Kurt Yaeger
| Kurt Yaeger | |
|---|---|
| File:KurtYaeger.jpg | |
| Born | Kurt Yaeger January 3, 1977 San Francisco, California |
| Occupation | Actor, professional BMX rider, director |
| Years active | 2002–present |
Kurt Yaeger (born January 3, 1977) is an American actor, director and professional athlete, who is also a below-the-knee amputee. His recent work includes roles on the CBS hit show NCIS and the much anticipated HBO/Cinemax series Quarry. Kurt is notable for appearing in season five of the FX series Sons of Anarchy as Greg "the Peg" and in the Rudimental music video for the UK hit single "Waiting All Night" featuring vocals from Ella Eyre.
Contents
Early life
Kurt Yaeger was born in San Francisco, California, United States (US), and was raised in South San Francisco. He currently resides in the Los Angeles area.
As a BMX rider, Yaeger gained the nickname "Crowbar" and acquired sponsors for his BMX riding, participating in tours and competing in events.[1]
As an actor, Yaeger auditioned for a Nickelodeon/Clear Channel Communications live tour based on the popular cartoon show Rocket Power. What he thought to be an acting role turned out to be an athletic/stunt role. He was given the part. At the first day of rehearsals, the director found out that his BMX talent was at a professional level and incorporated it into the show. The show briefly toured the US Midwest in spring 2002 before being canceled due to low ticket sales. It had originally been scheduled to tour about 40 cities all over the US for about six months. After experiencing many BMX-related injuries, he decided to go back to college to pursue a master's degree in hydrogeology. In 2006, while attending school in San Francisco, he was in a motorcycle crash that resulted in multiple injuries.[2][3] He hit a pole and went over a 40-foot embankment, crashing on the side of the freeway.[3]
His left leg was amputated, his right anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament were torn, his pelvis was torn in half along with his bladder, seven vertebra were broken, his lungs collapsed, multiple ribs were broken, and he suffered a severe concussion.[4] One year later, Yaeger made a full recovery, returning to his acting career.[5]
Career
Yaeger started taking acting courses and began acquiring role after role.[6] He starred in Michael Anderson's Tenderloin, a film about one of the most infamous neighborhoods in San Francisco. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2009.[7] Some of his recent work includes Dolphin Tale with Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and Harry Connick, Jr.;[8] Knife Fight with Rob Lowe; War Flowers with Christina Ricci, Tom Berenger and Jason Gedrick; and the Syfy feature film Piranhaconda with Michael Madsen and Rachel Hunter. In 2012, he appeared in a recurring role in six episodes of the FX television series Sons of Anarchy.[9] The list of Television and Movie credits continue.
Along with his business partner Josh Gillick, Yaeger created the production company ArtistFilm.[10] It has produced 9 short films and one feature, Sedona's Rule, distributed by Green Apple Entertainment, Inc.. They are currently working on several features in the early pre-production stages and a reality TV project which has been optioned. Yaeger is also involved with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) Tri-Union global disability rights campaign called IAMPWD – Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities. He sits as the Chairperson on the AFTRA Los Angeles Local Performers with Disabilities Committee.[11]
Yaeger has also volunteered his time with several organizations. He has attended several Big Sunday events for the Wounded Warrior Project[12] and participated in the American300 Warrior Tour.[13] Yaeger spoke at the 10th and 11th annual United Cerebral Palsy of NYC event called Women Who Care, sharing the stage with Ivanka Trump, Michelle Bachelet and many others.[14] Yaeger was invited as a keynote speaker to the 2014 Adobe Summit in London with the subject of reinvention. On May 14, 2014 he spoke to an abundance of tech specialists and business entrepreneurs, and introduced Rudimental during the Summit Fest that followed.[15]
Sports and affiliations
His comeback in sports came not long after in the Extreme Sports genre of BMX. He is currently the number one Adaptive BMXer in the world[16] and participated in X Games 16[17] and X Games 17. Yaeger was showcased along with other adaptive athletes thanks to Adaptive Action Sports, a non-profit organization promoting Action Sports camps, events and programs for youth and young adults living with permanent physical disabilities.
In 2012, the US Paralympics Bobsled & Skeleton Team invited him to train with them in Park City in early January.[18] They asked him back to train with them in Innsbruck, Austria in early March.
2013 had Yaeger participating in a promotional BMX tour of the United Kingdom.[19] Followed immediately by a Motorcycle tour of Africa with Touratech-USA.[20]
BMX sponsors
When Yaeger first began training again, Etnies signed up to sponsor him, supplying shoes that allowed for an expanded experimentation with a new magnetic pedal from ProTonLocks. After he figured out how to stay on the pedals, Solid Bikes and Odyssey helped him by supplying a new bike. The last obstacle was to figure out how to keep his knee from hyper-extending from the repeated impact pressures, so he turned to Ossur, who built him a CTi custom knee brace for his prosthetic leg. His other current sponsors include Freestyle Watches, Stussy, Bern Helmets, Alpine Stars, Challenged Athletes Foundation and Fox Racing. In April 2012, ZICO Coconut Water became a sponsor.[21]
Yaeger has also become one of the owners of ProTonLocks, Inc., a company that makes magnetic bicycle pedals.[22]
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Quarry | Suggs | TV Series – Recurring character |
| 2014 | NCIS | Freddie Linn | TV series – Episode title: Bulletproof |
| 2012 | Sons of Anarchy | Greg The Peg | TV series – Recurring character |
| 2010 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Photographer | TV soap opera – Episode #1.5887 |
| 2010 | General Hospital | Mike – Prison Guard | TV soap opera – Episode #1.12083 |
| 2008 | Without a Trace | Kevin | TV series – Episode title: Article 32 |
| 2007 | The World's Astonishing News | Steve – Father | TV series – Episode title: Poor Family's Christmas Miracle |
| 2002 | Rocket Power | Live Tour |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Rudimental – Waiting All Night feat. Ella Eyre | As Himself | YouTube Official Video |
| 2013 | The Man Of The House | Dad | Post-Production |
| 2012 | Honor Killing | Steven | Post-Production |
| 2012 | Knife Fight | Oliver Kennedy | Release Date: June 11, 2013 |
| 2012 | Alien Hunger | Brian | Post-Production |
| 2011 | Piranhaconda | Gunner | 2012 Premiere on SYFY TV Channel |
| 2011 | Dolphin Tale | Veteran Tim | Release date: September 23, 2011 (USA) |
| 2011 | War Flowers | Rufus | Release Date: August 31, 2012 (USA) |
| 2011 | Camel Spiders | Joe | Release Date: March 4, 2011 (USA) |
| 2010 | Sedona's Rule | Erick | Release Date: November 20, 2011 (USA) |
| 2009 | The Real Deal | Bob Derdowski | Video |
| 2009 | Every Other Week | Jude | Short |
| 2009 | The Tenderloin | Ben Keegan | Release Date: October 19, 2009 (USA) |
| 2009 | The Hell Patrol | Pvt. Steven McWatt | Release Date: September 26, 2009 (USA) |
| 2008 | Asshole of the West | Levi | Short |
| 2007 | Charlie Wilson's War | Afghani Refugee | Not Credited |
| 2007 | The Lost Coast | Video Short |
Producer/director
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Kurt Yaeger's UK Tour | Executive Producer & Co-Star | Release Date: February 27, 2014 (Worldwide) |
| 2010 | Sedona's Rule | Executive Producer | Release Date: November 22, 2011 (USA) |
| 2008 | Misunderstood[23] | Director & Actor | Short – Screening Date: June 1, 2008 (USA) |
Model
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Porn for Women | A humor or "spoof book", calendar and confectionery cards.[24] |
References
- ↑ Fudger, Ryan "Kurt Yaeger – Athlete", Ride BMX Transworld, August 30, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ↑ Vigil, Delfin "Actor brings a little extra to the job", SF Gate, November 15, 2008. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Give it up for BMX Pro Kurt Yaeger. That’s a direct order.", Action Recon. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
- ↑ Vetter, Pam "Kurt Yaeger: Actor reaches beyond label of amputee", Disaboom, April 8, 2008. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
- ↑ Tunney, Brian "Pro BMXers Make the Jump to Television (9 of 11)", ESPN Action Sports, September 28, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
- ↑ [1] Retrieved August 6, 2011.
- ↑ Vetter, Pam "2011 Media Access Awards Honor Efforts in Promoting Awareness of People With Disabilities", American Chronicle, October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ↑ "Kurt Yeager – Filmography by TV series", IMDB.com Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- ↑ "ArtistFilm, Cast & Crew". Retrieved August 20, 2011.
- ↑ "Members of the SAG/AFTRA/AEA Tri-Union Performers with Disabilities Committee, Kurt Yaeger", I AM PWD. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ↑ Deegan, Peachy "Movers And Shakers: Kurt Yaeger, Actor", Whom You Know, June 30, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
- ↑ Deegan, Peachy "Getting Back Up Tour – Kurt Yaeger and Erin Simmons Nemec – May 2012 "American300 NEVER QUIT Series – Air Force Global Strike Command", American300 Warrior Tours, May 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
- ↑ "Celebrities & VIPs Attend the Star-Studded 11th Annual Women Who Care Luncheon". United Cerebral Palsy of New York. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
- ↑ Parry, Adam "The Full Effect Pull Out All The Stops For The Adobe Summit EMEA Party". Event Industry News UK. May 16, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ↑ Shepherd, Wendy "Interview With Actor Kurt Yaeger", Officially Plugged In, November 9, 2011.
- ↑ Tunney, Brian "Getting Back Up: The Kurt Yaeger Story", ESPN Action Sports. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ↑ Tunney, Brian "Kurt Yaeger, BMXer turned Bobsledder", ESPN Action Sports, February 17, 2012.
- ↑ "Rudimental's Waiting All Night BMX-Star Kurt Yaeger On UK Tour", Drift. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ TeamZico
- ↑ Ostegard, Jan "Dream Role with Kurt Yaeger" MovieVine, April 18, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ↑ "Misunderstood", Scary Cow – The Indie Film Co-op, June 1, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ↑ Anderson, Susan "Porn for Women". Cambridge Women's Pornography Cooperative, Chronicle Books 2007. ISBN 9780811855518. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
External links
- Official Website
- Kurt Yaeger at the Internet Movie Database
- Athletic Reel at YouTube
- Use mdy dates from December 2013
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- American film producers
- American film directors
- BMX riders
- American disabled sportspeople
- American amputees
- 1977 births
- Living people
- Male actors from San Francisco, California
- Male actors from Los Angeles, California
- Film directors from California
- Film directors from Los Angeles, California
- 21st-century American male actors
