Linden Ashby

Clarence Linden Garnett Ashby III (born May 23, 1960) is an American actor and martial artist, well known for his role as Johnny Cage in the film adaptation of Mortal Kombat, Dr. Brett Cooper on Melrose Place, and currently as Sheriff Noah Stilinski in the MTV series Teen Wolf.

Ashby was born in Atlantic Beach, Florida, the son of Eleanor (Johnson), a civic organizer, and Clarence Linden Garnett Ashby Jr., a pharmaceuticals manufacturer. Ashby graduated from The Bolles School, a private school located in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, but dropped out his junior year to pursue an acting career. Ashby studied acting at Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.

One of his first roles was as Lance Reventlow, the only son of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton (played by Farrah Fawcett) in the Golden Globe-winning miniseries Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story.

In 1997, Ashby joined the main cast of Melrose Place as Dr. Brett Cooper, a role he had until the start of the seventh season in late 1998. He first appeared on the show in the first season in 1993 as Jo Reynolds's estranged husband Charles, in the episodes "Peanut Butter and Jealousy" and "Single White Sister". He was in the movie Wyatt Earp where he played Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp's (Kevin Costner) younger brother. He played Cameron Kirsten on The Young and the Restless from 2003 to 2004. He also began playing the role of Paul Hollingsworth on Days of Our Lives in March 2008.

Ashby currently portrays Beacon Hills’ Sheriff and father to Stiles Stilinski (played by Dylan O'Brien) on MTV’s Teen Wolf series.

Ashby is married to actress Susan Walters. The couple met on the set of the ABC television series Loving in 1983, where she was a regular and he was filming a guest appearance. They have two daughters, Frances Grace (born 1991) and Savannah Elizabeth (born 1992). Ashby has been a student of martial arts on and off since he was 21 and studied Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu.

Linden has admitted to previously suffering panic attacks before auditions which threatened to shorten his career.

Film

Television

As a director