Chet Grissom

Chet Grissom was born in Washington D.C. He is the youngest of three children born to F. Dewayne Grissom and Lynn Turner Grissom and lived the first ten years of his life in the D.C. suburbs of Bethesda and Darnestown, MD. It was while he was attending Darnestown Elementary that his choir teacher convinced him to audition for a local dinner theater production of "Bye Bye Birdie" when he was eight years old. He was cast and that experience changed his life. He was hooked. In 1975 his family moved onto a boat (in which he lived until he was 18) in St. Petersburg, FL and he continued doing plays and musicals locally at the St. Petersburg City Theatre (where a young Angela Bassett also performed) and at the (now gone) Showboat Dinner Theatre, where he met such actors as Robert Cummings and Nanette Fabray. He attended three different high schools, graduating from the Visual and Performing Arts Program at Booker High School in Sarasota, FL. Fellow students at the time were Oscar winner Bill Corso and comedian Lynne Koplitz. After graduating he left Florida to attend the Goodman School of Drama (now The Theatre School at DePaul University) in Chicago, IL where he received a BFA in Acting. Fellow students at the time included Kevin J. O'Connor, Oscar nominee John C. Reilly, and Emmy winner Gillian Anderson. As a freshman he volunteered to usher for the final preview of the original production of the play "Glengarry Glen Ross" which was in the intimate space at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. What he witnessed that night changed him on a deep level. After graduation he spent the next ten years immersed in the thriving Chicago theatre scene, working everywhere from tiny storefront black box theaters to the large stage at the Goodman Theatre and everywhere in between. At the Goodman Theatre he was in the cast of Shakespeare's "Richard II" which also included a young Nick Offerman, Chris Bauer, Chicago legend Mike Nussbaum, and future Broadway star Raúl Esparza. In 1997 he made the trip west to Los Angeles in classic Hollywood style with everything that he owned in an old Honda Accord. Knowing nobody (except other unemployed actors), it took some time to gain traction. He started doing theater and going to film and TV auditions, landing a commercial after his first year and small parts in television after his second year. By his third year he finally started working on a consistent basis and hasn't stopped since. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Lisa Kenner Grissom.