Paul Adelstein
Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox television series Prison Break and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the ABC medical drama Private Practice. In addition to supporting roles in films such as Intolerable Cruelty and Memoirs of a Geisha, he is also known for his recurring role as Leo Bergen on ABC's Scandal and as Jake Novak in the Bravo television series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce.
Paul Adelstein

amysusanne · abc fall preview party · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Born
- 1969. · Chicago.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- actor, screenwriter, film director and producer.
- Education
- Bowdoin College and Francis W. Parker School.
- Languages
- English.
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Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox television series Prison Break and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the ABC medical drama Private Practice. In addition to supporting roles in films such as Intolerable Cruelty and Memoirs of a Geisha, he is also known for his recurring role as Leo Bergen on ABC's Scandal and as Jake Novak in the Bravo television series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce.
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Paul Adelstein (born 1969) is an actor, film director and producer, among other activities, of American nationality. The actor was born in Chicago.
Paul Adelstein was educated at Bowdoin College. The actor is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q311084 · wikipedia · Paul Adelstein
In this article
Early life
Early life
He also played David Sweetzer on the short-lived NBC comedy I Feel Bad. Adelstein co-created the dark comedy TV series Imposters, which aired on Bravo and ran for two 10-episode seasons from 2017 and 2018; he is credited as a writer on 6 episodes. He also played the role of Shelly Cohen on that show.
Adelstein was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Reform Jewish family. Prior to his professional acting career, Adelstein attended the progressive Francis W. Parker School, then Bowdoin College where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in English. He began his career in theatre, working with New Crime Productions, a company founded by John Cusack, and later with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Career
Career
After making his film debut in the film The Grifters (1990), Adelstein went on to appear in several television series, including Cupid, ER, Without a Trace, and Scrubs, and to play a number of significant supporting roles in films such as Bedazzled (2000), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Be Cool (2005), The Menu (2022) and Crime 101 (2026). In 2005, he received his most significant role to date as a member of the regular cast of the suspenseful television series Prison Break. Although he played the role of mysterious government operative Paul Kellerman, he had originally auditioned for the role of protagonist Lincoln Burrows. When he left the show in 2007, he joined the regular cast of the medical drama Private Practice and stayed for the show's entire six-season run. After the series finale in 2013, he had more recently a recurring role as Leo Bergen on Scandal, which continued into 2018. He played the main role of Jake Novak, the husband of Abby McCarthy (Lisa Edelstein) in Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, which premiered in late 2014 as the first scripted original series for Bravo. In April 2016, he was cast as Raymond Blackstone in the Hulu series Chance, starring Hugh Laurie.
Music career
Music career
Adelstein is the lead singer and guitarist of a band called Doris. The band was started in the late 1990s, and Adelstein has recorded several albums with them, singing and songwriting for the group. Adelstein is also a pianist and guitarist. His musical background was the cover story in the May/June 2012 issue of Making Music Magazine.
Personal life
Personal life
Adelstein moved to Los Angeles in 2003, at the age of 34. I've fallen in love with the city. I found it difficult at first, but like I said I was doing it in pretty small doses. By the time I had my own place I was pretty comfortable here, and now I love it. There's really no place in the world like Los Angeles, love it or hate it. Despite hailing from Chicago, Adelstein has been a fan and supporter since childhood of the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Adelstein married actress Liza Weil in a Reform Jewish ceremony, in November 2006. They had previously known each other through theatrical projects. The two went on to appear together in three film projects: the short film Order Up (2007), the Gregory Dark-helmed Frenemy (2008), and The Missing Person. She also appeared in an episode of Private Practice (airdate February 24, 2011), although she and Adelstein had no scenes together. Weil gave birth to their daughter in April 2010. Weil filed for divorce from Adelstein in March 2016, requesting joint custody of their daughter.

Paul Adelstein, September 2008, ABC Fall Preview Party at the Paley Center
amysusanne · abc fall preview party
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Miller, Gerri. Fall Tv Preview: Paul Adelstein. American Italian Life Magazine. September/October 2007.
- 2.Meet the cast - Paul Adelstein . Yahoo!7. Retrieved on January 14, 2006.
- 3.Pamela Gocobachi. 'Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce': Bravo's first scripted series. Entertainment Weekly. 2014-02-19.
- 4.Andreeva, Nellie. Paul Adelstein Cast In Hugh Laurie Hulu Drama Series 'Chance'. Deadline. 2016-04-08.
- 5.MetroSeeker.com: Interview with Paul Adelstein.
- 6.Jones, Keith. 'Scandal' actor Paul Adelstein talks Cleveland Browns. Cleveland Browns official website. 18 June 2014.
- 7.Momlogic.com. Dr. Cooper Freedman Would Breastfeed if She Could.
- 8.Anyonebutmeseries.com. Credits for Anyone But Me, episode 2.09, May 25, 2009.
- 9.American Jewish Life Magazine. ajlmagazine.com.
- 10.Chicago's Paul Adelstein, a.k.a. 'Prison Break's' Kellerman, nabs a role in the 'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff. Chicago Tribune. March 8, 2007.
- 11."Private Practice" Two Steps Back (TV episode 2011) - IMDb . Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- 12.Warner Bros. Online. Dr. Cooper Freedman Would Breastfeed if He Could. momlogic.com. 2010-04-12.
- 13.Anyone But Me - Season 2 Episode 9. anyonebutmeseries.com.
- 14.Mizoguchi, Karen. Shondaland Stars Liza Weil and Paul Adelstein File for Divorce. People. April 4, 2016.
- 15.Shonda Rhimes -- 'Scandal' and 'Get Away with Murder' Stars Divorce. tmz.com. 2016-04-04.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q311084: Paul AdelsteinWikimedia Foundation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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