Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor. He currently has a starring role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox network's drama series, Prison Break for which he was nominated for a Satellite Award. He also appeared in the film Hitman as Yuri, chief of the Russian secret service (FSB).
Born in Fremont, Ohio, Knepper was interested in acting from an early age due to his mother's involvement at a community theater. He was raised in Maumee, Ohio near Toledo by his mother and father, who was a veterinarian. Knepper spent many years of his youth working in the community theater and high school productions. After graduating from Maumee High School in 1977, he attended Northwestern University to study drama. During this time, Knepper also obtained professional roles in plays in Chicago. Nearing the completion of his degree, Knepper quit Northwestern and went to New York City, where he continued to work in theater. Although Knepper never intended to work in film and television projects, he began his television and film career in 1986 with The Paper Chase and That's Life!.
Making his feature film debut in Blake Edwards' That's Life, Knepper's additional feature-film credits include Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You, D.O.A., Renegades, Young Guns II, Gas Food Lodging, Hostage and Good Night and Good Luck.
Knepper has also made numerous television guest appearances on series such as Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, La Femme Nikita, New York Undercover, Tour of Duty, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, ER, L.A. Law, Profiler, South Beach, Murder, She Wrote, CSI: Miami and The West Wing. He starred in the 2007 film adaption of the Hitman game series, and is currently a main character on Prison Break, where he plays "Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell", his biggest role yet.
Knepper presently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife Tori and son Ben. His current busy filming schedule reportedly takes time away from his son Ben. To help deal with this problem, Robert draws and faxes a cartoon, on the set of Prison Break, to his 5-year-old son every day. He also has a stepson named Peter. Knepper was spotted holidaying in Tokyo, Japan, in May 2008 with his wife.
