Kevin Tighe

American actor

Kevin Tighe (/t//aɪ//ɡ/; born Jon Kevin Fishburn; August 13, 1944) is an American actor who has worked in television, film, and theatre since the late 1960s. He is best known for his character, firefighter paramedic Roy DeSoto, on the 1972 77 NBC series Emergency! Tighe was cast in his first major film as an extra in 1967's The Graduate. After being under contract with Paramount and Universal, Tighe's career took a turn from bit parts and extra work when he was cast as Roy DeSoto on Emergency!. Following Emergency!, Tighe went on to make numerous guest television appearances in shows such as Ellery Queen, Cos, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, and The Six Million Dollar Man. Aside from The Graduate, some of Tighe's film credits include Road House, City of Hope, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and Jade. Tighe won a 1994 Genie Award for Best Supporting Actor in I Love a Man in Uniform. In the 2000s he played Anthony Cooper on the ABC television series Lost, as well as Giles Corey in the premiere episode of the original WGN America series Salem. Tighe has also been seen in a number of stage productions including A Reckoning, Mourning Becomes Electra, Anna Christie, Other Desert Cities, and Curse of the Starving Class.

Tighe was born on August 13, 1944, as Jon Kevin Fishburn in Los Angeles, California, of Czech Bohemian and Irish descent, the son of an actor. When he was five, Tighe moved with his family from Los Angeles to nearby Pasadena, where he began acting at an early age, auditioning for juvenile leads at the Pasadena Playhouse. and went on to attend Pasadena City College and CSULA where he was a member of Beta Chi fraternity, before receiving a Bachelor's degree from USC and then an MFA for acting in 1967. During this period Tighe worked with a number of well known actors including Lorne Greene, Maggie Smith, and Michael Landon before signing a contract with Universal Studios. During Tighe's tenure at Paramount, he appeared on NBC's Bonanza in the episode, "The Weary Willies".