James Armando Fitzpatrick was born in Omaha, Nebraska but returned to Clearwater Beach, Florida at three months of age where his parents (Jim Sr. and Cookie) are from and began his acting career on the stage at the tender age of 13 when he appeared in his first school play, "A Thousand Clowns," at Seminole (Florida) High School. Jim accepted a football scholarship to Illinois State University as a theater major where he became involved with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company founded by Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. He put aside an acting career to play professional football, however, starting in 1981 with the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the CFL (Canadian Football league) followed by short stints with the Chicago Bears ('82) and the Baltimore Colts('82). His football career ended when he retired in 1985, after spending three seasons with the Tampa Bay Bandits in the USFL ('83-'85).

1984