Peter Krause's Real Name: Peter Krause

Quick answer: The actor is known professionally as Peter Krause. Encyclopedia.com and TV Insider independently date his birth to August 12, 1965, in Alexandria, Minnesota. TV Guide and TV Insider list the fuller form Peter William Krause, which Encyclopedia.com does not use in the entry, so that longer form is recorded below rather than used in the title (Encyclopedia.com; TV Insider).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Peter Krause. Encyclopedia.com dates his birth to August 12, 1965, in Alexandria, MN, says his father was a high school English teacher and his mother a second-grade teacher, and says he earned a B.A. in English literature at Gustavus Adolphus College and an M.F.A. in acting at New York University. TV Guide independently lists the birth name Peter William Krause and the birthplace Alexandria, Minnesota, and says he graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1987 and received a master's degree from NYU's acting program. TV Insider independently lists Peter William Krause, August 12, 1965, and Alexandria, Minnesota. Because the William form is not confirmed in the Encyclopedia.com entry, this page titles him Peter Krause and records the longer form below.

Career highlights

TV Insider dates Sports Night to ABC, 1998–2000, and Six Feet Under to HBO, 2001–05, and later lists Parenthood, beginning in 2010, among his series credits. Encyclopedia.com independently cites Sports Night and Six Feet Under, including Screen Actors Guild award nominations for those series, and lists a film credit as Lawrence in The Truman Show (1998). TV Guide independently says he is best known for Six Feet Under and Parenthood, notes a 2004 Prism Award for his work on Six Feet Under, and says he started out on the variety show Carol and Company and, before becoming an actor, worked as a bartender for the writer Aaron Sorkin. This page does not add unsourced later series end years beyond those sourced listings.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Peter Krause or Peter William Krause are looking for the same Alexandria-born actor, later known for Sports Night, Six Feet Under, and Parenthood. The longer form is recorded from TV Guide and TV Insider but is not used in the title.