Doug Kruse

Born in Amityville, New York, on the south shore of Long Island, Doug attended Lindenhurst High School, then went on to college at Marquette University, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he received an honors degree in Liberal Arts: Philosophy/English. After entering his second year at Hofstra Law School, on Long Island, Doug decided to turn toward acting. He has studied with some of the finest New York teachers, like Terry Hayden, Jacqueline Brooks, Alan Langdon, Nikos Psacharopoulis and Warren Robertson, but his most influential period of study was with Stella Adler as a working actor in a series of her Master Thesis Classes. After years of work off off, off and around Broadway, in regional and stock theater and in numerous independent films, Doug moved to Hollywood. In LA he appeared in a top-of-show guest-star role opposite Hugh Laurie for the hit series "House" as "Dolce" in the episode, "Help Me." In New York City he has worked opposite Jesse L. Martin and Jeremy Sisto in "Law & Order," as "Mackey," in the episode, "Submission" and as "Rigalowski" opposite Sam Riley in the independent feature "13" starring Mickey Rourke, Jason Stathem and 50 Cent. Doug's most recent appearances, however, are in a multi-episode top-of-show guest-star in the HBO/Cinemax release of "Banshee" as "Nathan" and in "Manhunt: Unabomber" as "Dr. David Gelernter." These shows mark the continuing collaboration between Doug and Emmy winning director/producer, Greg Yaitanes. In Hollywood, he has also worked opposite Kathryn Morris and Danny Pino as guest lead in the hit CBS series "Cold Case," opposite Faye Dunaway in the ABC hit series "Alias," opposite David Paymer in "Line of Fire", on ABC and as "Agent Downing" in the Gena Davis series "Commander In Chief" on ABC. You may have seen Doug as spokesperson for the "Ignoring the Flood" spot, as the bad guy evading the law, in the form of Darrell Walltrip, in a campaign for "Toyota NASCAR" and in any number of spots for Nike, Lincoln, Honda, etc. In addition to those listed above, he has had the honor of working in projects with such talents and luminaries as Cuba Gooding Jr, Laurence Fishburne, J.T. Walsh, Isabella Rossellini, Steven Rhea, Pamela Anderson, Don Johnson, Heather Locklear, Bokeem Woodbine and many more. "Nod" was his directorial debut and has most recently screened at the at the Canne Independent FF, Paris. This fifteen minute experimental short has also been accepted into the Emerging Filmmakers, Little Theatre, Rochester, New York, Pune IFF, India, the Trenton Film Festival, Trenton, NJ, where he was awarded Best Director - Shorts, the Brno 16, Czech Republic, and Action On Film International Film Festival, Long Beach, CA. His original feature screenplay, "Mannequin Queen (aka "Nee Claudey")" was a semi-finalist at the Cinequest Screenplay Competition, Finalist-Honourable Mention at the FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards, and has been accepted into competition at the Westwood IFF and Mexico IFF; In the vein of "Leaving Las Vegas" and "American Beauty," "Mannequin Queen" tells the story of one woman's rejection of the terms that she has surrendered her life to and the strange journey down the rabbit hole to epiphany or self-annihilation that ensues. Doug intends to further his experimental style through a multi-camera shoot of this script. "Find Your Way," a 27 minute experimental short, and the latest directed by and starring Doug, is going out to the festival market where it is being well received. In the monologue style of "Swinging to Cambodia," this project tells the story of a boy's promise to his parents that he would take care of the family if things went bad, a promise that came due decades later with his father's suicide; it has already found its way into the program of several festival around the world. "Railbird," Doug's first feature length experimental project should be completed for the 2023 festival season.