John Ireland

Born and raised in Modesto, California, John moved to Marin County (north of San Francisco) as a teenager. He served as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives and then attended Georgetown University. After graduating from college, John moved to California's Sacramento valley to teach in special education at a residential treatment facility for seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) adolescents. He also completed his studies in American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and worked with deaf and hard of hearing children. He moved to Los Angeles to work as a Studio Guide at Universal Studios, Hollywood. In 2000, John played the voice of Stanley Kowalski in an English/ASL stage production of 'Streetcar Named Desire (1951)' at Deaf West Theatre in North Hollywood. The cast won an Ovation Award for 'Best Production, Intimate Theatre' from the LA Stage Alliance and received the award from presenter 'Patrick Stewart' on stage at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre. The next year, he appeared alongside Phyllis Frelich and 'Deanna Bray' in the 2001 stage production of 'Road to a Revolution', directed by Mark Medoff. In 2004, John participated in a staged reading of Bertolt Brecht's, 'The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui' (1972) as a fund-raiser for the Edgemar Center for the Arts. The cast included 'Jason Alexander', Noah Wyle, Harry Hamlin, Sharon Lawrence, 'Jennifer Grant', 'Kimberly Williams', CA Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and the legendary acting coach Larry Moss. John started his television/film career working in commercials, most notably for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, Citizens Bank, Honda, and Sprint, and Chevrolet. In 2004, he spent a week in Park City, Utah with Jane Lynch at the Sundance Film Festival, promoting 'Little Black Boot (2004)', which was an official selection of the shorts competition. In Summer 2004, he filmed A Year and a Day (2004), opposite Edoardo Ballerini and Fairuza Balk.