Chip Esten Biography

Charles Esten Puskar III (born September 9, 1965), known professionally as Chip Esten, is an American comedian, actor and singer known for his appearances on the improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

Esten is known by his nickname "Chip" in improv comedy shows but is always credited as "Charles Esten".

Esten is currently playing the character of Deacon Claybourne on ABC's Nashville.

Early life

Esten was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and moved to Alexandria, Virginia at age 9 after his parents divorced. His late father, also named Charles, was a prominent local businessman and business partner of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Ray Mansfield. He attended T.C. Williams High School and the College of William and Mary, where he was a brother of Theta Delta Chi. At William and Mary, he was the lead vocalist in the band N'est Pas from 1985 until 1988, one year after his graduation. After graduating from college and marrying his wife, Esten moved to the United Kingdom to make his theatrical debut, winning acclaim for his title role in the musical Buddy in the early 1990s.

Career

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

In 1992, the makers of Whose Line Is It Anyway? asked him to audition for an episode, which he did successfully. Consequently, Esten made his debut on the Channel 4 show in the fourth series and "won" the episode. He subsequently appeared in more episodes later the same year when the show did a run in New York. At the time, the show needed a second specialist improvisational singer to fill in for Mike McShane.

Esten made his final appearance in the UK edition in 1994 before moving back to the USA and playing the role of Luke in Party of Five. Although appearing on stage and screen thereafter, it was his 1999 return to Whose Line Is It Anyway? "? in the show's new-look American format, with Drew Carey as host "? which established him with a mainstream American audience. He was a regular "fourth contestant" on the show. While on the show, he became known for his Snagglepuss impressions and ability to improvise in the singing games alongside Wayne Brady.

Other comedy work

Following his return to Whose Line Is It Anyway, Esten made a guest appearance as himself with fellow regular cast members from the show Brady, Greg Proops and Brad Sherwood on The Drew Carey Show. In 2003, he hosted a semi-scripted semi-improvised comedy mini series called On the Spot. Between 2004 and 2006, he was a member of the touring group Improv All-Stars and recurring cast member on Drew Carey's Green Screen Show. In 2011, he was a regular on Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on GSN.

He, Proops and former colleagues Ryan Stiles and Jeff Davis regularly team up and tour around the country doing live improv under the name Whose Live Anyway?.

Film appearances

In 2001, Esten appeared in Billy Crystal's TV movie 61* as Kevin Maris, the son of legendary New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris.

Esten had small roles in three Kevin Costner movies, The Postman, Thirteen Days as downed U-2 pilot Major Rudolf Anderson, and Swing Vote.

Esten also starred in a public service video, "Riding Straight", produced for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's curriculum, Motorcycle Rider Course: Riding and Street Skills (MRC:RSS). Esten portrayed a surfer dude, a snuff-dipping hick, and a concerned friend in a bar. Esten's performance, in turns over-the-top comedy and sincere public service message, greatly invigorated the drug- and alcohol-awareness portion of the MRC:RSS. The video, part of a curriculum update for a younger "MTV Generation" audience, replaced a filmstrip-like anti-alcohol short. That video was shown in an episode of American Chopper when Mikey is trying to get his motorcycle license.

Television

Esten has appeared as a guest star in various TV series, including The New Adventures of Old Christine, Star Trek: Voyager, ER, NCIS: Los Angeles, Jessie, The Mentalist, and The Office.

He also appeared as a contestant on at least four (12/13 through 12/16/88) episodes of the game show Sale of the Century, credited as Chip Puskar, having won over $13,000 cash, a microwave, a portable dishwasher, a diamond ring, a pool table and a trip to Paris. This was followed by an appearance on Scrabble in 1990, during its final week.

He played Lonnie, Kelly's fiancee in Married... with Children when the show ended in 1997. He now plays Deacon Claybourne on Nashville.

Personal life

Esten is married to Patty, whom he met in college, and they have two daughters Taylor and Addie and a son named Chase. They reside in Sherman Oaks, California.

Filmography

Comedy Shows

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1992, 1994	Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK version)	Performer	5 episodes
1999-2005	Whose Line Is It Anyway (US version)	Performer	39 episodes
2004-2005	Drew Carey's Green Screen Show	Recurring performer	8 episodes
2011	Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza	Regular performer	32 episodes

Television

Year	Work	Role	Notes
1988	Sale of the Century	Himself/Contestant	4 episodes
1989	On the Television	various	5 episodes
1990	Scrabble	Himself/Contestant	1 episode
1993	Cheers	Unnamed Marine	1 episode
	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Divok	1 episode
1994	Murphy Brown	Secretary #67	1 episode
1995-1996	The Crew	Randy Anderson	21 episodes
1996	Star Trek: Voyager	Dathan	1 episode
	Diagnosis: Murder	Joe Carter	1 episode
	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Ethan Press	Episode 75 "Stop the Presses"
1997	JAG	Lieutenant Pete 'Pistol' Ayers	1 episode
	Married... with Children	Lonnie	2 episodes
1998-2000	The Brian Benben Show	Chad Rockwell	7 episodes
1999	Jesse	Tad	1 episode
	Jack & Jill	Nick Seraph	1 episode
	Providence	Ted Shannon	1 episode
2000	Party of Five	Luke	7 episodes
2000-2001	The Drew Carey Show	Himself (guest appearance)	2 episodes
2002	The Guardian	Mark Hanson	1 episode
2003	On the Spot	Himself (host)	5 episodes
	Dragnet	Carl Savitsky	1 episode
	Just Shoot Me!	Jake	1 episode
2004	NYPD Blue	Tim Keating	1 episode
	Cold Case	John "The Hawk" Hawkins	1 episode
2006	The Office	Josh Porter	7 episodes
2007	Help Me Help You	Willis	1 episode
	The Winner	Gary	1 episode
	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Joe Campbell	2 episodes
2007-2008	ER	Dr. Barry Grossman	4 episodes
2009-2010	Big Love	Ray Henry	11 episodes
2009	The Mentalist	Rick Bregman	1 episode
	The Cleaner	Dr. Jake Slovak	1 episode
	NCIS: Los Angeles	John Cole/Ethan Stanhope	1 episode
2011	Wilfred	Nick	2 episodes
2011"present	Jessie	Morgan Ross	4 episodes
	Enlightened	Damon Manning
2012"present	Nashville	Deacon Claybourne	Series Regular

Films

Year	Work	Role	Notes
1997	The Sleepwalker Killing	Mark Schall
	The Postman	Michael
1999	The Expendables	Ram
	Late Last Night	Unnamed policeman
2000	Thirteen Days	Maj. Rudolf Anderson
2001	61*	Kevin Maris (1998)
2002	The Johnny Chronicles	Patrick Monroe
	Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet	Bill	"Twelve Miles to Trona" segment
2003	Nobody Knows Anything!	Connor Fulton
2007	American Family	Larry Bogner
2008	1%	John Tipton
	Swing Vote	Lewis

Discography

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions		Album
		US Country	US
2012	"Undermine" (with Hayden Panettiere)A	35	116	The Music of Nashville: Season 1 Volume 1
	"No One Will Ever Love You" (with Connie Britton)A	36	117

• ^ADid not enter the Hot 100 but charted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.