Sam Straley was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his passion for acting and film began very early due to frequent trips to the movie theater with his grandfather, local director and film critic, Roger Grooms. This love and dedication led him to participate in every opportunity he could during his grade school and high school years. During this time, Straley received two ****-wide awards, including Best Actor and Best Featured Actor for his performances onstage.In 2013, he moved to Chicago to continue his training at The Theatre School at DePaul University (class of 2017). While at school, he guest starred on NBC's Chicago P.D. and appeared on Amazon's Philip K. ****'s Electric Dreams. Since graduating, he's worked on a number of feature films that include Hala, directed by Minhal Baig with Overbrook Entertainment and Once Upon a River, directed by Haroula Rose. He recently co-directed and starred in his debut short film, Subscribe Now, which can be viewed on Vimeo.