James Wesley Marsters was born on August 20, 1962 in Greenville, California. He is an American actor and musician.

After six seasons on Buffy, he continued the role of Spike on the equally popular spin-off, Angel. Not only a fan favorite, Marsters has attracted industry-wide attention for his work. He has received numerous nominations and awards, including the Spacey Award, the Saturn Award, the Cinescape Face of the Future Award, the Golden Satellite Award, and the Teen Choice Award.

Marsters has since returned to television, starring in the USA Original true-crime film, Cool Money, portraying Brainiac in the 2005-06 season of Smallville, and guest starring roles in The Mountain, Saving Grace and Without a Trace. Besides his television work, James also has two movies being released in 2007; Shadow Puppets, an independent thriller, and P.S. I Love You, a romantic love story starring Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, and Kathy Bates due out in December, 2007.

Marsters began his professional theatrical career after a move to Chicago, performing in stage productions such as The Tempest and Red Noses at Chicago's renowned Goodman Theater. In addition to acting, he has also formed and run successful theater companies in both Chicago and Seattle. It was while living in Seattle that Marsters was locally cast to guest-star on the television series Northern Exposure, first as a hotel bellhop and then as Rev. Harding, an ill-at-ease priest. He was inspired by this success to move to Los Angeles. Within months he was sinking his proverbial teeth into the role of Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Other television work includes a starring role in the anthology series Strange Frequency for VH1, as well as stand-out guest spots in Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, and Chris Carter's Millennium. Other feature-film credits include The House on Haunted Hill, a co-starring role in Winding Roads, and the male lead opposite Buffy co-star Amber Benson in Chance, her debut as a writer-director. Marsters revisited the stage in 2000 with a starring role in The Why, an original play produced in Los Angeles by Noah Wyle.

Marsters is also a successful singer/songwriter who for two years was the front man of Ghost of the Robot.

Filmography

• Dragonball (2008)
• "Chasing the Devil" (2008)
• "Smallville" (9 episodes, 2005-2008)
• P.S. I Love You (2007)
• "Without a Trace" (2 episodes, 2007)
• Superman: Doomsday (2007)
• "Saving Grace" (1 episode, 2007)
• Shadow Puppets (2007)
• Cool Money (2005)
• "The Mountain" (1 episode, 2004)
• "Angel" (24 episodes, 1999-2004)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds (2003)
• "Spider-Man" (2 episodes, 2003)
• "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (97 episodes, 1997-2003)
• Chance (2002)
• "Andromeda" (1 episode, 2001)
• "Strange Frequency" (1 episode, 2001)
• "The Enforcers" (2001)
• Strange Frequency 2 (2001)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000)
• House on Haunted Hill (1999)
• Winding Roads (1999)
• "Millennium" (1 episode, 1999)
• "Moloney" (1 episode, 1997)
• "Medicine Ball" (1 episode, 1995)
• "Northern Exposure" (2 episodes, 1992-1993)

Awards

• Golden Satellite Best Ensemble Television Cast "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" 2001
• Saturn Award Best TV Supporting Actor "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" 2001