Biography
Chris Krauser was born Christopher Allan Krauser on September 8, 1977 in Sylvania, Ohio. His father, Christopher Paul Krauser, is of Polish and German descent. He previously owned a business and raced cars with Porsche. His mother, Jeanne, is half Italian and grew up in Southern California, and attended Hollywood High School. His paternal great-grandfather was from Warsaw, Poland, and his maternal grandmother was from Rome. A great-great uncle was reportedly a WWI fighter pilot back in Germany. Chris spent time in Ohio and California but mostly stayed in Ohio until August 2002.
He attended Ladyfield Catholic School in Toledo, Ohio. During this time he got into some trouble at school and received bad grades. Growing up at an early age he started lifting weights after his father gave him his first barbell set. As a youth and a teen he won a few small powerlifting tournaments in the middleweight and light heavyweight class of 160-176 and 177-189 lbs. He became an avid weightlifter sometimes exercising most of the day. From an early age he dreamed of becoming a bodybuilder up until around age 19. Around that time, while academically struggling at St. Francis de Sales Catholic High School, he thought about becoming a model or actor. During his Freshman and Sophomore years he wrestled but won only 1 match. He wrestled briefly during his junior year after struggling to maintain the 112 lbs weight class.
He dropped out of the University of Toledo with around 70 credits and tried acting at the University of Bowling Green. However, after a year, he left. He got his first credited acting role in Ice Cold Fear (2006), playing a beach bum. The film was not released until several years later. He played guitar and, later, piano, and wrote a few pieces of music. At the same time he started writing his first screenplay and briefly modeled some clothes for Dillard's, where he worked at age 21. He went to New York and tried out for Next Model Management. During the summers of 2000-01, he traveled to Canada to be an extra in a film and auditioned for two agencies. During 2001 he signed up with TVI Actors Studio Showcase and flew to Los Angeles for two weeks. He came home at the end of 2001. He decided to move to California. He saved up some money and sold some of his belongings. He packed up his stuff and drove 55 hours with a friend to Altadena, California. Shortly after arriving rent prices went up and he couldn't afford his place. So he lived anywhere he could. He worked different jobs in LA as a server, bus boy, putting together electrical components at a warehouse, a doorman at Club Lotus and a dishwasher at local restaurant chain which went out of business. He slept mostly in his car for almost three years starting in late 2002.
While sleeping in his vehicle outside a Car Max for 3 months people would shout and throw things at his car to make him leave the lot but he never did and a few times he found his tires flat. To keep his circulation going or get exercise he would run around his car for an hour and do push ups during the night time after work. A number of times was arrested but let go after he explained to local police officers his situation some of whom reportedly checked up on him to make sure he was okay. He would take showers at a nearby gym and clean himself up. In late 2005, a family member helped him get an apartment in Van Nuys.
In early 2004, he signed up with Central Casting as well as a few other extra casting agencies to earn some extra money while also working a regular day job. He worked almost everyday 5 to 6 days a week for the next few years on the film sets willing to do almost anything to get a job. He got a few small roles between 2004-08. He appeared on seven episodes of CSI: Miami (2002) and as F.B.I. Special Agent Eddie Velasco in Dexter (2006). In 2009, he played a detective in Jeffery Manchester (2009). In Surviving Terror (2008), he played "Shivago". He signed a few contracts with some agencies but dropped out due to financial constraints and decided he needed steadier employment.
He quit his regular day job and took a vendor job which took him all over southern California. A year later after quitting that job he returned to the Home Depot branch on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood for half a year during 2006. He then started writing a few screenplays and at the same time got hired as a car salesman at Universal City Nissan near Universal Studios. After, he started a program at a nursing school, graduating in 2011 as a Licensed Practical Nurse. He reportedly later was studying to advance to become a Registered Nurse.
