Christopher Judge

Douglas Christopher Judge (born October 13, 1964) is an American actor best known for playing Teal'c in Stargate SG-1 and has done voice acting for animated series and video games. He attended the University of Oregon on a football scholarship and was a Pacific Ten Conference player.

Early life
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Judge always knew that he wanted to be an actor, studying drama in high school. "The television set was my babysitter growing up. I can remember wanting to invoke the feelings that I was getting from television--I wanted to be the one who was the catalyst for those feelings in other people. Performing was something I've always known I was going to do." . He always knew that sports would be a stepping stone to an acting career.

Judge received a scholarship from the University of Oregon and played defensive back and safety for the Ducks from 1982 to 1985. He led in kickoff return yardage for 1983-84 and interceptions in 1984, and earned the Casanova Award in 1982, given to the freshman or newcomer of the year. While at Oregon, Judge was a three time All American, a Pacific-10 Conference Selection in 1984 and played in the 1985 Hula Bowl.

Judge figured he would study pre-med at first, in case acting didn't work out, but soon found he had trouble with the required math. He then changed his major to psychology, then again to telecommunications and film. with a minor in psychology.

Judge won a contest to host a radio show in Oregon, and in his senior year he won a regional contest to host the West Coast FOX KLSR Morning Show, an "MTV talk show type thing"; he used this experience to get an agent and move to Los Angeles.

Acting career


In 1989 Judge began studying at the Howard Fine Studio in LA. A few of his early roles were in the 1990s Bird on a Wire, Cadence, Neon Rider and MacGyver with future Stargate SG-1 star Richard Dean Anderson. In the ensuing years, Judge had small parts in various television shows and movies such as 21 Jump Street (with future SG-1 director Peter DeLuise), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and House Party 2, and as a regular on Sirens from 1994 to 1995.

Judge's largest role came in 1997 with Stargate SG-1. While at a friend's house, he saw his friend's roommate practicing for an audition and was intrigued. While the roommate was away, Judge looked at the audition notes, then called his agent and insisted he get him an audition, or lose him as a client. At the audition there were three sets of actors for each of the principal roles, but eight or ten for the role of Teal'c. Judge was confident he got the part when they dismissed everyone who read for the part except him. Out of all the actors in Stargate SG-1, Judge has been in the most episodes.

More recent works of Judge's include guest spots on Andromeda and Stargate Atlantis, the television movie Personal Effects, and the films Snow Dogs and A Dog's Breakfast, the latter written and directed by fellow Stargate actor David Hewlett.

Writing career
Judge has written four episodes of Stargate SG-1: season five's "The Warrior", season six's "The Changeling", season seven's "Birthright", and season eight's "Sacrifices". He likes to lock himself in a room and write whatever he's working on in one sitting, as he feels he has little self-discipline to take a break and then come back. He also doesn't revisit scripts to tinker with them after he is done

After Stargate SG-1 was canceled, Judge began writing a script for a show called Rage of Angels. He wanted to "...be the lead in an hour formatted show and prove that a black lead can be commercially viable and sustainable in overseas markets." The script was marketed as a two hour, back door pilot with MGM, but now apparently is with Direct TV and Starz Media.

Voice work
Judge has also done voice acting for animated series and video games, including the voice of Magneto on X-Men: Evolution and the canceled Stargate SG-1: The Alliance. In the season eight episode, "Avatar" and "The Warrior", Teal'c informs SG-1 that he plays Def Jam Vendetta, alluding to the fact that Chris Judge was a voice actor in that game. He is also known for voicing Jericho in Turok.

Judge provided the voice of Zodak on the revived He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon as well as Coach Grey in the Action Man CGI series

Awards and nominations
In 2002, Judge was nominated for a Saturn Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series for his work on Stargate SG-1.

Personal life
Judge has one younger brother, Jeff Judge, also an actor.

1st cousin is renowned photographer David Hill, founder of VisualCocktail and principal photographer of FocusedFoto and Monarch Magazine.

Judge is involved with the Boys and Girls club of Canada, and enjoys playing golf in his spare time.

Filmography
Sometimes credited as Chris Judge, D. Christopher Judge, Douglas Judge or Doug Judge.