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"You know one of the things about going from modeling to acting is it's so much more fulfilling. With modeling, you get your picture taken, which is great, good for you, you know? But in acting, you're able to reach in and show a little bit more of yourself."
~ Tom Welling
Birth Name: Thomas John Patrick Welling
Born: 26 April 1977
Birth Place: West Point, New York, USA
Height: 6'2
Marital Status: Married-Jamie White (5 July 2002 - present)
Siblings: 2 elder sisters, 1 younger brother
Previous Jobs:model
Fan Mail:
Tom Welling, Smallville
c/o Tollin/ Robbins Productions
10960 Ventura Blvd, 2nd Floor
Studio City, CA 91604, USA
You may also wish to email Tom at this address, ensuring his name is in the subject line:
[email protected]
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Tid Bits:
� Birth sign: Taurus
� Favourite Quote: "There you go!"
� Graduated in 1995 from Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan.
� Turned down the role of the young Clark Kent twice before accepting it.
� Has a pug named Cook.
Biography:
Thomas John Patrick Welling was born on 26 April 1977, in Putnam Valley, West Point, New York. He spent his very early years in Wisconsin, before moving to Hockessin, Delaware, in third grade. He lived there until just after his freshman year, when he and his family moved to Okemos, Michigan. There he grew up living with his father, a retired executive for General Motors, his mother, a 'home engineer,' and his three siblings, two elder sisters and a younger brother.
In his early years at school, Tom showed a little of the acting ability he would later use to great acclaim, when he appeared in several school plays and pageants up until the sixth grade. A jock during high school, he developed a passion for Basketball, which he still plays whenever the opportunity arises, dabbled with baseball, and excelled at soccer, where he played as third string goalkeeper in the high school Varsity team during his senior year.
Never particularly studious, he did no better than "fair" in High School, and on graduation from Okemos High School, in Okemos, Michigan, on June 8th, 1995, he decided that pursuing a College education was not really an option for him.
Instead he chose a more physically demanding occupation, and became a construction worker at a warehouse, living at home with his parents for a few more years, and hanging out with friends. During this time Tom also took a part-time job at the Abercrombie and Fitch store in Okemos.
On a spring day in 1997, Tom and a few friends were on vacation in Nantucket, and were hanging out in a bar when the then 20 year old was approached by an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue shoot scout, working for the famous photographer Bruce Weber.
Tom returned home to weigh up his options, before heading to Lake George, New York, to do the shoot and begin his new career, in the process making a few thousand dollars. The shoot was published in the 1997 Christmas Quarterly.
Tom soon moved from his parent's home in Michigan, to Manhattan, where he modelled periodically for the next two years.
During this time, he joined the Louisa Modelling Agency, taking assignments from their offices in Munich and Hamburg, and modelled for them throughout Europe, in Italy, Germany, and Spain.
In 1998, during his time spent modelling around the world, he met his future wife, Jamie A. White, who is two years his senior, in a coffee shop in Miami, Florida.
However it soon became clear that the modelling world would never really suit Tom, and so in January 2000, with the encouragement of friends and family and with the help of contacts he had made during his years as a model, he decided to move to Los Angeles. With no acting training, and no intention of taking any lessons, but the impression that it didn't look that difficult, he gave himself one year to become a successful actor.
Numerous auditions followed, and to his surprise Tom realised that he found the auditioning process quite enjoyable. Tom's first jobs were in television commercials for TJ Maxx, and Verizon, and a music video for the song 'Picture Perfect' by Angela Via.
However with the help of the CAA talent agency, his first breakthrough role came in late 2000 in the series Judging Amy, playing the role of karate teacher Rob Meltzer, Amy's ten years junior love interest. The role was originally planned to recur in three episodes, but Tom's performance so impressed the producers that he was recalled for a further three episodes later in the series. In mid 2001 his second, very small role, was in the series Special Unit 2, playing Flower 'Scar' Roberts/male victim no.1, in the episode The Depths. Tom made a cameo appearance in the pilot episode of the series Undeclared in September 2001 as a frat boy, before making his highly successful leading man debut in Smallville, as the Boy of Steel Clark Kent in October.
Tom twice turned down the offer of an audition for the part, figuring it would be "lame". However having auditioned hundreds of tall, handsome raven-haired men for the role of Clark, the casting directors were so sure that Tom had the fresh-faced look they were after that they decided to call him one last time.
Tom relented, and finally took the audition, reading from the infamous graveyard scene. He loved it.
Whilst on the way home from the final audition Tom stopped at a gas station, and decided to call his agent on his cell phone. He was shocked when his agent told him that he had just received a phone call, and that Tom had won the role.
Tom was so overjoyed that he stood screaming at the side of the road.
Tom originally stayed in hotels in Vancouver on weekdays whilst filming Smallville, and spent any free time at home in Los Angeles with Jamie and his dogs, which include a pug dog named Cook. During breaks from filming he enjoys visiting friends and family, reading, running, and playing basketball.
He and Jamie were married on July 5, 2002 at Martha's Vineyard, in a private ceremony attended only by close friends and family. Amongst those in attendance were Tom's co-stars on Smallville, Kristin Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum. At Tom's request, Michael performed a special rendition of 'Brown-Eyed Girl.'
Tom wore a custom-made Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo for the occasion.
Following their wedding, Tom and Jamie relocated to Vancouver where shooting began on the second season of Smallville in late July. The new season premiered on September 24, 2002. Shooting wrapped on the final episode of season two in mid April 2003, however Tom's summer hiatus was scheduled to be quite hectic.
From late April through to mid May Tom filmed his role in the remake of the 1950's movie Cheaper by the Dozen, starring Steve Martin, in Santa Rosa, California. The movie is based on the memoirs of the Gilbreth family, however the family has been renamed Baker for this contemporary update. Tom portrays the eldest son. Cheaper by the Dozen is scheduled for nationwide release in the United States on December 25, 2003.
Filmography:
�Cheaper by the Dozen(filming)..... Oldest Son (2003)
�"Smallville" TV Series..... Clark Kent (2001- )
�"Judging Amy" TV Series..... Rob Metzler (2001)
