Christopher Thornton

Christopher Thornton (born March 29, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Kenny "Shammy" Shamberg in Magnum P.I., and has had numerous other film and television roles from 1990 to the present.

Christopher Thornton
Born (1967-03-29) March 29, 1967
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Education
OccupationActor
Years active1990–present

Early life and education

Thornton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was an amateur opera singer who appeared in local theater.[1] Christopher appeared in several plays while majoring in theater at the University of New Orleans, but quit college after two years to relocate to Los Angeles and train at the Stella Adler Conservatory.[1]

Career

Thornton made his first feature film appearance in the 1990 horror sequel Watchers II, playing a young man who gets his eyes gouged out by the mutant antagonist.[1] Only two years later, at age 25, Thornton suffered a tragic accident while rock climbing which fractured two vertebrae and left him paralyzed from the waist down. He returned to mostly theater roles for the remainder of the 1990s. In 2000, he was cast to play Hamlet at the Lillian Theater in Los Angeles. Believed to be the first actor to ever play the iconic Shakespeare character in a wheelchair, Thornton's performance won rave reviews.[1]

Thornton has gone on to appear in numerous film and television roles. He has recurred in TV series such as Any Day Now, Rules of Engagement and Vice Principals, and had guest roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Alias, Brothers & Sisters, My Name Is Earl, Grey's Anatomy and Will & Grace. Since 2018, he has played recurring character Kenny "Shammy" Shamberg, a marine veteran paralyzed during a tour of duty in Iraq, on the CBS reboot of Magnum P.I.[2]

Thornton was both writer and lead actor for the 2010 film Sympathy for Delicious, playing disc jockey "Delicious" Dean O'Dwyer.[3]

Filmography

Film
Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
1990 Watchers II Boy at Motel
1993 A Song for You Donny O’Brien Short film
2002 Bug Gary – Guy Hit by Car
2005 Pretty Persuasion Emmett Friedman
Hitched Gary TV movie
2010 Sympathy for Delicious "Delicious" Dean O’Dwyer Lead actor and writer
2017 Anything Ted Sachman

Television
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
1991 Homefront Bartender Episode: “Man, This Joint Is Jumping”
2000 Any Day Now Marty 3 episodes
2001 Curb Your Enthusiasm Cliff Cobb Episode: “Trick or Treat”
Alias Nevil 2 episodes
2008 Unhitched Darren Episode: “Yorkshire Terrier Sucked Into the Internet”
My Name Is Earl Brett Hansen Episode: "Killerball"
2010 Brothers & Sisters Aaron Episode: "Time After Time: Part 2"
Lie to Me Johnny Wheels Episode: "The Canary Song”
2013 Rules of Engagement Edward 3 episodes
2015 Battle Creek Mickey Long Episode: “The Hand-Off”
2016 Grey's Anatomy Daniel Campbell Episode: “Falling Slowly”
2017 Vice Principals Mr. Milner 5 episodes
2018 Speechless Chris Episode: "N-o-Nominee"
Santa Clarita Diet Kevin Episode: "Going Pre-med"
2018–present Magnum P.I. Kenny "Shammy" Shamberg Recurring role, 22 episodes
2020 Will & Grace Luke 2 episodes
Broke Max Lefleur 2 episodes
2022 The Lincoln Lawyer Sam Scales Episode: "Chaos Theory"

References
  1. "Christopher Thornton at IMDB". IMDB.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  2. "Who Is Veteran in Wheelchair Shammy on 'Magnum, P.I.'?". 2paragraphs.com. February 25, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  3. Abramowitz, Rachel (January 24, 2010). "Writer turns the story of his paralyzing accident into 'Sympathy for Delicious'". latimes.com. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
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