Jeff Kober

Here is a detailed biography of Jeff Kober (born December 18, 1953) — American actor known for many character roles on TV and film:

Early Life & Background

• Jeff Kober was born on December 18, 1953, in Billings, Montana, U.S.

• In his twenties, he moved to the Los Angeles area to pursue acting, studying under veteran theater teacher Ed Kaye-Martin.

• Before his acting career took off, he had considered ranching and other paths but felt the pull toward performance.

Acting Career & Major Roles

Jeff Kober has built a long career as a versatile character actor, frequently appearing in television dramas, genre series, soap operas, and films.

Television Highlights

• He played Sgt. Evan “Dodger” Winslow in China Beach (1988–1991), one of his early breakthrough roles.

• He portrayed Jacob Hale Jr. in Sons of Anarchy, a recurring role across multiple seasons.

• In The Walking Dead (Season 4), he played Joe, leader of the Claimers group.

• In 2020, he joined the cast of the long-running soap General Hospital as Cyrus Renault. He went on to win the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 for that role.

• Over his career, he has made guest appearances on many well-known series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Law & Order: SVU, CSI, ER, 24, Criminal Minds, New Girl, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, among others.

Film & Other Work

• Some of his notable film roles include:

  • Roy Gaddis in Out of Bounds (1986)

  • Patrick Channing in The First Power (1990)

  • Marcus in One Tough Bastard (1995)

  • Pomona Joe in A Man Apart (2003)

  • Smaller or supporting roles in The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), Sully (2016), Beauty Mark (2017) etc.

• He is also an artist: for the TV series Kindred: The Embraced (1996), Kober created the paintings attributed to his character Daedalus.

• He has co-authored a book titled Art That Pays: The Emerging Artist’s Guide to Making a Living, with his wife Adele Slaughter.

Acting Style & Niche

• Kober often plays antagonistic, morally ambiguous, or villainous characters — drug dealers, cult figures, shadowy personalities. That “bad guy with depth” niche has featured prominently in his work.

• His face, presence, and voice lend themselves to intense characters rather than leading hero types, and he has embraced that path strongly.

Personal Life

• He has been married three times:

  • Rhonda Talbot (married 1989) — they have one child.

  • Kelly Cutrone (married 1998) — later divorced.

  • Adele Slaughter (married December 31, 2013)

• He is also a bass guitarist and was once a member of a band called The Walking Wounded.

Recent Work & Public Presence

• His role as Cyrus Renault on General Hospital remains one of his high-profile recent projects, and his performance earned him a Daytime Emmy.

• In 2024, Kober starred in a film called Break, playing a pool-hall troublemaker, and shared in interviews some personal anecdotes and reflections about the role and his life.

• He has spoken about how working on tight, collaborative film sets—where everyone sets aside ego and works toward a shared goal—reminds him of what makes great creative work possible.