Photo: Letmeinpremiere.jpg: workinpana/Jose M Mendez derivative work: StAnselm (talk) / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Elias Koteas is one of those actors I genuinely wish more people knew by name, because odds are they already know his face. Born in Montreal and trained with real craft, he's spent decades delivering quietly intense performances that elevate every film he touches — from the unsettling Casey Jones in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to his haunting work in Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter and Ararat, the latter earning him a Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor. He's got this rare ability to disappear completely into a role without losing that coiled, watchful energy that makes you lean forward in your seat. TV audiences came to love him as the morally complicated Detective Olinsky in Chicago P.D., and honestly that role felt tailor-made for everything he does best. He's a character actor's character actor — no flash, all substance.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Elias Koteas
- Name (Japanese)
- イライアス・コティーズ
- Reading
- いらいあす・こてぃーず
- Born
- March 11, 1961 (age 65)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Ox
- Origin
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Occupation
- actor / film actor / television actor
2. Background
- High school
- Centennial Regional High School
- University
- Vanier College
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Elias Koteas born?
Born March 11, 1961 (age 65).
Where is Elias Koteas from?
Elias Koteas is from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
What does Elias Koteas do?
Elias Koteas works as actor, film actor, television actor.
Actor — see all → · Film actor — see all → · More people from Canada →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.