Bio
Desmond Harrington is an American actor best known for his roles in the feature films The Hole, Wrong Turn and Ghost Ship; and for his role as Joey Quinn on the crime drama television series Dexter, from 2008-2013.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, Harrington grew up in the Bronx, NY. Desmond attended Catholic schools for 12 years. The pinnacle of his academic career occurred in his senior year of high school, when a play that he had written was chosen by the theatre department to be performed.
After finishing high school, Desmond spent six weeks in college before realising that he needed some time off from academia. A student of cinema since his early childhood, he spent his days watching films over and over until he could recite every line.
Desmond's dream was to become an actor, and in order to finance his ambition, he found work in construction. He began working as a landscaper and labourer for a construction company and worked as a bartender at night so he could pay for acting classes in Manhattan with John Strassberg.
His hard work paid off in 2009 when he landed a recurring role on the popular CW show, Gossip Girl, alongside Blake Livey, Chase Crawford and Leighton Meester.
Following, Desmond became a series regular on Showtime's Dexter, where he plays the mysterious Detective Joseph Quinn. In between, Desmond also shot the dramatic film, Life is Hot in Cracktown, alongside Kerry Washington and directed by Buddy Giovinazzo.
On one of his first auditions, Desmond booked Joan of Arc starring Mila Jovovich, John Malkovich and Dustin Hoffman and directed by Luc Besson. He then went on to star with James LeGros and Amber Valetta in Stacy Cochran's Drop Back Ten, which was in competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
Audiences saw him co-star in Christine Lahti's feature film directiorial debut, My First Mister, opposite Albert Brooks and Leelee Sobieski, which Paramount Classics premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001.
He was also seen co-starring in Riding In Cars with Boys opposite Drew Barrymore and Brittany Murphy for director Penny Marshall that Sony pictures released in 2001.
In 2002 Desmond completed a starring role in the Joel Silver produced horror movie, Ghost Ship, which was released by Warner Bros.
Desmond appeared in Love Object for Content Films which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; Wrong Turn, which he starred in opposite Jeremy Sisto and Eliza Dushku for director Rob Schmidt which was released by FOX/New Regency; and Three Way Split, which was released by Columbia Tri-Star.
Desmond was also seen in Taken, the Emmy-winning Dreamworks mini-series produced by Steven Spielberg and as a series regular on LA Dragnet with Ed O'Neil on ABC.