Christopher Jay Potter was born August 23, 1960 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where his father, Ron Potter, played professional football for the Toronto Argonauts. Chris's mother, Judith Potter, is a talented singer, who is also a lawyer. Chris grew up the eldest of three children.

Chris attended Oakridge Secondary school where he played football and was an active member of the drama department. Also, Chris played in the highly competitive Canadian Juniors Hockey team.

Throughout high school, Chris was drummer, guitarist and lead vocalist in a number of bands. In 1980, he quit school and spent three years as lead singer and guitarist for a rock 'n 'roll band called Licks.

At 18, Chris spent a summer working for Dome Petroleum in the Beaufort Sea. Then Chris formed Frontier Productions with his brother. Then he accepted a position selling health insurance for his father's firm, London Life.

Chris continued to act in amateur theater, appearing in productions for the London Little Theatre, the London Community Players, University of Western Ontario's (UWO) Talbot Theatre, and the Port Stanley Summer Festival.

At age 25, Chris married his high school sweetheart Karen. Karen, who was an art teacher in neighboring St. Thomas, had been his date to the prom.

Chris then landed a role in the pilot for a CBC comedy series, Coming and Going, with Louis Del Grande. The series never aired.

Potter made numerous commercials, and he also made a number of guest appearances on both Canadian and syndicated series such as Night Watch, Top Cops, Katts and Dogs, The Hidden Room and Street Legal.

His first regular job was on the CBC series, Material World, which he co-starred in for 3 seasons.

By 1991, Potter had a 5-year contract with the CBC. He was offered a part in a series for the Disney Channel which he turned down.

Stephen J. Cannell also wanted him to co-star in a new CBS series in pre-production called, The Hat Squad, but the Network did not want Chris. Another show was offered, but Potter declined because the commitment required moving his entire family to Hollywood. Potter also screen-tested for the lead in the film The Rocketeer. He didn't get the role, but he did meet Michael Sloan who was in L.A on pre-production for a new syndicated series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Chris ended up in a final reading with the series star David Carradine. Chris landed the role of Peter Caine. The role required Potter to learn martial arts. The series lasted for 4 seasons, dubbed into at least 6 languages and shown in over 20 countries world-wide.

While filming KF:TLC, Potter became the voice of the character Gambit on the animated-series, X-Men.

Potter also made a guest appearance in the syndicated series, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years in which he played a psychotic grifter.

In 1996, Potter was signed to take over the lead for the successful USA network series, Silk Stalkings, created by producer Stephen J. Cannell. Silk Stalkings, a late-night CBS crime drama later moved to cable, ran 5 successful seasons before the leads were replaced during contract disputes. Unfortunately, the original replacements proved unsuccessful. Within a handful of epsiodes, Potter and his new partner, Janet Gunn, proved a hit and the ratings rose causing USA Network to order a full season of shows.

Potter also develops independent films and music projects.