# Ted McGinley

Theodore Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom Married... with Children, Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith, and as Derek on the Apple TV+ comedy drama series Shrinking. He was a late regular on Happy Days, Dynasty and The Love Boat and is known for playing the villainous role of Stan Gable in the film Revenge of the Nerds and several made-for-television sequels.

## Early life

McGinley was born and raised in Newport Beach, California. His paternal grandfather was an Irish immigrant. He played on the water polo team at Newport Harbor High School. McGinley attended the University of Southern California, but after pursuing work as a model, dropped out and moved to New York in 1979.

## Career

After a casting director spotted a picture of him in GQ, McGinley was cast on the comedy series Happy Days as Roger Phillips (nephew of the Cunninghams), a role he played from 1980 to 1984. During the run of Happy Days, he landed a role in the comedy film Young Doctors in Love (1982).
After Happy Days ended in 1984, McGinley appeared in Revenge of the Nerds where he played Stanley Gable, the head of the jock-run Alpha Beta fraternity and the primary antagonist of the Lambda Lambda Lambda nerd fraternity; he reprised the role in the third and fourth films in the "Nerds" franchise, both produced for television. He went on to appear in regular roles on television series including The Love Boat and Dynasty. He then played the role of Al Bundy's best friend Jefferson D'Arcy on Married... with Children from 1991 to 1997, describing it as a "great, great gig." He had recurring roles on Aaron Sorkin's television series Sports Night as Dana's boyfriend Gordon, and The West Wing as a television news anchor. From 2003 to 2006, he played Charley Shanowski on Hope & Faith.
Two years later, he was selected for a role in Charlie Lawrence, a situation comedy about a freshman congressman from New Mexico, played by Nathan Lane. McGinley played Graydon Ford, the neighbor of Lane's title character, who was a member of the opposing political party. McGinley was also in the pilot for the 2002 CBS show Life of the Party, playing a senator.
His guest star roles include series such as Fantasy Island (1982), Hotel (1985–87), Perfect Strangers (1988), B.L. Stryker (1989), Evening Shade (1990), Dream On (1991), The John Larroquette Show (1995–96; 1997–98), The Practice (2001), and Justice League (2002).
During and shortly after the run of Married … With Children, McGinley was a part of many films and television films, playing different types of characters. In 1993, he played Mr. Scream in Wayne's World 2. That same year, McGinley affected a Southern accent in his role in the miniseries Wild Justice, which was poorly received by critics. Some of his television film roles were very dark. In 1996, he was the star of Deadly Web, a film that aired on NBC in 1996 and co–starred his wife, Gigi Rice. The film was about a woman who was stalked on the Internet. McGinley played one of his darkest roles in 1998 in the television film Every Mother's Worst Fear. He played Mitch Carson, a sexual predator who lures a teenage girl into his house, where he holds her captive and tortures her.
In 2008, McGinley became a contestant on the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, and was paired with pro dancer Inna Brayer. He was the second contestant to be eliminated in the competition.

### "Jumping the Shark"

McGinley was called "the patron saint of shark-jumping" by jumptheshark.com founder Jon Hein. This is a reference to the several instances McGinley joined popular television programs in their final years, often to replace a departing regular cast member. Hein explains he is not making any comment "on Ted's fine acting skills" and furthermore notes that "[McGinley] has a great sense of humor about it, too." In one episode of Married... with Children, McGinley himself spoofed this reputation by asking Al Bundy, "Another picture, Captain? I mean, Fonzie? ....Al?" In 2003, McGinley told Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "I've had a lot of fun with it. To be honest with you, it's meant people are still talking about me. It's kind of doing me a favor. And people keep hiring me, so I know that I'm okay, jumping the shark."
In 2011, McGinley again made fun of his "shark-jumping" abilities in "Mitefall!", the final episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In the episode, Bat-Mite (voiced by Paul Reubens) wants the show to be cancelled to usher in a new TV show called Beware the Batman. To that end, he starts replacing aspects of the show, including switching Aquaman's regular voice actor, John DiMaggio, with McGinley. Ambush Bug (voiced by McGinley's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler) helps to reverse the situation, in part by getting McGinley to break character and leave, forcing DiMaggio's voice back into Aquaman.

## Personal life

McGinley married actress Gigi Rice in 1991 and they have two sons, Beau (born 1994) and Quinn. They reside in Los Angeles.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | Young Doctors in Love | Dr. Bucky DeVol | |
| 1984 | Revenge of the Nerds | Stanley Harvey "Stan" Gable | |
| 1989 | Troop Beverly Hills | Himself | |
| 1989 | Physical Evidence | Kyle D.E. Roache | |
| 1991 | Blue Tornado | Phillip | |
| 1992 | Space Case | Biff | Alternative title: Alien Invasion |
| 1993 | Wayne's World 2 | Mr. Scream | |
| 1998 | Follow Your Heart | James Allen Bailey | |
| 1998 | Major League: Back to the Minors | Leonard Huff | Alternative title: Major League III |
| 1999 | Dick | Roderick | |
| 1999 | The Big Tease | Johnny Darjerling | |
| 2000 | Face the Music | Marcus | |
| 2000 | Daybreak | Dillon Johansen | Alternative title: Rapid Transit |
| 2001 | Cahoots | Brad | |
| 2001 | Pearl Harbor | Army Major | |
| 2007 | The Storm Awaits | Vale Newcastle | |
| 2008 | Eavesdrop | Grant | |
| 2000 | Privileged | Mr. Webber | |
| 2010 | Christmas with a Capital C | Dan Reed | |
| 2010 | Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster | Thornton Blake V / Uncle Thorny | Voice |
| 2013 | Bad Behavior | Bruce | |
| 2014 | Reedemed | Paul Tyson | |
| 2015 | Do You Believe? | Matthew | |
| 2015 | Underdog Kids | Barry Hershfeld | |
| 2016 | Expendable Assets | Carter | |
| 2017 | Area of Conflict | Carter | |
| 2017 | The Outcasts | Principal Whitmore | |
| 2018 | God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness | Thomas Ellsworth | |
| 2018 | A.X.L. | George Fontaine | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1980–1984 | Happy Days | Roger Phillips | 61 episodes |
| 1982 | Fantasy Island | Errol Brookfield III | Episode: "The Kleptomaniac/Thank God, I'm a Country Girl" |
| 1983 | Making of a Male Model | Gary Angelo | Television film |
| 1983–1987 | The Love Boat | Photographer Ashley "Ace" Covington Evans | 60 episodes |
| 1985–1987 | Hotel | Kyle Stanton | 3 episodes |
| 1986–1987 | Dynasty | Clay Fallmont | 34 episodes |
| 1988 | Perfect Strangers | Billy Appleton | Episode: "My Brother, Myself" |
| 1989 | B.L. Stryker | Mitch Slade | 2 episodes |
| 1989–1997 | Married... with Children | Jefferson D'Arcy, Norman Jablonsky, Prince Paco | 167 episodes |
| 1990 | Evening Shade | Kyle Hampton | Episode: "The Moustache Show" |
| 1991 | Baby Talk | Craig Palmer | Episode: "Baby Love" |
| 1992 | Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation | Dean Stanley Harvey "Stan" Gable | Television film |
| 1993 | Wild Justice | Aubrey Billings | Television film |
| 1993 | Linda | Brandon "Jeff" Jeffries | Television film |
| 1994 | Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love | Stanley Harvey "Stan" Gable | Television film |
| 1995 | Dream On | Chad Spencer | Episode: "Long Distance Runaround" |
| 1995 | Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead | Jeffrey Quint | Television film |
| 1995–1996 | The John Larroquette Show | Karl Reese | 4 episodes |
| 1996 | Deadly Web | Peter Lawrence | Television film |
| 1998 | Every Mother's Worst Fear | Scanman | Television film |
| 1998–1999 | Sports Night | Gordon | 8 episodes |
| 1999 | Work with Me | Murray Epstein | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1999 | Hard Time: Hostage Hotel | FBI Agent Hopkins | Television film |
| 2000–2001 | The West Wing | Mark Gottfried | 3 episodes |
| 2001 | The Practice | Michael Hale | Episode: "Awakenings" |
| 2002 | Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central) | Ted Wayne Giblen | 1 episode |
| 2002–2003 | Justice League | Tom Turbine, Burns | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 2003 | Frozen Impact | Dan Blanchard | Television film |
| 2003 | Charlie Lawrence | Graydon Ford | 7 episodes |
| 2003 | The Proud Family | Lance McDougal | Voice, episode: "Smackmania 6: Mongo vs. Mama's Boy" |
| 2003–2006 | Hope & Faith | Dr. Charley Shanowski | 73 episodes |
| 2004 | NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 | Reese Faulkner | Television film |
| 2007–2008 | Family Guy | Helicopter Rental Agent / McStroke Receptionist | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2007 | 'Til Death | Webby | Episode: "Webby's Not Happy" |
| 2007 | The Note | Kingston "King" Danville | Television film |
| 2008 | Dancing with the Stars | Himself (contestant) | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Psych | Randy Labayda | Episode: "Six Feet Under the Sea" |
| 2009 | The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love | Kingston "King" Danville | Television film |
| 2010 | Wizards of Waverly Place | Superintendent Clanton | Episode: "Western Show" |
| 2010 | Melissa & Joey | Mayor | Episode: "In Lennox We Trust" |
| 2011 | Breaking In | Larry | Episode: "White on White on White" |
| 2011 | Batman: The Brave and the Bold | Himself as Aquaman | Voice, episode: "Mitefall!" |
| 2012 | Notes from the Heart Healer | Kingston "King" Danville | Television film |
| 2012 | The Mentalist | Ed Hunt | Episode: "If It Bleeds, It Leads" |
| 2012 | Sullivan & Son | Eugene Casternakie | Episode: "The Bar Birthday" |
| 2013 | A Mother's Rage | Stan | Television film |
| 2013 | Mad Men | Mel | Episode: “To Have and to Hold" |
| 2014 | Castle | Brock Harmon | Episode: "Last Action Hero" |
| 2015–2017 | Transformers: Robots in Disguise | Denny Clay, Ship Captain | Voice, 54 episodes |
| 2015 | The Bridge | Charlie Bartons | Television film |
| 2016 | The Bridge Part 2 | Charlie Bartons | Television film |
| 2016 | No Tomorrow | Greg Covington | Recurring role |
| 2017 | Fatherly Obsession | Robert J. Farnsworth | Television film |
| 2019 | Hawaii Five-0 | FBI Special Agent Sam Collins | Episode: "Ho'opio 'ia e ka noho ali'i a ka ua" |
| 2019 | No Good Nick | Sam | Recurring role |
| 2019 | Christmas Reservations | Duffy Johnson | Television film |
| 2020 | Mom | Dr. Berenson | Episode: "Cheddar Cheese and a Squirrel Circus" |
| 2021–2022 | Keeping Up with the Joneses | Webb | Recurring role |
| 2023–present | Shrinking | Derek | Main role |
| 2023 | Platonic | Johnny Rev | Episode: "San Diego" |
| 2024 | The Baxters | John Baxter | Lead role |