Bio
Rex Linn is an American actor best known for his role as Detective Frank Tripp in the television crime procedural CSI: Miami.
Linn was born in the Panhandle of Texas and grew up in the small town of Spearman.
With a population of approximately three thousand, Spearman's economy relied mainly on ranching, farming and the oil business. It was in this small Texas community that Rex developed an appetite at an early age for movies and acting.
The Lyric theatre on Main street provided the people of Spearman with the only movie house in the area. Rex frequented the little movie house often and enjoyed its menu of horror films and westerns.
In August of 1969 his parents relocated the family to Oklahoma City where he attended Casady High School. It was here that he first became discouraged about his future as an actor.
After the first night of the school's production of Fiddler On The Roof, Rex was asked to leave the play by his drama coach. He was told it would be wise to direct his energy elsewhere, and that ended his acting career in high school.
He then earned a B.A. degree in Radio, Television and Film from Oklahoma State University. After graduating Rex decided on a banking career. He worked his way up to loan officer and stayed with it for about 3 years. He then accepted a job with an oil company. His job was overseeing field operations in western Oklahoma.
In the ten years following college, Rex was able to convince a talent agent to take a chance on him and represent him in the Oklahoma market. After shooting some very bad commercials he started landing small roles in various projects.
It was during this time that he was given the opportunity to act in his first film that was being produced by his best friend. But more importantly he became an associate producer on the film.
That opportunity allowed him great insight into the creative process of filmmaking, which later proved to be a valuable asset to him in the world of acting.
In 1989 he was cast in his first substantial role as serial killer Floyd Epps in Night Game, starring Roy Scheider. Following this film he decided it was time to head West.
In February of 1990, Rex moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. For the first three years he studied acting with Silvana Gallardo in Studio City and worked with a close friend on various construction jobs.
In April of 1992 he got his first break. Rex was cast as the bad U.S. Treasury agent Richard Travers in the highly successful Sylvester Stallone movie, Cliffhanger. That film proved to be very instrumental in providing the necessary exposure Rex needed to get to the next level.
Since then he has appeared in over 35 films and has had a recurring role in four television series.
He currently lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his dog in a cat suit named Danny.