# Tim Matheson

Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated Jonny Quest TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 1978 comedy film National Lampoon's Animal House, and the recurring role of Vice President John Hoynes in the 2000s NBC drama The West Wing, which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

## Early life

Matheson was born in Glendale, California, the son of Clifford Matthieson, a training pilot, and Sally Matthieson. Matheson served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

## Career

At age 13, Matheson appeared as Roddy Miller in Robert Young's CBS nostalgia comedy series Window on Main Street during the 1961–1962 television season. In the 1962–1963 season he appeared in two episodes of Leave It to Beaver, cast as Mike Harmon, a friend of Beaver’s. In 1964, he provided the voice of the lead character in the animated series Jonny Quest. He also supplied the voices of Sinbad Jr. the Sailor in the 1960s Hanna-Barbera animated series Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt and Jace in Space Ghost. He co-starred as Joe Hardy, opposite Richard Gates as Frank Hardy, in a 1967 pilot episode for what would have been a TV series called The Hardy Boys, based on the novel series of the same name, but the series was not picked up.
He played the role of the oldest son, Mike Beardsley, in the film Yours, Mine and Ours (1968), which starred Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda.
In 1969, Matheson joined the cast of NBC's television Western The Virginian in the eighth season as Jim Horn. He had a guest role in the 14th episode of the second season of Night Gallery, in the story "Logoda's Heads". In the final season of the television Western Bonanza in 1972–1973, Matheson played Griff King, a parolee who tries to reform his life as a worker at the Ponderosa Ranch under Ben Cartwright's tutelage. He portrayed a corrupt motorcycle cop, Phil Sweet, who was part of a death squad with some other young cops in the film Magnum Force (1973). Matheson also appeared earlier in the CBS situation comedy My Three Sons. In 1975, he guest starred in CBS's short-lived family drama Three for the Road.
In 1976, Matheson appeared with Kurt Russell in the 15-episode NBC series The Quest. In 1978, he was part of the ensemble cast of National Lampoon's Animal House. The following year, he appeared with John Belushi again in Steven Spielberg's 1941. In 1980 he auditioned for the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, for which Harrison Ford won the part.
Matheson appeared in the film To Be or Not to Be (1983) starring Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. He and Catherine Hicks played Rick and Amanda Tucker, who operate a detective agency in Laurel Canyon in CBS' Tucker's Witch, which aired during the 1982–1983 season. Then Matheson starred in the comedy films Up the Creek (1984) and Fletch (1985). In 1989, he starred in the short-lived sitcom "Just in Time" produced by Warner Bros.
Along with business partner Daniel Grodnik, he bought National Lampoon in 1989, selling it in 1991.
He had a recurring role as Vice President John Hoynes on The West Wing. His work on The West Wing earned him two Primetime Emmy award nominations.
He has directed episodes of Third Watch, Ed, The Twilight Zone, Cold Case, Without a Trace, The West Wing, Psych, The Good Guys, Shark, White Collar, Criminal Minds, Suits and Burn Notice (on which he also performed in a recurring role).
In 1996, Matheson took on the role of a con man who claims to be Carol Brady's thought-to-be-dead husband in A Very Brady Sequel. He appeared in the film Van Wilder (2002), playing the father of the title character, who was inspired by his own character in Animal House; Matheson's character even makes a veiled reference to the fun times he had had at Dartmouth, where the fraternity upon which Animal House is rumored to have "had a strong tradition of existence". He appeared in the auto-racing film Redline. He also appeared in a Volkswagen commercial in 2008.
In 2009, Matheson directed the pilot episode of Covert Affairs, premiered on USA Network in 2010. Matheson also directed the pilot episodes of The Good Guys (2010) for the Fox Network, Criminal Behavior (2011) for Lifetime, and Wild Card (2011) for USA Network. He played Dr. Brick Breeland on Hart of Dixie from 2011 to 2015. Since 2019, Matheson has starred as Doc Mullins in the Netflix series Virgin River.

## Personal life

Matheson has been married three times. He was first married to actress Jennifer Leak from 1968 to 1971, whom he met on the set of Yours, Mine, and Ours. In 1985 he married Megan Murphy, with whom he had three children; they divorced in 2010. He married Elizabeth Marighetto in March 2018; they live in Hollywood, California.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | Divorce American Style | Mark Harmon | |
| 1967 | The Mystery of the Chinese Junk | Joe Hardy | |
| 1968 | Yours, Mine and Ours | Mike Beardsley | |
| 1969 | How to Commit Marriage | David Poe | |
| 1973 | Magnum Force | Officer Phil Sweet | |
| 1978 | National Lampoon's Animal House | Eric "Otter" Stratton | |
| 1978 | Almost Summer | Kevin Hawkins | |
| 1979 | Dreamer | Harold "Dreamer" Nuttingham | |
| 1979 | The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again | Private Jeff Reed/Captain Jeff Phillips | |
| 1979 | 1941 | Captain Loomis Birkhead | |
| 1982 | A Little Sex | Michael Donovan | |
| 1983 | To Be or Not to Be | Lieutenant Andre Sobinski | |
| 1984 | The House of God | Roy Basch | |
| 1984 | Up the Creek | Bob McGraw | |
| 1984 | Impulse | Stuart | |
| 1985 | Fletch | Alan Stanwyck | |
| 1989 | Speed Zone | Jack O'Neill | |
| 1990 | Solar Crisis | Steve Kelso | |
| 1991 | Drop Dead Fred | Charles | |
| 1995 | Midnight Heat | Tyler Grey | |
| 1996 | Black Sheep | Al Donnelly | |
| 1996 | A Very Brady Sequel | Roy Martin/Trevor Thomas | |
| 1998 | A Very Unlucky Leprechaun | Howard Wilson | |
| 1999 | She's All That | Harlan Siler | |
| 1999 | The Story of Us | Marty | |
| 2000 | Chump Change | Simon "Sez" Simone | |
| 2002 | Van Wilder | Vance Wilder Sr. | |
| 2003 | Where Are They Now?: A Delta Alumni Update | Dr. Eric "Otter" Stratton, OB/GYN | Short |
| 2005 | Don't Come Knocking | Producer 1 | |
| 2005 | Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D | Houston Capcom | Voice |
| 2007 | Redline | Jerry Brecken | |
| 2009 | Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia | Carl Dobbs | Video |
| 2009 | American Pie Presents: The Book of Love | Alumnus Guy No. 4 | Video |
| 2011 | No Strings Attached | Eli's Dad #2 | |
| 2015 | Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest | The President | Voice |
| 2017 | Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Old Man Vreeke | Uncredited |
| 2018 | 6 Balloons | Gary | |
| 2019 | Child's Play | Henry Kaslan | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1961–1962 | Window on Main Street | Roddy Miller | First acting role |
| 1961–1962 | The Alvin Show | Additional voices | 1 episode |
| 1962–1963 | Leave It to Beaver | Michael "Mike" Harmon | 2 episodes |
| 1962 | My Three Sons | Alan Edgerton | Episode: "Tramp's First Bite" (uncredited) |
| 1963 | Ripcord | David | Episode: "The Final Jump" |
| 1964–1965 | Jonny Quest | Jonny Quest | Voice |
| 1965 | Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt | Sinbad Jr. | Voice |
| 1965 | O.K. Crackerby! | Huntington Hawthorne | |
| 1966 | Space Ghost | Jace | Voice |
| 1966 | Thompson's Ghost | Eddie Thompson | Television film |
| 1967 | Samson & Goliath | Samson | Voice |
| 1967 | NBC Children's Theatre | Randy | |
| 1969 | Adam-12 | Leroy | |
| 1969–1970 | The Virginian | Jim Horn | |
| 1970 | San Francisco International Airport | SFX | |
| 1970 | Bracken's World | Teek Howell | |
| 1971 | Matt Lincoln | Stan Lowell | Episode: "Karen" |
| 1971 | Room 222 | Jerry Cates | |
| 1971 | Hitched | Clarence Bridgeman | Television film |
| 1971 | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | Jim McGuire | |
| 1971 | Lock, Stock and Barrel | Clarence Bridgeman | Television film |
| 1971 | The D.A. | Howard Goodman | |
| 1971 | The Bold Ones: The Lawyers | Miles Parker | |
| 1971 | Night Gallery | Henley | |
| 1972 | Here's Lucy | Peter Sullivan | |
| 1972 | Ironside | Darryl Podell | |
| 1972 | The Smith Family | Mark | |
| 1972–1973 | Bonanza | Griff King | 9 episodes |
| 1972–1978 | Insight | Various | 6 episodes |
| 1973 | The Wide World of Mystery | Tommy | |
| 1973 | Medical Center | Sam Miller | |
| 1973 | Kung Fu | Lieutenant Bill Wyland | Episode: "The Soldier" |
| 1974 | The Magician | Jerry Purcell | |
| 1974 | Police Story | Allen Rich | |
| 1974 | Remember When | Warren Thompson | Television film |
| 1975 | The Last Day | Emmet Dalton | Television film |
| 1975 | The Runaway Barge | Danny Worth | Television film |
| 1975 | Three for the Road | Tom Aberling | |
| 1976 | Rhoda | Michael Stearns | |
| 1976 | Jigsaw John | Nick Pappas | |
| 1976 | Petrocelli | Mike Fisher | |
| 1976 | The Hemingway Play | Wemidge – Young Hemingway | Television film |
| 1976 | The Quest | Quentin Beaudine | |
| 1976 | The War Widow | Amy's Husband | Voice |
| 1976 | Visions | Leonard | Voice |
| 1977 | Hawaii Five-O | Brent Saunders | |
| 1977 | Mary White | William L. White | Television film |
| 1977 | What Really Happened to the Class of '65? | Jay Miller | |
| 1978 | Baa Baa Black Sheep | Major Bud Warren | |
| 1978 | How the West Was Won | Curt Grayson | |
| 1982 | Bus Stop | Beauregard "Beau" Decker | Television film |
| 1982–1983 | Tucker's Witch | Rick Tucker | |
| 1983 | Listen to Your Heart | Josh Stern | |
| 1984 | The Best Legs in the Eighth Grade | Mark Fisher | Television film |
| 1985 | Obsessed with a Married Woman | Tony Hammond | Television film |
| 1985 | George Burns Comedy Week | "The Girl With Something Extra" | |
| 1986 | Blind Justice | Jim Anderson | Television film |
| 1987 | Warm Hearts, Cold Feet | Mike Byrd | Television film |
| 1987 | Bay Cove | Jerry Lebon | Television film |
| 1987 | Trying Times | Mitch | |
| 1988 | Just in Time | Harry Stadlin | |
| 1989 | Nikki and Alexander | Alexander | Television film |
| 1989 | The Littlest Victims | Doctor James Oleske | Television film |
| 1989 | Little White Lies | Dr. Harry McCrae | Television film |
| 1990 | Buried Alive | Clint Goodman | Television film |
| 1990 | Joshua's Heart | Tom | Television film |
| 1991 | Sometimes They Come Back | Jim Norman | Television film |
| 1991 | The Woman Who Sinned | Michael Robeson | Television film |
| 1991 | Charlie Hoover | Charlie Hoover | |
| 1992 | Quicksand: No Escape | Scott Reinhardt | Television film |
| 1993 | Relentless: Mind of a Killer | Dr. Peter Hellman | Television film |
| 1993 | Dying to Love You | Roger Paulson | Television film |
| 1993 | Batman: The Animated Series | Deputy Commissioner Gil Mason | Voice, episode: "Shadow of the Bat" |
| 1993 | Fallen Angels | Howard Hughes | |
| 1993 | Shameful Secrets | Daniel | Television film |
| 1993 | A Kiss to Die For | William Tauber | Television film |
| 1993 | Trial & Error | Peter Hudson | Television film |
| 1993 | Harmful Intent | Dr. Rhodes | Television film |
| 1994 | Target of Suspicion | Nick | Television film |
| 1994 | While Justice Sleeps | Winfield 'Win' Cooke | Television film |
| 1995 | Cybill | Teddy | |
| 1995 | Fast Company | Detective Jack Matthews | Television film |
| 1995 | Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead | Detective McKinley | Television film |
| 1995 | Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects | 4-Dac | Voice, television film |
| 1996 | An Unfinished Affair | Alex Connor | Television film |
| 1996 | Twilight Man | Jordan P. Cooper | Television film |
| 1996 | Buried Secrets | Clay Roff | Television film |
| 1996 | Christmas in My Hometown | Jacob (Jake) Peterson | Television film; also known as A Holiday for Love |
| 1997 | The Legend of Calamity Jane | Captain John O'Rourke | Voice |
| 1997 | Sleeping with the Devil | Dick Strang | Television film |
| 1997 | Buried Alive II | Clint Goodman | Television film |
| 1998 | Dead Man's Gun | Reverent Jeremiah Early | |
| 1998 | Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Families | Adolf Althoff | Television film |
| 1998 | Forever Love | Alex Brooks | Television film |
| 1998 | The New Batman Adventures | Michael Vreeland | Voice, episode: "Chemistry" |
| 1998 | Catch Me If You Can | Norm | Television film |
| 1999 | At the Mercy of a Stranger | John Davis | Television film |
| 1999–2006 | The West Wing | Vice President John Hoynes | 20 episodes Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (2002–2003) |
| 2000 | Navigating the Heart | John Daly | Television film |
| 2000 | Hell Swarm | Kirk Bluhdorn | Television film |
| 2000 | Sharing the Secret | John Moss | Television film |
| 2000 | Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis | John F. Kennedy | Television film |
| 2001 | Second Honeymoon | George | Television film |
| 2001–2002 | Wolf Lake | Sheriff Matthew Donner | |
| 2002 | Mom's on Strike | Alan Harris | Television film |
| 2002 | The King of Queens | Dr. Farber | Episode: "Two-Thirty" |
| 2002 | Breaking News | Bill Dunne | |
| 2003 | Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart | Andy Stewart | Television film |
| 2003 | The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay | Al Dodge | Television film |
| 2003 | Ed | Peter Evashavik | |
| 2003 | Without a Trace | Dr. Aaron Morrison | |
| 2004 | Judas | Pontius Pilate | Television film |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited | Maxwell Lord | Voice, episode: "Ultimatum" |
| 2006 | Augusta, Gone | Ben Dudman | Television film |
| 2007 | The World According to Barnes | | Television film |
| 2007 | Shark | Judge Andrew Bennett | |
| 2007–2013 | Burn Notice | Larry Sizemore | Recurring role |
| 2008 | Entourage | Steve Parles | |
| 2008 | To Love and Die | James White | Television film |
| 2009 | Batman: The Brave and the Bold | Jarvis Kord | Voice, episode: "Fall of the Blue Beetle!" |
| 2009 | Body Politic | Senator Webster | Television film |
| 2010 | White Collar | Edward Walker | Episode: "Withdrawal" |
| 2011–2015 | Hart of Dixie | Dr. Bertram "Brick" Breeland | Recurring role episodes 1–14; regular role episodes 15-76 |
| 2012–2013 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Brad Chiles | Voice, 13 episodes |
| 2013 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Oliver Tate | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | The Prince | Soloman | Television film |
| 2015 | Last Chance of Christmas | Reginald Buckley | Television film |
| 2016 | Motive | Brent Rodman | Episode: "Chronology of Pain" |
| 2016 | Killing Reagan | Ronald Reagan | Television film Nominated — Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries (2016) |
| 2017 | Snowfall | George Miller | Unaired pilot |
| 2017 | Magical Christmas Ornaments | J. P. Presley | Television film |
| 2017–2019 | Madam Secretary | Fred Moran | 2 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Me, Myself & I | Richard | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | The Good Fight | Tully Nelson | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | The Affair | James | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Steve | 3 episodes |
| 2019 | The Goldbergs | Eric | Episode: "Animal House" |
| 2019–present | Virgin River | Doc Mullins | Main role; also director |
| 2019–2021 | This Is Us | Dave Malone | 3 episodes |
| 2019–2020 | Fast & Furious Spy Racers | General Dudley | Voice; 4 episodes |
| 2021 | Evil | Edward Tragoren | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Quantum Leap | Neal Russell | Episode: "The Lonely Hearts Club" |

### Theme parks

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | Body Wars | Captain Braddock | Disney attraction |

### As director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1984 | St. Elsewhere | |
| 1994 | Breach of Conduct | Television film |
| 1995 | Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead | Television film |
| 1997 | Buried Alive II | Television film |
| 1999 | In the Company of Spies | Television film |
| 2000 | Hell Swarm | Television film |
| 2003 | The Twilight Zone | |
| 2003 | Threat Matrix | |
| 2003 | Ed | |
| 2003–2004 | Third Watch | |
| 2003–2004 | Without a Trace | |
| 2004–2005 | Cold Case | |
| 2005 | Numbers | |
| 2005 | Las Vegas | |
| 2005 | Threshold | |
| 2005 | E-Ring | |
| 2006 | Killer Instinct | |
| 2006 | Augusta, Gone | Television film |
| 2006 | The West Wing | |
| 2006 | Just Legal | |
| 2006–2009 | Criminal Minds | |
| 2007 | Traveler | |
| 2007 | Eureka | |
| 2007 | Bionic Woman | |
| 2007–2009 | Psych | |
| 2007–2010 | Burn Notice | |
| 2008 | True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet | Television film |
| 2009 | Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia | Video |
| 2009 | Dirty Sexy Money | |
| 2009 | Greek | |
| 2010 | The Good Guys | |
| 2010 | White Collar | |
| 2010 | Covert Affairs | |
| 2010 | Persons Unknown | |
| 2011 | Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior | |
| 2011 | Suits | |
| 2011 | Criminal Behavior | Television film |
| 2011–2012 | Drop Dead Diva | |
| 2012–2015 | Hart of Dixie | |
| 2014 | Wild Card | Pilot |
| 2015 | The Last Ship | |
| 2016 | Lucifer | |
| 2016 | Person of Interest | |
| 2017 | Taken | |
| 2019–2020 | Virgin River | |