The Walking Dead“, while to movie lovers, he is well-known for his roles in “Sully“, “Bad Blood“, and “Inferno“, among others.
Jeff is also known as ‘the nicest bad guy in Hollywood’ as he often plays ‘evil’ antagonists.
Early life and education
Jeff Kober was born under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius, on 18 December 1953, in Billings, Montana USA; he holds American nationality, and his ethnicity is White.
He was raised in his hometown by his parents, about whom nothing is known, nor has Jeff spoken about having any siblings, thus it’s assumed that he’s an only child. He hasn’t shared many details regarding his early life and his education, although it’s known that he worked as a rancher from an early age.
Jeff matriculated from high school in 1971 and enrolled in college, but dropped out and moved to Los Angeles, California. In one of his interviews, Jeff said: ‘I was in college and I fell in love and she wanted to be an actress and she moved to Los Angeles. So I left school; I did one final summer on the family farm and then followed her here.’
So, it was love that brought Jeff to Hollywood, although he hadn’t dreamed of becoming an actor. At first he played in a rock band, but to provide for himself, he also worked as a bartender. Eventually, his friend told him about an acting class that he thought Jeff would enjoy, so he studied acting with theater educator, Ed Kaye-Martin, and soon began auditioning.
Roles in series
Jeff made his acting debut as a Visitor Officer in an episode of the series “V“ in 1985, followed in the same year with his role as Julian Bradley in “Highway to Heaven“. Next, he was cast to play Guy Stafford in “Falcon Crest“ during 1986 and 1987.
His most notable role as Dodger in “China Beach“ came in the following year. This historic war drama followed the story of the staff in a Vietnam War field hospital – during the filming of the series, Jeff and his co-star Dana Delany visited Vietnam, and she talked about their trip in the documentary “Intimate Portrait“.
In the following years, Jeff mostly guest starred in numerous series, including “The Hat Squad” (1992), “The Commish” (1994), “Walker, Texas Ranger” (1994-1997), and “The Lazarus Man” (1996). Next, he was cast to play Daedalus in “Kindred: The Embraced”, a horror mystery drama about the vampire who falls in love with a human, created by John Leekley.
The early 2000s, saw him in “JAG” (2000), “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (2002), “The Shield” (2003), and “Criminal Minds” (2005). In the following years, Jeff had numerous guest roles in an episode or two of various popular series, such as “Supernatural” (2007), “Numb3rs” (2008), and “Cold Case” (2009).
From 2009 until 2013, Jeff portrayed Jacob Hale Junior in “Sons of Anarchy”, a crime thriller drama that follows the story of a biker who struggles to balance being involved in an outlaw motorcycle club and being a father. The lead roles starred Charlie Hunnam, Mark Boone Junior and Katey Sagal; the series was nominated for five Primetime Emmys awards.
In 2014, Jeff was cast to play Joe in “Walking Dead”, making an appearance in four episodes of this horror thriller drama, which brought him the CinEuphoria Merit-Honorary Award; he later reprised his role as Joe in “The Walking Dead: Webisodes” from 2017 to 2018.
Concurrently, from 2017 until 2022, Jeff had the recurring role as Harris Keane in “NCIS: Los Angeles”, while in 2020, he was seen as Captain DiBiasi in “Big Dogs”, before he was cast to play Cyrus Renault in “General Hospital” – his performance brought Jeff a nomination for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2021, an award which he won the following year.
Roles in movies
Jeff made his first big-screen appearance portraying Roy Gaddis in the 1986 movie “Out of Bounds“, followed by his roles in “Viper“ (1988), ”The First Power” (1990), and “The Hit List” (1993), and in the same year, he starred as Louis in the thriller “The Baby Doll Murders”, opposite Melanie Smith and John Saxon.
Next, Jeff was seen acting in several TV movies, before in 1995 portraying Major West in “Automatic”, and the following years saw Jeff in “One Tough Bastard” (1996), “The Maker” (1997), and “Inferno” in 1999, also starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Danny Trejo.
Jeff continued with portraying Zed in the 2001 movie “The Want”, written and directed by Bernard White, followed by his role as Buddy in the 2002 drama “Defining Maggie”, one of the rare roles to see Jeff as a ‘good guy’. In the following year, he portrayed Pomona Joe in “A Man Apart”, starring Vin Diesel. In 2004, Jeff was seen in two movies “Hidalgo” and “World Without Waves”.
One of Jeff’s notable roles was his portrayal of Redding in the 2007 movie “The Hills Have Eyes 2”, which follows the story of a group of National Guard trainees who must fight a vicious group of mutants. Although the movie had no nominations, it was well accepted and rated by the audience.
The list of Jeff’s roles is too long to enumerate, so we mentioned some of his most significant. Also worth mentioning is his portrayal of John Fowler in the 2010 horror “Re-Cut”, and his role as Harry in “Perfection” in 2012.
In 2016, he was again seen as a ‘good guy’ in the Oscar-nominated drama “Sully”, portraying Lieutenant Cook, Sully’s flight instructor, with lead roles played by Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney. The movie had 36 award nominations, including the Oscar for Best Achievement in Sound Editing, and won 14.
Most recently, Jeff was seen in “Leave No Trace” (2018), “Char Man” (2019), and “Topology of Sirens” in 2021.
Love life and relationships
There have been various rumors concerning both Jeff’s love life and his sexual orientation, however, it’s widely known that he’s straight. Jeff was married twice before he met his now-wife. His first wife was Rhonda Talbot, the two married on 4 February 1989, and have one child together, whose name, birthdate, and gender are unrevealed, nor has Jeff revealed when he divorced Rhonda.
On 25 August 1998, Jeff married fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone, with whom he didn’t have children. This marriage also ended in divorce, however, neither Jeff nor Kelly spoke about the reason for their separation, and there is no information about when the divorce was finalized.
Jeff hasn’t spoken about how and when he met his future third wife, Adele Slaughter, however, it is known that they exchanged their wedding vows on 31 December 2013, and as of August 2022, Jeff and Adele are still married, but keep their private lives away from the media’s attention; they don’t have children.
Where is he today?
As mentioned, Jeff’s fans can enjoy watching him act in “General Hospital“, and they can keep track of his work and life through his social media accounts. His Instagram followers, whose number counts over 7,500, can almost daily find inspirational quotes since Jeff is a meditation teacher. He offers advanced techniques and counseling, and more about his teaching can be found on his website.
When he’s not acting, Jeff works as a tintype photographer.
Age, height, and net worth
Jeff’s age is 68, and has grey hair and green eyes; he weighs around 170lbs (78kgs) and is 5ft 10ins (1.79m) tall.
According to sources, as of August 2022, his net worth has been estimated at over $3 million.
