Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Lindsay Penner (born March 5, 1962) is an American actor, screenwriter, television personality, and film producer, known for producing and starring in the film The Last Supper, as well as acting in the television series Rude Awakening and The Naked Truth. He is also known for his multiple appearances on the American competitive reality series Survivor.

Life and career Penner was born in New York City. He has had roles in television series Grapevine, The Naked Truth and Rude Awakening, and guest-starred on Seinfeld, CSI, CSI: NY, The Tick, Melrose Place, LateLine, Arrested Development, and The Nanny, where he appeared in two episodes as Danny Imperiali, whose firing and dumping of fiancée Fran Fine kicked off the entire series.

Penner has appeared in many films, with featured roles in Anarchy TV, Down Periscope, and The Last Supper, the latter of which he also co-produced, and which was directed by his wife, Stacy Title.

He had a small role in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993). Penner was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Academy Awards in 1994 for Down on the Waterfront, which he co-produced, co-wrote, and starred in, along with Jason Alexander and Edward Asner.

He co-wrote the script for the 2003 The WB-produced re-imagining of The Lone Ranger, and later the 2017 horror film The Bye Bye Man. He is developing a King Kong television series for MarVista Entertainment and IM Global Television.

Penner resides in Los Angeles, California, with his two children: Ellis, born in 1999, and Cooper, born in 1995. He was married to director Stacy Title from 1991 until her death in 2021; he was introduced to Stacy by his friend Jason Alexander, who is married to Stacy's cousin, Daena Title.

Filmography + Acting credits Year Title Role Notes 1989 A Fool and His Money Morris Codman Film 1990 White Palace Marv Miller Film 1992 Grapevine David Klein TV series 1993 Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Studio Executive Film 1993 Melrose Place Joel Walker Episode titled 'Married to It' 1993 The Nanny Danny TV series 1993 Coneheads Captain, Air Traffic Film 1993 Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday David (Scenes Deleted) Film 1995 The Last Supper Marc Film; also served as co-executive producer 1995-1997 The Naked Truth Nick Columbus TV series 1996 Down Periscope Stanley 'Spots' Sylvesterson Film 1998 Anarchy TV Jerry Film 1998 Seinfeld Zach Episode titled 'The Bookstore' 1998 LateLine Paul Episode titled 'Gale Gets a Life' 1998-2000 Rude Awakening Dave Parelli TV series 2001 The Tick Steve Filbert Episode titled 'The Big Leagues' 2004 Arrested Development Detective Fellows Episode titled 'Not Without my Daughter' 2004 CSI Detective Travis Episode titled 'Viva Las Vegas' 2006 E-Ring FBI Agent Jaffe Episode titled 'Five Pillars' 2006 CSI: New York Newt Glick Episode titled 'Run Silent, Run Deep' 2006 Hood of Horror Fowler Film 2006 Survivor: Cook Islands Contestant Eliminated; 7th Place 2008 Survivor: Micronesia Contestant Medically Evacuated; 15th Place 2012 Survivor: Philippines Contestant Eliminated; 7th Place 2017 The Bye Bye Man Mr. Daizy Film

+ Writing credits Year Title Notes 1999 Let the Devil Wear Black 2003 The Lone RangerTelevision film 2017 The Bye Bye Man

Survivor In addition to his acting and writing credits, Penner is perhaps best known as a three-time contestant on Survivor.

Cook Islands

Penner was a contestant on Survivor: Cook Islands in 2006. He was one of the original five members of the Rarotonga tribe (Raro). He quickly became notorious among the cast for stealing another tribe's chicken on the first day. In episode three, the four tribes evenly divided into two new mixed tribes, Aitutaki and Rarotonga. Penner found himself on Aitutaki (Aitu). While a member of Aitu, he became part of an alliance that consisted of Yul Kwon, Candice Woodcock, Becky Lee and Sundra Oakley. This alliance lasted until episode eight when the members of Aitu and Raro were offered a chance to mutiny by joining the opposing tribe. Penner, along with Woodcock, chose to leave Aitu for Raro, the only two castaways to accept the offer. After the merge, he flipped again and voted with the former Aitus. Ultimately, Kwon voted him out to appease the former Raro members, who viewed Penner as duplicitous for having betrayed them. He was the fourteenth person voted out, finishing in seventh place. As his torch was snuffed, he turned to the Final Six and said, "And I'd like my hat back at some point", then left (Kwon actually did bring his hat back to him at the next Tribal Council). Penner humbly voted for Kwon to win in the Final Tribal Council.

Micronesia

Penner was also a contestant on Survivor: Micronesia Fans vs. Favorites, the 16th season of Survivor which aired in 2008. He was one of ten returning favorites on the Malakal tribe and later switched to Airai. He was removed from the game during the sixth episode, due to a life-threatening infection in his injured knee. The Survivor medics stated that he had no choice but to be evacuated from the game as the sixth person to leave the competition.

Philippines

Penner returned to play the game for a third time on Survivor: Philippines, the 25th season of Survivor. He was one of the three returning players who had been medically evacuated during their previous season, the others being Michael Skupin (Survivor: The Australian Outback) and Russell Swan (Survivor: Samoa). During the season, Penner worked quite closely with castaway and fellow actress Lisa Whelchel. He ended up being the 11th person voted out, placing seventh overall, which is where he had also finished the first time he participated on Survivor. At the Final Tribal Council, he voted for Denise Stapley to win after claiming that Skupin and Whelchel were "ridden in like oxen" by Stapley, who indeed proved to be the eventual winner.

In total, Penner has spent 78 days playing the Survivor game. In an interview following his departure from Survivor: Philippines, he said he would be open to returning for another season.