What is Jon Gries' Net Worth?
Jon Gries is an actor, writer, and director who has a net worth of $2 million. Jon Gries is perhaps best known for playing Uncle Rico in the 2004 film "Napoleon Dynamite." He is also known for his roles in such television series as "Martin," "The Pretender," "Lost," "Dream Corp LLC," and "The White Lotus." Among Gries's many other credits are the films "Real Genius," "Get Shorty," "Stick It," "Natural Selection," and the "Taken" trilogy.
Early Life
Jon Gries was born on June 17, 1957 in Glendale, California. He is the son of Mary Munday and director, writer, and producer Tom Gries.
Film Career, Part 1
Gries landed his first acting role at the age of 11 in his father's 1968 Western film "Will Penny." He didn't appear on the big screen again until the late 1970s, with roles in "Born of Water," "The Chicken Chronicles," "Sunnyside," "More American Graffiti," and "Swap Meet." Gries's first film role of the 1980s was in the comedy "Joysticks" in 1983. Two years after that, he played Lazlo Hollyfeld in the science-fiction comedy "Real Genius." Gries's subsequent credits were "TerrorVision," "Running Scared," "Number One with a Bullet," and "The Monster Squad," in the lattermost of which he played a werewolf. Gries played a werewolf again in the 1988 horror film "Fright Night Part 2." He closed out the decade with roles in "Kill Me Again" and "Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog." Kicking off the 1990s, Gries had a brief role in Stephen Frears's "The Grifters." He next appeared in the 1993 dark comedy "Ed and His Dead Mother." Gries followed that by playing Ronnie Wingate in the gangster comedy "Get Shorty." His other credits in the 1990s include "Casualties," "Men in Black," "Mitzi & Joe," and "Twin Falls Idaho."
Gries began the new millennium with roles in "The Beatnicks" and "Jackpot." In 2003, he appeared in four films: the fantasy drama "Northfork," the comedy "The Big Empty," the Canadian survival drama "The Snow Walker," and the buddy action comedy "The Rundown." Gries went on to have arguably his most popular film role in 2004: Uncle Rico in the coming-of-age comedy "Napoleon Dynamite." The independently produced film was a smash hit at the box office, and grew into a cult classic. Gries earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his performance. After that, he appeared in "Confessions of an Action Star" and "Waterborne," both in 2005. In 2006, he was in "The Sasquatch Gang," "Stick It," "The Astronaut Farmer," and "Car Babes," and in 2007 appeared in "American Pastime," "September Dawn," and "The Comebacks." Gries went on to play Mark Casey in the action thriller "Taken," starring Liam Neeson. He would later reprise his role in the film's two sequels. At the end of the 00s, Gries appeared in such other films as "So Long Jimmy," "Elsewhere," and "The Smell of Success."
(Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Film Career, Part 2
In 2010, Gries was in the comedies "Crazy on the Outside" and "Good Intentions." The following year, he appeared in such films as "Natural Selection" and "Redemption: For Robbing the Dead." In 2012, Gries's credits included "Deep in the Heart," "Noobz," and "Unicorn City." He went on to play Sheriff Shep in the neo-noir film "Bad Turn Worse" and Hoyt in the science-fiction horror film "Skinwalker Ranch." Gries was in a number of films in 2014, including the musical dramedy "Eternity: The Movie," the psychological thriller comedy "Faults," and the thriller anthology film "Locker 13." He also appeared in the short films "After We Rest" and "Brothers."
In 2015, Gries had roles in the faith-based film "Pass the Light," the biographical drama "Endgame," and the action comedy "Mucho Dinero." He followed those with five films in 2016, including the biographical mystery thriller "Durant's Never Closes," the horror film "The Axe Murders of Villisca," and the South Korean war drama "Operation Chromite," in which he portrayed United States Air Force general Hoyt Vandenberg. Gries's subsequent film credits have included "All About the Money," "Americons," and "Glass Jaw."
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Television Career
Gries made his television debut in the 1976 television film "Helter Skelter." The year after that, he appeared in an episode of "Mulligan's Stew." Gries continued making guest appearances on shows throughout the 1980s, including "The White Shadow," "The Powers of Matthew Star," "The Jeffersons," "The Twilight Zone," and "Tattingers." He also played Dirty Curt in the NBC television film "High School U.S.A." In 1990, Gries appeared in the television film "Rainbow Drive" and had guest roles on "Falcon Crest," "Jake and the Fatman," and "Tour of Duty." He had his first main role in a regular series from 1992 to 1994, playing radio station engineer Shawn McDermott in the first two seasons of the Fox sitcom "Martin." After that, Gries appeared in episodes of such shows as "The X-Files," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Chicago Hope," and "Seinfeld." In 1996, he began playing Broots in the NBC series "The Pretender," a role he continued until the show's cancellation in 2000. In 2001, he reprised his role in the television films "The Pretender 2001" and "The Pretender: Island of the Haunted."
In 2002, Gries appeared in an episode of "24." The next year, he made his first of two appearances on "Carnivàle," and in 2004 had a guest role on "Las Vegas." From 2007 to 2010, Gries played Roger Linus, the father of Ben Linus, on ABC's "Lost." In the latter year, he also appeared in episodes of "Cold Case," "Sons of Anarchy," "Psych," "Nikita," and "Supernatural." Gries went on to reprise his popular film role as Uncle Rico on the Fox animated sitcom "Napoleon Dynamite," which aired for only six episodes before being canceled in 2012. Following that, he appeared in the FX series "The Bridge." Gries had his next main role from 2016 to 2020, starring as Dr. Roberts on the Adult Swim sitcom "Dream Corp LLC." After that, in 2021, he began playing the recurring role of Greg Hunt in the HBO anthology series "The White Lotus."
Personal Life & Real Estate
Gries is very private about his personal life, and little about his relationship history is known. However, he dated actress Kimberly Rose McConnell at one point.
In 1994 Jon paid $239,500 for a home in Los Angeles. Today this home is likely worth around $1.5 or maybe even closer to $2 million.
