Harold was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was an engineer and his mother a real estate agent. Because Harold's parents were devout Pentecostals, he had strict religious upbringing. At age 15, he left the church.
In 1997, Susan Landau, daughter of actor Martin Landau, suggested Harold try acting. He dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute and relocated to Los Angeles, where he began a three-year period of intensive drama study.[1] He was accepted into the Actors Conservatory Program with the classical theater company A Noise Within. In his theatrical debut, Harold appeared as "Bunny" in Gillian Plowman's Me and My Friends.
Gale Harold returned to the New York stage in Tennessee Williams' play Suddenly Last Summer on November 15, 2006, in the role of Dr. Cukrowicz ("Dr. Sugar"). Harold's co-stars in the Roundabout Theatre repertory production, a limited Off-Broadway engagement running through January 20, 2007, were Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino.
Harold was the male lead in the indie romantic comedy Falling for Grace, which debuted favorably at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival (under the working title East Broadway). Harold played an eligible New York bachelor in an interracial relationship with an Asian-American woman.
Harold appeared in November 2007 in a guest role on ABC's Grey's Anatomy as Shane, a paramedic and white supremacist who is injured in an ambulance crash.
He appeared in Desperate Housewives on the fourth season finale May 18, 2008 as Jackson Braddock, Susan Mayer's love interest. Six months after a serious motorcycle accident, Harold returned to play Jackson on the May 3, 2009 episode of the show.[3]
In January and February 2010, Harold performed alongside Denise Crosby and ex-model Claudia Mason in Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending at Theater/Theatre in Los Angeles. The production and cast received mostly positive reviews, with the Los Angeles Times calling his performance "brilliant" and adding "Harold, ideally cast, beautifully ignites with Crosby, whose unconventional interpretation is an affecting revelation."[4]
In July 2010, it was announced at the Television Critics Association Summer Tour that Harold had accepted a recurring role as a law professor in the upcoming series Hellcats.[5] The series concluded its season with Harold's character involved in an affair with the show's lead character Marti (played by Aly Michalka). The series was cancelled after one season.
The CW picked up The Secret Circle for the fall of 2011. The series revolved around a coven of teenage witches in a small town in Washington, each a member of a different witch clan dating back to the 17th Century. Harold played a scheming and powerful male witch who is the father of one of the teenagers. On May 11, 2012, The CW announced the cancellation of the series.[6]
In 2011, Harold was also featured in two movies, Low Fidelity and Rehab, as one of the main characters.[7]
Harold appeared on three episodes of the first season of the show Defiance (1.06, 1.08 and 1.09). On May 10, 2013, Syfy renewed Defiance for a 13 episode second season to air in 2014.[8][9] Harold returned for a guest appearance in the second season of the show in the episode "Put the Damage On".[10]
In 2013, Harold appeared in a short film, The Spirit Game. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and it was released online on September 2, 2014.[11]
At the Rise 'n Shine Convention (June 9, 2013), Harold said that he was currently working on a project about Civil War, Field of Lost Shoes.
In 2014, Harold participated in different projects including the short film, Thirst, which was directed by Rachel McDonald and premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on August 7, 2014,[12][13][14] and the film Echo Park, which premiered in the LA Film Festival on June 14, 2014.[15] He also appeared in the sci-fi/action movie Andron.[16][17]
On October 14, 2008, Harold was hospitalized at the LAC+USC Medical Center after a motorcycle accident. He remained in critical condition after swelling of the brain was discovered as well as a fractured shoulder. Harold was subsequently released from intensive care and returned to complete his role on Desperate Housewives.[19][20] The online motorcycle publication Clutch & Chrome, which had followed his recovery closely, celebrated his new Hellcats role with an article on August 3, 2010.[21][22]
During the shootings of Vanished in 2006, Harold shot a short video for the Amber Watch Foundation showing his support about missing children. In the video he stated that "nationwide 1.3 million children go missing each year" and urged people to be champions for child safety.[23]
Harold is a supporter of the LGBT community. On July 16, 2012, at the first Annual Hot 100 Party hosted by the website AfterEllen, he recorded an It Gets Better video sending his message and advising gay teens to remember their heroes.[24]
In 2014, Harold filed a restraining order against his ex-girlfriend, actress Danielle Saklofsky.[25]
The actor's sexual orientation was the subject of speculation from the public for many years, until Harold finally identified himself as a straight man.[26]
