Dominic Haakon Myrtvedt Purcell born on February 17, 1970 is a British actor of Norwegian-Irish parentage most active in the United States. He is best known for his roles as John Doe on the Fox television series John Doe and as Lincoln Burrows on Prison Break. Purcell was born in Merseyside, England in 1970, the eldest of five children, he moved to Sydney, Australia with his family when he was two, where he was raised by his father and Irish mother, Maureen, in the Western Suburbs. Purcell's Norwegian father had previously served in the Norwegian Merchant Navy, installed air-conditioning ducts for a living but later separated from the family. Purcell's paternal grandfather was from Bergen, and his paternal grandmother a New York-born Irish-American. His middle name Haakon and his other surname Myrtvedt are both Norwegian. After quitting his high school education, Purcell was employed as a landscaper. Although he never contemplated being an actor, and thought that "people in the arts — actors, ballet dancers, musicians, whatever — were weird", he decided to try "that acting thing" on impulse. He applied to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and was accepted. There, Purcell studied alongside fellow actors Hugh Jackmanand Frances O'Connor. After graduating in 1996, Purcell obtained his first acting role as Granger Hutton, a leading role in the Australian television series Raw FM. After relocating to the United States in 2000, Purcell debuted on American television as the title character in John Doe in 2002. He first got his big break into mainstream stardom when he played the character of Drake in Blade: Trinity. Purcell's theatre credits include Antony and Cleopatra, Angels in America, Romeo and Juliet and The Pillars of Society. He currently has a starring role as Lincoln Burrows in the Fox network television drama series, Prison Break. In 2000, he won a green card lottery and now resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Rebecca, and their four children: Joseph (b. 1999), Audrey (b. 2001), and twins Lily and Augustus (b. 2003). In 2006 Purcell spent the Christmas period in Louth Village, Co. Louth, in Ireland, the home area of his mother and drew considerable attention in the local press.