Miguel Ferrer as Dr. Garret Macy

To Miguel Ferrer, the best part about playing forensic examiner Dr. Garret Macy in the NBC hit drama "Crossing Jordan," now in its fifth season, is that Macy is a complex man who still manages to maintain a reasonable degree of normalcy. In contrast, Ferrer's distinctive on-screen presence has often led him to be cast in somewhat offbeat character roles. He first attracted audience attention with a breakout performance in "Robocop." He won critical acclaim for his portrayal of an FBI forensic expert - very different from Garret Macy - in David Lynch's cult hit TV series "Twin Peaks." In 2000, he delivered a standout big-screen performance as a drug dealer-turned-reluctant-informer in Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning film "Traffic."

Despite an impeccable Hollywood pedigree - he is the son of movie star Jose Ferrer and singer Rosemary Clooney - Ferrer initially began carving his career path as a studio musician (his credits include playing drums on Keith Moon's "Two Sides of the Moon"). Band mate Billy Mumy (Will Robinson on the classic "Lost in Space") cast him in his first role in the television series "Sunshine." It wasn't much of a stretch - Ferrer played a drummer - but Mumy had to talk him into doing it.

Since then, Ferrer has starred on the big screen in Paramount's hardball detective comedy "Where's Marlowe?" and lent his voice to Disney's "Mulan." He also can be seen in "The Manchurian Candidate" and two of John Sayles' films, "Sunshine State" and "Silver City." Other film credits include New Line's "The Man," John Badham's "Another Stakeout," Tony Scott's "Revenge," and "Stephen King's The Night Flier."

On television, Ferrer has appeared in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries "Stephen King's The Stand," and "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story." He has guest-starred on "Will & Grace" and the pilot for "ER;" and starred in the NBC comedy series "Lateline." Ferrer made his New York stage debut in the Off-Broadway production of "The Exonerated," directed by Bob Balaban.

In his spare time, Ferrer loves to play golf and ski, he also still finds time to play club dates with Mumy. Their band, the Jenerators, has released two CDs. Annually, Ferrer helps organize a golf tournament fundraiser to benefit the UCLA Children's Hospital. Ferrer currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. His birthday is February 7.