Brendan Patrick Hines (born December 28, 1976) is an American actor and singer. He has had a number of television roles, including as part of the main cast of Lie to Me as well as recurring roles in Scandal, Betrayal, Suits, Scorpion, Secrets and Lies, and a regular role in Amazon Video's The Tick and Netflix's Locke & Key. Hines has also had leading roles in a handful of films, and released three albums.
Early life
Hines was born the youngest of four children on December 28, 1976,[1] in Baltimore, Maryland,[2] where he graduated from Loyola Blakefield.[1] His mother, Mary Hines, was a former nun and his father a former Jesuit priest who both appealed to dissolve their religious vows so they could marry. They left Brooklyn and eventually settled in Baltimore to teach philosophy.[3][4] His mother was president of Carlow University in Pittsburgh.[3]
In 2009, Hines began appearing as part of the regular cast of Lie to Me.[10][11] Hines was part of all three seasons of the series playing the character of Eli Loker.[12] In 2011, he appeared in an episode of Castle.[13][14] In May 2011, Hines portrayed the dual characters of Pip/Theo in South Coast Repertory's theatre production of Three Days of Rain.[15] Hines has stated this was perhaps his favorite and most challenging acting role.[16]
In August 2017, Amazon Video released the first season of The Tick, a television series based on the comic book of the same name written by Ben Edlund. Among the many comic book characters in the series, Hines portrays Superian who is perhaps the most recognizable as an archetypal superhero.[3][25]
Music career and political activism
In early 2008, he released Good For You Know Who, an album of 10 original songs under the band name The Brendan Hines.[26] The song "Miss New York" from the same album was featured in the 2010 film Happythankyoumoreplease, the directorial debut of Josh Radnor.[27] In August 2012, he released "Could've Sworn",[28] a single from his 6-song EP entitled Small Mistakes.[3] In support of the release of Small Mistakes, Hines toured with the indie folk duo The Milk Carton Kids in the fall of 2012.[28]
Hines is a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders. In the lead up to the 2016 Democratic Primaries, he joined the Vermont Senator at several events to campaign for Sanders' bid to become the democratic candidate for President of the United States.[29][30][31] In September 2017, Hines released "Average Is", the debut single from his upcoming solo album Qualms, a collection of songs written and recorded in the Joshua Tree Desert after the 2016 presidential election.[26]
