﷯He calls New Jersey home, and enjoyed Boston during his undergraduate years at Emerson College, but it was New York City that taught Rick Gifford the craft of performance. He graduated from Columbia University with an MFA in Acting, and in addition to the irreplaceable experience of dwelling and working amidst some of the world’s greatest talent, Gifford banked three years of Stanislavski training under Andrei Serban, Robert Woodruff, worked Voice with Kristin Linklater, and studied Viewpoints with Anne Bogart. For two summers he continued his vigorous training with the Moscow Arts Theatre. His off-Broadway debut was soon after graduation at the Beckett Theatre, and then the Mint Theatre. It wasn’t long before he quickly booked roles on New York-based television shows “Law & Order”, “Law﷯ & Order: SVU”, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”, and “The Sopranos”. Having left a sizeable mark on New York’s theatre and television industry, Gifford paid homage to his old stomping grounds where he premiered in Boston’s WHAT Theatre’s production of “The Pugilist Specialist”. With his classic jersey tough guy look on screen, and his refined finesse on stage, Gifford was ready for the West Coast. In Los Angeles, Gifford hit the big screen with a role in Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan”. After his trip down the red carpet, he was lured to stay in Los Angeles and pursue film and television. He accepted roles on “Medium”, “Numb3rs”, “Big Time Rush”, “Prime Suspect” and most recently Sony’s “The Unknown”. But a true actor never leaves the theatre, and Gifford ﷯continued to grow and perform on stage in Los Angeles with Tim Robbin’s “The Actors’ Gang”, a troupe that specializes in commedia dell’arte. He also studied with Jeffrey Tambor in his Master Class, and comedy at IO West Improv. Hoping to give back to the young acting community, Gifford has been on the faculty of the AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts since 2007. As a true patron of all types of performance, he has appeared on-camera in national TV commercials for products like Kay Jewelers, Loews, and Budweiser. Thanks to his years of vocal training, his classic baritone voice can be heard on television and radio for JEEP, Bush’s Baked Beans and the newest “Hitman” videogame, and also as an active part of the loop group that recently worked on consecutive seasons of Lifetime’s “Army Wives”. Rick Gifford holds longstanding memberships with SAG-AFTRA, and AEA.