Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Photo: Veeresh dandur, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pulliam_Hall_(SIU).JPG)
Gallery of Justin Hartley
University of Illinois Chicago. Photo: artistmac, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_of_Illinois_at_Chicago_-1.jpg)
Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Photo: Veeresh dandur, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pulliam_Hall_(SIU).JPG)
University of Illinois Chicago. Photo: artistmac, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_of_Illinois_at_Chicago_-1.jpg)
Justin Scott Hartley is an American actor, director, and writer known for television roles including Fox Crane in Passions, Oliver Queen in Smallville, Adam Newman in The Young and the Restless, Kevin Pearson in This Is Us, and Colter Shaw in Tracker. His career also includes film work, episode writing, directing, and television production.
Background
Justin Hartley was born on January 29, 1977, in Knoxville, Illinois, and was raised in Orland Park, a suburb of Chicago. He grew up with his brother Nathan and sisters Megan and Gabriela. His upbringing in the Chicago metropolitan area preceded his move into professional acting after college.
Hartley graduated from Carl Sandburg High School. He later studied history and theater at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the University of Illinois Chicago, preparing for a career that combined dramatic performance with an interest in storytelling and television production.
Education
Hartley graduated from Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois. The school is a public secondary institution in the southwest Chicago suburbs and is named for Illinois educator and politician Carl Sandburg.
He subsequently attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the University of Illinois Chicago, studying history and theater. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public research university founded in 1869, while the University of Illinois Chicago developed as a major urban public university serving Chicago and the surrounding region. His studies connected historical education with theatrical training before he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
Hartley began his professional television career as Fox Crane on the NBC daytime soap opera Passions, a role he played from December 2002 through February 2006. In 2006 he portrayed Aquaman in the unaired or uncommissioned pilot Aquaman, also known as Mercy Reef, and joined Smallville as Oliver Queen, the alter ego of the Green Arrow. He initially appeared in a recurring capacity before becoming a regular cast member in 2008 and remaining with the series through its conclusion in 2011.
His work on Smallville expanded beyond acting. Hartley contributed to the story and teleplay of the 2010 episode “Sacrifice” and directed the 2011 episode “Dominion.” The experience established an early connection between his screen performance and behind-the-camera work.
After Smallville, Hartley appeared in series including Chuck, Castle, and Hart of Dixie. He starred as Dr. Will Collins in the CW comedy-drama Emily Owens, M.D. in 2012 and later held recurring roles as Patrick Osbourne in ABC's Revenge and Scott in Mistresses. From 2014 to 2016 he played Adam Newman on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless, a performance that brought him a Daytime Emmy Award nomination.
Hartley gained wider recognition as Kevin Pearson on NBC's drama series This Is Us, which ran from 2016 to 2022. The ensemble received Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2018 and 2019, and Hartley also directed episodes of the series, including “A Hell of a Week: Part Three” in 2020 and “Every Version of You” in 2022.
His film work includes Red Canyon, A Bad Moms Christmas, The Hunt, Little, Senior Year, A Lot of Nothing, and The Noel Diary. He also executive produced Another Time. In 2024 he began starring as Colter Shaw in the CBS drama Tracker, based on Jeffery Deaver's novel The Never Game. The series presents Shaw as a survivalist and reward seeker who helps private citizens and law-enforcement authorities locate missing people; Hartley continues in the role during the show's fourth season in 2026.
Achievements
Hartley portrayed Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow on Smallville from 2006 to 2011, becoming a regular cast member during the series' later seasons.
He expanded his television work into writing and directing by contributing to the Smallville episode “Sacrifice” and directing “Dominion.”
His portrayal of Kevin Pearson on This Is Us brought him two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the series ensemble in 2018 and 2019.
Hartley became the lead of Tracker in 2024, playing Colter Shaw, a survivalist and reward seeker who locates missing people and assists with difficult cases.
(CBS daytime drama in which Hartley portrayed Adam Newman ...)
2014
Interests
Hartley has supported The Water Project, a nonprofit organization focused on improving access to safe water.
Sport & Clubs
Hartley has been associated with support for Chicago and Los Angeles professional sports teams, including the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Bears.
Connections
Hartley married actress Lindsay Korman in 2004; they later divorced and share a daughter. He married actress Chrishell Stause in 2017, and their divorce was finalized in 2021. He married actress Sofia Pernas in 2021.
He and Korman have a daughter, Isabella Justice Hartley. Hartley's family also includes his brother Nathan and sisters Megan and Gabriela.
Brother:
Nathan Hartley
Hartley's brother.
Sister:
Megan Hartley
Hartley's sister.
Sister:
Gabriela Hartley
Hartley's sister.
Wife:
Lindsay Korman
Actress who was married to Hartley from 2004 until their divorce; they have a daughter.
Wife:
Chrishell Stause
Actress who was married to Hartley from 2017 until their divorce was finalized in 2021.
Knox College commencement announcement
Documents Hartley's Illinois upbringing, studies in history and theater, career as an actor, director, and producer, and selection as the 2026 commencement speaker.
