Bradley Whitford

Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as White House Deputy Chief of Stagg John Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing, ad Danny Tripp on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as Dan Stark in the FOX police buddy-comedy The Good Guys, as Timothy Carter, a character who was believed to be Red John in the CBS series The Mentalist, and as antagonist Eric Gordon in the film Billy Madison.
Whitford was nominated for three consecutive Emmy Awards from 2001-2003 for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" for his role on The West Wing, winning the award in 2001. This role has also garnered him three consecutive Golden Globe Award nominations for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role".
He is a columnist for The Huffington Post.
==Early Life and Education==
Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin and graduated from Madison East High School in 1977. He majored in English and Theatre at Wesleyan University (B.A. 1981), where his roommate was the younger brother of future castmate Richard Schiff. Whitford then attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of Group 14 (1981-1985), which also included actor Thomas Gibson.
==Career==
Whitford first appeared on television in 1985 in an episode of The Equalizer. His film debut was in the 1986 film Doorman. He made his Broadway theatre debut in 1990 playing Lt. Jack Ross (followed a few months later in the lead role of Lt. Daniel Kaffee), in the Aaron Sorkin written play A Few Good Men. This was the beginning of a recurring working relationship between Whitford and Sorkin. Whitford also made a guest appearance on ER in the Emmy award-winning March 1995 episode "Love's Labor Lost".
Whitford joined the cast of Sorkin's The West Wing as Josh Lyman with the show's premiere in 1999. For his role, he won an Emmy Award in 2001 for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Whitford also wrote two episodes of the series ("Faith Based Initiative" in the sixth season and "Internal Displacement" in the seventh). After The West Wing ended in May 2006, Whitford appeared in Aaron Sorkin's later series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip playing the role of Danny Tripp. He appeared in the British drama Burn Up on the BBC in July 2008.
He starred in Broadway in Boeing-Boeing which began in previews on April 19, 2008 and opened on May 4, 2008. He left the show in September 2008, and was succeeded in the role by Greg Germann. He co-starred in the Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard horror film The Cabin in the Woods, filmed in 2009 but not released until April 2012. In 2010, Whitford starred as Dan Stark in the cancelled FOX TV series The Good Guys opposite Colin Hanks.
In 2011, Whitford guest starred in In Plain Sight on USA Network as a man combatting paranoia. He appeared in the season three finale of The Mentalist as the long-sought nemesis of Patrick Jane, Red John. He also appeared on Law & Order: Los Angeles as a lawyer. On September 15, 2011, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, in partnership with Broadway Impact, announced the complete cast, including Whitford, and roles for the one-night only staged reading of "8," a new play chronicling the historic trial in the federal legal challenge to California's Proposition 8.
==Personal Life==
Whitford was married to fellow Wisconsin native, actress Jane Kaczmarek, best known for her role as Lois on Malcolm in the Middle. They lived in San Marino, California with their three children, Frances Genevieve (October 31, 1997), George Edward (December 23, 1999) and Mary Louisa (November 25, 2002). In 2007 the family appeared in magazine advertisements for the 2008 Chrysler Town and Country van. On June 19, 2009, the couple announced that they were filing for divorce after 16 years of marriage. One of the last times they were seen together publicly was in September 2008, at the opening of a Los Angeles production of The House of Blue Leaves, in which Kaczmarek was starring.
==Politics==
Whitford is a political liberal and has appeared several times on Real Time with Bill Maher. He once co-hosted The Majority Report on Air America Radio alongside Janeane Garofalo, and made an appearance on the Al Franken Show Party Album. On February 26, 2011, Whitford spoke at one of the many protests in Madison, Wisconsin in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's controversial budget bill.
==Other==
In May 2007, Whitford was honoured by Alliance for Justice, a non-profit organisation, as the 2007 Champion of Justice. He was the keynote speaker for Class Day at Princeton University in June 2007.
==Filmography==
===Film===
Year	Title 	Role
1986	The Doorman 	Terry Reilly
1987	Adventures in Babysitting 	Mike Todwell
1987	Revenge of the Nerds 2: Nerds in Paradise	Roger
1990	Vital Signs 	Dr. Donald Ballentine
1990	Presumed Innocent 	Jamie Kemp
1990	Young Guns 2 	Charles Phalen
1990	Awakenings 	Dr. Tyler
1992	Scent of a Woman 	Randy Slade
1993	The Silent Alarm 	Referee Dad
1993	RoboCop 3 	Fleck
1993	My Life 	Paul Ivanovich
1993	A Perfect World 	Bobby Lee
1993	Philadelphia 	Jamey Collins
1994	The Client 	Thomas Fink
1994	Cobb 	Process Server
1995	Billy Madison 	Eric Gordon
1995	The Desperate Trail 	Tommy Donnelly
1996	My Fellow Americans 	Carl Witnaur
1997	The Spittin' Image 	
1997	The People 	Michael Leary
1997	Masterminds 	Miles Lawrence
1997	Red Corner 	Bob Ghery
1999	Wildly Available 	Professor
1999	The Muse 	Hal
1999	Bicentennial Man 	Lloyd Charney
2001	Kate & Leopold 	J.J. Camden
2005	The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 	Al
2005	Little Manhattan 	Adam
2007	An American Crime 	Prosecutor Leroy K. New
2008	Bottle Shock 	Professor Saunders
2012	Cabin in the Woods 	Steve Hadley
===Television===
Year 	Title 	Role
1985 	The Equalizer 	Dillart
1986 	C.A.T. Squad 	Leon Trepper
1987 	The Betty Ford Story 	Jack Ford
1988 	Tales from the Darkside 	Tom Dash
1993 	Black Tie Affair 	Dave Brodsky
1994 	Web of Deception 	Larry Lake
1994 	NYPD Blue 	Norman Gardner
1994 	Ellen 	Doug
1994 	The X-Files 	Daniel Trepkos
1995 	Nothing But the Truth 	"Mack" McCarthy
1995 	ER 	Sean O'Brien
1996 	Touched by an Angel 	Steven Thomas Bell
1997 	In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory	Tom LaSalle
1997 	Tracey Takes On... 	Nik
1997 	Cloned 	Rick Weston
1998 	The Sky's on Fire 	John Morgan
1998 	The Secret Lives of Men 	Phil
1999 	Behind the Mask 	Brian Shushan
1999 	Felicity 	Tom Anderson
1999-2006	The West Wing 	Josh Lyman
2002 	Malcolm in the Middle 	Meg's Husband
2002 	Frasier 	Stu
2005 	Fathers and Sons 	Anthony
2006-2007	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip 	Danny Tripp
2008 	Burn Up 	Mack
2009 	Off Duty 	Detective Glenn Falcon
2009 	Monk 	Dean Berry
2010 	The Sarah Silverman Program 	Toby Grossnickel
2010 	The Good Guys 	Dan Stark
2011 	In Plain Sight 	Adam Wilson
2011 	The Mentalist 	Timothy Carter
2012 	Parks and Recreation 	Councilman Pillner
Category:Billy Madison