Join us for the 25th anniversary of the Baltimore Comic-Con at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on September 20-22, 2024! The Baltimore Comic-Con is excited to announce media guest John Wesley Shipp to our 25th Anniversary event! See our website for details on ticketing, other announced guests, cosplay events, and more!
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John Wesley Shipp starred as The Flash when CBS brought the series to television in 1990 after the theatrical success of Batman. In 2014, John went on to portray Henry Allen, father to Grant Gustin’s “Scarlet Speedster” on the CW’s hit series The Flash, followed by Earth 3’s Flash, “Jay Garrick.” In fact, John has played four different roles in the “Flash” multiverse: Barry Allen, Professor Zoom, Henry Allen, and Jay Garrick. In 2018, John appeared in the “Arrowverse” crossover “Elseworld,” reprising his role as “90’s Flash / Barry Allen,” once again donning the classic “Flash” suit to the delight of Flash fans everywhere. Warner Bros. TV announced on September 9, 2019 that John would appear in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover which aired on December 8, 2019. The “Crisis” crossover would span across all 5 of the CW’s superhero shows, with the conclusion airing in January 2020. John has reprised his role as “Jay Garrick” on the CW show, Stargirl and once again for Season 9, the final season of CW’s The Flash.
John has appeared on the Ruby Herring Mysteries as the Father of lead actress, Taylor Cole. John’s debut on the Hallmark Channel was on September 29, 2019 in the episode titled, “Her Last Breath.” John has also workshopped the play Hank and Jim Build a Plane by David Gregory, about the lifelong friendship of Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart despite their political differences and romantic rivalries. John also stars in the just-released movie Night Sweats as “Nick Frankenthaler” in this based-on-a-true-story thriller. A constant presence on television for four decades, Shipp took on another iconic role after The Flash, that of Mitch Leery, James Van der Beek’s father, on the WB’s coming of age series Dawson’s Creek. He continued with a memorable turn as boxer “Lucky Williams,” love interest to Julianne Phillip’s “Frankie”, on Season 5 of NBC’s hit drama Sisters, and terrified audiences with his haunting arc as Isaac’s abusive father and Beacon Hills gravedigger, “Mr. Lahey,” opposite Daniel Sharman on MTV’s drama Teen Wolf. John is a two-time Emmy winner, garnering his first award for his performance as the duplicitous Douglas Cummings opposite Julianne Moore on As The World Turns and his second the next year for his guest turn as “Martin Ellis” on Santa Barbara – making him the only actor to win consecutive Emmys for two different daytime dramas. Other memorable daytime roles include stints on Guiding Light, One Life To Live, and All My Children.
Other television credits include: Lifetime’s hit Drop Dead Diva, CBS’s JAG and CSI: NY, Showtime’s The Outer Limits, TNT’s The Closer, the Lifetime movies Christie’s Revenge and Road Rage, and ABC’s seminal cop drama NYPD Blue. He also starred in the film Hell and Mr. Fudge, and The Sector with Lance Henriksen and Richard Tyson.
Not limited to television, John is a classically trained theater actor who also studied opera. He was featured on Broadway playing the Welsh wastrel, Gerry Evans, in the Tony Award-winning production of Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel at the Plymouth Theatre, as well as in Safe Sex at the Lyceum Theatre opposite Harvey Fierstein. Other NYC credits include the NY premiere of Stopping the Desert at Primary Stages, Barbara Schottenfeld’s Sit Down and Eat Before Our Love Gets Cold at American Kaleidoscope, and Philco Blues with Judith Ivey at the Westbeth. His regional credits include acclaimed performances as Juror #8 in Twelve Angry Men with the Judson Theatre Co., Brick in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Walnut Street Theatre, Curley in Oklahoma! at Little Theatre on the Square, and the Los Angeles premiere of The Killing of Michael Malloy by Erik Jendresen at the Tiffany Theatre. John has also performed in the award-winning radio play Powder Burns as “Sheriff Emmett Burns,” a blind lawman in the Old West.
A travel enthusiast and active supporter of the notably welcoming and inclusive Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia, he was on the Host Committee for Live Out Loud, with BD Wong and TR Knight to support the opening of The Matthew Shepard House in LA for displaced LGBTQ youth. He has also served on the Artists Committee for the Innocence Project, committed to publicizing the organization’s important work using DNA evidence to overturn wrongful convictions.
John intersperses his professional commitments with worldwide personal appearances, traveling to England, France, Australia, New Zealand, Wales, Ireland, Ecuador, Mexico City, Peru, and Chile as a part of a four decades career in which he has cultivated a loyal fan base, with a diverse resume including “Superheroes and Psychopaths.” Mr. Shipp lives in New York City.
“Mr. Shipp has a long resume, but we surely think of him for his many roles in and as The Flash,” said Marc Nathan, show promoter for the Baltimore Comic-Con. “From the original ’90s series to his multiple Arrowverse appearances, he most assuredly holds a spot in fandom’s headspace as a member of the DC on-screen universe! Don’t miss this opportunity to meet John at our 25th anniversary event!”
Tickets currently available include:
- VIP*
- Weekend Pass
- Friday only
- Saturday only
- Sunday only
As always, children 10 and under are free with a paid adult admission!
In the coming weeks, look for more announcements from the Baltimore Comic-Con. We are looking forward to highlighting our guests, the Ringo Awards, programming, and more. The latest developments can always be found on our website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages, and follow us on YouTube, TikTok, BlueSky, and Snapchat.