Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His mother, Dr. Lillian Sandra Baum, was a psychiatrist, and his father, Frederick Haworth Tenney, was a research physicist. His maternal grandparents were Polish Jewish immigrants, while his paternal forebears were of English ancestry. He received his B.A. degree from Vassar College in 1984, where he majored in drama and philosophy. He later attended The Juilliard School\'s Drama Division as a member of Group 19 (1986–1990).\n', '

Tenney made his acting debut in a touring production of Mike Nichols\' The Real Thing. He worked steadily on and off-Broadway, and in regional theater. At New York City, his stage credits include Biloxi Blues, The Substance of Fire and The Heiress. He began working on television, starring in a number of short-lived series, including Steven Bochco\'s Brooklyn South, Kristin Chenoweth\'s sitcom Kristin, and guest appearances on Will & Grace, Murphy Brown, Spenser: for Hire and Get Real. Series with Tenney as a regular were canceled on all four major networks.\n', '

From 2005 to 2012, Tenney played Special Agent Fritz Howard, the husband of Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) in TNT\'s The Closer and its spin-off Major Crimes since 2014, with Howard becoming an LAPD deputy chief in the third season. Later, he portrayed Dr. Simon Craig, a love interest of Nora Walker (Sally Field) in Brothers & Sisters. In 2013, he starred with Rebecca Romijn in TNT\'s King & Maxwell, as Sean King, a former Secret Service agent and lawyer who works as a private investigator. The series was canceled after one season. In 2014, he was cast in a recurring role on Shonda Rhimes\' drama series Scandal.\n', '

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