Paul Schulze

Paul Schulze was an American film and TV actor who was best known for his recurring roles on "The Sopranos" (HBO, 1999-2007) and "Nurse Jackie" (Showtime, 2009-2015). Schulze's professional acting career began in the early '90s when he started appearing in guest spots on cop shows like "Homicide: Life on the Street" (NBC, 1993-99) and "New York Undercover" (Fox, 1994-99). Schulze usually played officers of the law on TV, which led to more cop parts in films like Hal Hartley's indie hit "Amateur" (1994) and Spike Lee's "Clockers" (1995). He continued landing almost exclusively cop roles throughout the remainder of the '90s on shows like "Oz" (HBO, 1997-2003) and "NYPD Blue" (ABC, 1993-2005), before landing his first big role on "The Sopranos" in 1999. Schulze appeared as Father Phil Intintola on the show, which was a change of pace from the uniformed enforcers of the law he was known for playing. Then in 2001, Schulze received his first big break by landing the part of Ryan Chappelle on Fox's "24" (2001-2010). Schulze appeared in 24 episodes during the first three seasons of the show, thus establishing him as a hot young actor on the rise. Schulze's character was killed off during the third season of the show, but he continued landing film and TV parts throughout the remainder of the decade, most notably in "Zodiac" (2007), "Rambo" (2008), and "Mad Men" (AMC, 2007-2015). Then in 2009, Schulze nabbed the role of Eddie Walzer on "Nurse Jackie." He appeared in all 80 episodes of the hit dark comedy, which ended its seven season run to critical acclaim in the summer of 2015.