Peter Strauss is well known for his long list of starring roles in made-for-TV films, including The Jericho Mile, for which he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special. Strauss has also received Emmy Award nominations for his roles in the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man and Masada, as well as five Golden Globe Nominations.

Strauss was born in New York City and grew up in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, where he was introduced to the theatre via the Croton Shakespeare Festival. His summers were spent with stock companies including the Pocono Playhouse in Pennsylvania and Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. He attended the Hackley School for Boys in Tarrytown, New York and graduated from Northwestern University in 1969, committed to an acting career.

He made his Broadway debut in Tom Griffin's "Einstein and the Polar Bear" in 1981. His other theatrical credits include the plays "The Dance Next Door", "The Mind with the Dirty Man" and "The Trial of the Catonsville Nine" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and "A Cry of Players" at Baltimore's Centre Stage.

His feature film credits include Soldier Blue, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, The Last Tycoon, The Secret of NIMH, Flight of Black Angel and Nick of Time.

Strauss' many television credits include starring in the TV films Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy, Angel on My Shoulder, A Whale for the Killing, Heart of Steel, Under Siege, Penalty Phase, Proud Men, 83 Hours 'Til Dawn, Fugitive Among Us, Men Don't Tell, Thicker Than Blood, Reunion, The Yearling, In the Lake of the Woods, Death in the Shadows, A Father's Choice and Murder on the Orient Express, as well as the miniseries Tender Is the Night, Kane & Abel, Brotherhood of the Rose, Trial: The Price of Passion and Texas Justice. His latest mini-series appearances were Seasons of Love, with Rachel Ward and Hume Cronyn, (which he executive-produced) and as La Hire in the CBS four-hour mini-series Joan of Arc.

Strauss starred for one season in the CBS drama series Moloney and the PAX drama series Body & Soul.

He has just completed co-starring as the President of the US in Revolution/Columbia's xXx 2: The Next Level for director Lee Tamahori. He recently starred in New York runs of Jon Robin Baitz's new political thriller "Chinese Friends" at Playwrights Horizon Theatre and "Sabina" at Primary Stages.

Strauss is married to actress Rachel Ticotin and lives in Ojai, California, where he also operates a commercial citrus enterprise that produces 400 tons of citrus per year.