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Jesse Spencer
Jesse Spencer
	Spencer in 2009
Born	12 February 1979 (age 45); Melbourne, Australia
Citizenship	Australia; United States (since 2021)
Occupations	Actor; musician;
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Kali Woodruff Carr (m. 2020)
Children	1

Jesse Gordon Spencer (born 12 February 1979) is an Australian-American^[1] actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Billy Kennedy on the Australian soap opera Neighbours (1994–2022), for which he was nominated for two Logie Awards, Dr. Robert Chase on the American medical drama House (2004–2012) and Captain Matthew Casey on the American drama Chicago Fire (2012–2024).

Early life

Jesse Gordon Spencer was born in Melbourne on 12 February 1979, the son of Robyn and radiologist Rodney Spencer. His parents were the founders of the far-right party Australians Against Further Immigration,^[2] and would both later contest the 1998 Australian federal election for the right-wing populist party Pauline Hanson's One Nation.^[3]

Spencer attended Canterbury Primary School, Malvern Central School, and the private Scotch College. While there, he auditioned for the long-running soap opera Neighbours. He completed his VCE and had gained a place at Monash University but deferred to pursue acting.^[4]

Career

Acting

Spencer starred as Billy Kennedy in the Australian soap opera Neighbours from 1994 to 2000. He later reprised his role in 2005, in an episode celebrating the show's 20th anniversary. His character was the son of long-term iconic Ramsay Street residents Dr. Karl Kennedy and Susan Kennedy.^[5]

After his time on Neighbours, he co-starred in films such as Winning London with the Olsen Twins, Uptown Girls and Swimming Upstream.

Spencer starred as intensive care specialist and surgeon Dr. Robert Chase on the Fox medical drama House from 2004 to 2012. He played Chase for the show's entire run, becoming the second longest-serving member of the title character's team.

Spencer starred as firefighter Matthew Casey in the NBC drama Chicago Fire from 2012^[6] to 2021.^[7]

In 2022, it was confirmed that Spencer would return to Neighbours as part of the series finale.^[8]

In 2024, Spencer was confirmed as part of the cast for Disney Plus series Last Days of the Space Age.^[9]

Music

Spencer began his musical career with the Australian Boys Choir, performing with them from 1986 to 1992.^[10] He plays the violin in Band from TV, a group that includes his former House co-star Hugh Laurie. They play at various events, giving the money they earn to charity. The band played on Idol Gives Back in April 2008.^[11]^[12]

Awards and nominations

For Neighbours, Spencer was nominated for "Most Popular Actor" at the 1998 and 1999 Logie Awards. For House, he was nominated for "Choice TV Breakout Performance – Male" at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards and "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" at the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Awards. He received a "Golden Boomerang" at the 2006 Australians in Film Breakthrough Awards for his work on House.^[13] In 2007, he was included in People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People issue.

Personal life

Spencer began dating American actress Jennifer Morrison, who played his character's love interest in House, in July 2004; he proposed to her at the Eiffel Tower during Christmas 2006,^[14] but they called off their engagement in August 2007. He then dated English actress and singer Louise Griffiths from 2008 to 2010, and Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira from 2010 to 2013.^[15]

Spencer began dating neuroscientist Dr. Kali Woodruff Carr in 2014, and they were engaged in 2019. They married on 27 June 2020. The couple have one child, born in April 2022.^[16]

Spencer became a U.S. citizen in November 2021.^[1]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Lorna Doone	Marwood de Whichehalse
2001	Curse of the Talisman	Jeremy Campbell
2001	Winning London	Lord James Browning, Jr.
2002	Stranded	Fritz Robinson	TV film
2003	Swimming Upstream	Tony Fingleton
2003	Uptown Girls	Neal Fox
2004	Action Man: Robot Atak	Flynt (voice)	Animated tie-in
2006	Flourish	Eddie Gator
2006	The Script	Ben	Short film
2010	Tell-Tale	Lover	Short film
2013	Skum Rocks!	David Lockhart
2015	The Girl Is in Trouble	Nicholas Feinstein
2021	Queer Fish in God's Waiting Room	Liam	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Time Trax	Young Bill	Episode: "A Close Encounter"
1994–2022	Neighbours	Billy Kennedy	471 episodes
1998	Hercules	Triton, Jr. (voice)	Episode: "Hercules and the Son of Poseidon"
2002	Saishu Heiki Kanojo	Shuji's Father (voice)	English version; Episode: "Soshite, bokutachi wa koishiteiku"
2003	Death in Holy Orders	Raphael Arbuthnot	2 episodes; TV mini-series
2004–2012	House	Robert Chase	171 episodes
2006	Blue Heelers	Lee Cruickshank	Episodes: "Dangerous Animals"
2012–2021	Chicago Fire	Captain Matthew Casey	205 episodes
2013	Phineas and Ferb	Liam McCracken (voice)	Episode: "Primal Perry"
2014–2019	Chicago P.D.	Captain Matthew Casey	7 episodes
2017–2019	Chicago Med	Captain Matthew Casey	4 episodes
2024	Last Days of the Space Age	Tony Bissett	8 episodes

Music videos

Year	Artist	Title	Role
2009	Caitlin Crosby	"Still Have My Heart"	Dentist
2010	Katharine McPhee	"Say Goodbye"	Boyfriend

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	The King and I	Louis	State Theatre
1992	Winnie the Pooh	Christopher Robin	The Alexander Theatre
1993	Scrooge	Older brother of Tiny Tim	The Princess Theatre, Melbourne
1998–1999	Peter Pan	Peter Pan	White Rock Theatre, Hastings
1999–2000	Jack and the Beanstalk	Jack	Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
2003	The Modernists	Terrance	The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Work	Results
1999	Silver Logie Awards	Most Popular TV Actor	Neighbours	Won
1998	Silver Logie Awards	Most Popular TV Actor	Neighbours	Nominated
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Performance – Male	House	Nominated
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	House	Nominated
2013	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Action	Chicago Fire	Nominated