# John Pankow

John Pankow (born April 28, 1954) is an American actor. He began his career on-stage in New York, in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway plays including Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, John Patrick Shanley's Italian American Reconciliation, and Brian Friel's Aristocrats. After a starring role in William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A., he began appearing regularly in film and on television, playing Ira Buchman for all eight seasons of Mad About You and later Merc Lapidus on Episodes.

## Early life and education

Pankow was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Catholic family of German and Irish descent, the sixth of nine siblings. His elder brother is trombonist/composer James Pankow, a founding member of the rock group Chicago. Pankow grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, and attended Maine South High School and Northeastern Illinois University.
He left the university in his junior year after he attended a performance of David Mamet's The American Buffalo at the St. Nicholas Theater. Inspired by the play, he enrolled in the theater's two-year theatrical training program in order to concentrate solely on acting.

## Career

While visiting a friend in New York City, Pankow auditioned for, and won, a role in an episode of PBS' Great Performances entitled "Life on the Mississippi". He went on to perform in several Off-Broadway productions including Aristocrats, Italian American Reconciliation, and the New York Shakespeare Festival's The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Henry VIII. He subsequently made it to Broadway with Serious Money, The Iceman Cometh, and as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus, replacing Tim Curry in the role and subsequently replacing him for a touring production.
After minor roles in The Hunger and Rambo: First Blood Part II, he had his first large role on-screen in To Live and Die in L.A. as rookie Secret Service agent John Vukovich, starring opposite William Petersen and Willem Dafoe. Pankow was cast after director William Friedkin deliberately sought out young, relatively-unknown stage actors for the project. After casting fellow Chicagoan Petersen, the old friend reached out to Pankow, who brought him to Friedkin who cast him on the spot. He landed another major supporting role in The Secret of My Success opposite Michael J. Fox, and played Demi Moore's husband in Mortal Thoughts.
He subsequently appeared for eight seasons as Ira Buchman on the NBC sitcom Mad About You, where he was nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. He was a series regular on the Showtime/BBC series Episodes, playing American television executive Merc Lapidus. He has since appeared in numerous films and television series.

## Personal life

Pankow has been married to actress Kristine Sutherland since 1986 and they have one daughter together. He resides in New York City.

## Stage credits

| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Notes |
| 1980 | Merton of the Movies | | | |
| 1982-83 | Amadeus | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Broadhurst Theatre | Replaced Tim Curry |
| 1981 | The Slab Boys | Hector | Hudson Guild Theatre | |
| 1981 | Forty-Deuce | | Perry Street Theatre | |
| 1981 | Hunting Scenes From Lower Bavaria | Abram | Stage 73 | |
| 1982 | Cloud Nine | | | |
| 1982 | Jazz Poets at the Grotto | | | |
| 1983 | Thornhill | | | |
| 1984 | Henry V | | | |
| 1985 | The Iceman Cometh | Rocky Pioggi | Lunt-Fontanne Theatre | Drama-Logue Award for Outstanding Performance |
| 1987 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Speed | Delacorte Theater | |
| 1987 | North Shore Fish | | | |
| 1988 | Serious Money | Zac Zackerman | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre | |
| 1988 | Italian American Reconciliation | Hugh Maximillian Bonfigliano | Manhattan Theatre Club | |
| 1989 | Aristocrats | Eamon | Theater Four | Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Male Newcomer |
| 1990 | Ice Cream with Hot Fudge | Colin/Man in Devon/Shrink/Colleague/ Fellow Guest/Hitcher/Professor | | |
| 1992 | Scheherazade | | | |
| 1995 | The Tempest | Stephano | Delacorte Theater | |
| 1997 | Baby Anger | Larry Paterson | Playwrights Horizons Wilder Theater | |
| 2001-02 | Barbra's Wedding | Jerry Schiff | Plays and Players Theatre | |
| 2001 | Measure for Measure | Lucio | Delacorte Theater | |
| 2003 | Barbra's Wedding | Jerry Schiff | Westside Theatre | |
| 2004 | Good Canary | | Susan Stein Shiva Theater | Workshop |
| 2004-05 | Twelve Angry Men | Juror No. 7 | American Airlines Theatre | |
| 2006 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Gordon Lowther | Acorn Theatre | |
| 2007-08 | Cymbeline | Pisanio | Vivian Beaumont Theater | |
| 2009 | Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them | Reverend Mike | The Public Theater | |
| 2009 | Keep Your Pantheon | Pelargon | Linda Gross Theater | |
| 2010 | Equivocation | William Shagspeare | New York City Center | |
| 2012 | The Taming of the Shrew | Grumio | New 42nd Street | |
| 2012 | Medieval Play | | Pershing Square Signature Center | |
| 2013 | Natural Affection | Vince Brinkman | Samuel Beckett Theatre | |
| 2014 | Much Ado About Nothing | Dogberry | Delacorte Theater | |
| 2015-16 | Dada Woof Papa Hot | Michael | Vivian Beaumont Theater | |
| 2017 | Assisted Living | | Eugene O'Neill Theater Center | Staged reading |
| 2018 | Turning Off The Morning News | Jimmy | McCarter Theatre | |
| 2018 | The True | Charlie Ryan | Pershing Square Signature Center | |
| 2019 | Kiss Me, Kate | Gangster | Studio 54 | |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | The Chosen | Bully | |
| 1983 | The Hunger | 1st Phone Booth Youth | |
| 1985 | Rambo: First Blood Part II | POW #6 | Uncredited |
| 1985 | To Live and Die in L.A. | Secret Service Agent John Vukovich | |
| 1987 | The Secret of My Success | Fred Melrose | |
| 1987 | *batteries not included | Kovacs | |
| 1988 | Johnny Be Good | Lou Landers | Uncredited |
| 1988 | Monkey Shines | Geoffrey Fisher | |
| 1988 | Talk Radio | Deitz | |
| 1991 | Mortal Thoughts | Arthur Kellogg | |
| 1991 | Year of the Gun | Italo Bianchi | |
| 1992 | A Stranger Among Us | Levine | |
| 1998 | The Object of My Affection | Vince McBride | |
| 2001 | Life as a House | Bryan Burke | |
| 2002 | Advice and Dissent | Jeffrey Goldman | Short film |
| 2009 | Bride Wars | John | |
| 2010 | The Extra Man | George | |
| 2010 | Morning Glory | Lenny Bergman | |
| 2012 | Putzel | Sid | |
| TBA | Married Young | Dr. Levovitz | post-production |
| 2020 | Before/During/After | Jim Lonergan | Winner: Best Ensemble Cast San Diego International Film Festival |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1980 | Great Performances | George Richie | Episode: "Life on the Mississippi" |
| 1982 | The Doctors | Danny Martin | Contract role. 1981-1982 |
| 1984 | Miami Vice | Floyd Higgins | Episode: "Glades" |
| 1985 | First Steps | Fred | Television film |
| 1986 | Search for Tomorrow | Father O'Hanlan | Episode: "Finale" |
| 1987 | Spenser: For Hire | Billy Hanratty | Episode: "The Song of Orpheus" |
| 1987 | Leg Work | Chuck Savin | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1990–1991 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Ron Luchesse | Series regular (8 episodes) |
| 1992 | Law & Order | Charles Meadow | Episode: "Wedded Bliss" |
| 1993–2019 | Mad About You | Ira Buchman | Series regular (143 episodes) Nominated—SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1995–98) |
| 1995 | Duckman | Additional Characters (voices) | Episode: "Research and Destroy" |
| 1996 | Aaahh!!! Real Monsters | Blook The Granfaloon (voice) | Episode: "The Master Monster/Slumber Scare" |
| 2002 | Ally McBeal | Barry Dekumbis | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Without a Trace | Brian Owen | Episode: "Exposure" |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Phil Lambier | Episode: "Cruise to Nowhere" |
| 2006 | The Book of Daniel | Charlie Conlin | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Law & Order | Assistant District Attorney Josh Lethem | Episode: "Illegal" |
| 2009 | The Electric Company | Stan Flea | Episode: "Mighty Bright Fight" |
| 2011 | Law & Order: LA | Attorney Byron | Episode: "East Pasadena" |
| 2011 | The Good Wife | Judge Cyril Handley | Episode: "Getting Off" |
| 2011–2017 | Episodes | Merc Lapidus | Series regular (40 episodes) |
| 2012 | Elementary | Edgar Knowles | Episode: "The Long Fuse" |
| 2013 | The Arrangement | Herman Mackey | Television film |
| 2013 | Doubt | Mr. Syd Newman | Television film |
| 2014–2019 | Madam Secretary | NASA Administrator Glenn | Recurring role (4 episodes) |
| 2015 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Lenny Simmons | Episode: "Agent Provocateur" |
| 2015–2016; 2021 | Lucifer | Jimmy Barnes | 3 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Chicago P.D. | Tommy Wells | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Unorganized Crime | Father Anthony Corso | Television film |
| 2018 | Blue Bloods | John Romano | Episode: "The Devil You Know" |