Biography

Born James Francis Lawrence Ginty on December 4, 1980, at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Ginty holds dual citizenship with the United States and Ireland, and is the only son of actor/director Robert Ginty and actress Francine Tacker who met while starring on the late 1970s television series, The Paper Chase, alongside John Houseman. Ginty's educational background includes time at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and the performing arts boarding school, Interlochen, located in northern Michigan - where he began training as a ballet dancer before becoming an actor. After Interlochen, Ginty continued his acting studies at the Juilliard School in New York City as a member of Group 32 (along with Jessica Chastain), but dropped out when Kathryn Bigelow cast him in her film K-19: The Widowmaker alongside Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. Upon completion of the film, Ginty began a career in regional theatre playing such roles as Romeo in Seattle Repertory Theatre's production of Romeo and Juliet, Bertram in The Folger Shakespeare Theatre's production of All's Well That Ends Well, and Jacob Milne in Tom Stoppard's play Night and Day at The Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia. After his time in regional theatre Ginty transitioned back into film and television work, finding his way onto hit shows such as ER, Days of Our Lives and Grey's Anatomy, before landing the roles of Dr. Lionel Canter and his son Jarred in Walt Disney's, Surrogates, starring opposite Bruce Willis and Rosamund Pike. Aside from acting, Ginty holds a degree in History from UCLA and a graduate degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. He has consistently worked between the world's of acting and teaching and has taught history at the all-girl's schools Miss Porter's, in Farmington, CT, and The Chapin School in New York City. Ginty also served as a Professor at Fordham University. In 2013 he appeared in the HBO movie Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight directed by Stephen Frears. The film was nominated for a 2014 Primetime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Television Movie. Ginty attended film school at USC's School of Cinematic Arts where he focused on directing, writing and producing. His directorial debut short film - Created Sleep Transmissions - was selected to premiere at the 44th Moscow International Film Festival in 2022, but the invitation was turned down in solidarity with the people and nation of Ukraine. The film ended up premiering at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan, where it won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.