Bradley Whitford

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**Bradley Whitford** (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and political activist, noted for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama *The West Wing* (1999–2006), for which he was nominated for three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards from 2001 to 2003, winning in 2001. This role also earned him three consecutive Golden Globe Award nominations.

In addition to *The West Wing*, Whitford also played Danny Tripp in *Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip*; Dan Stark in the Fox police buddy-comedy *The Good Guys*; Timothy Carter, a character who was believed to be Red John, in the CBS series *The Mentalist*; antagonist Eric Gordon in the film *Billy Madison*; Arthur Parsons in *The Post*, Dean Armitage in the horror film *Get Out*; and Roger Peralta in *Brooklyn Nine-Nine*.

In 2015, he won a second Primetime Emmy Award for his role as Marcy in *Transparent* and later garnered a fifth Primetime Emmy Award nomination for portraying Magnus Hirschfeld in the same series. Since 2018, Whitford has portrayed Commander Joseph Lawrence in Hulu dystopian drama *The Handmaid's Tale*, for which he won his third Primetime Emmy Award in 2019. He was an occasional columnist for *The Huffington Post* until November 2009 and is noted for his politically liberal activism.

## Early life

Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Genevieve Louie (née Smith; 1915–2011) and George Van Norman Whitford (1915–1999). Between the ages of three and fourteen, he lived in Wayne, Pennsylvania. His mother, a poet, later resided in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a Quaker household. Whitford graduated from Madison East High School in 1977. He majored in English and theatre at Wesleyan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1981, where he was a roommate of producer Paul Schiff.

## Career

Whitford first appeared on television in 1985 in an episode of *The Equalizer* followed by a two-year recurring role on the ABC Soap Opera *All My Children*. His film debut was in the 1986 film *Dead as a 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 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 on 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 Fox TV comedy *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 a minion of and decoy for "Red John", the long-sought nemesis of the show's protagonist Patrick Jane. Whitford 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.

In 2013, Whitford played Pete Harrison in the ABC comedy *Trophy Wife*, which was canceled after one season. Most recently, Whitford appeared in the Amazon series *Transparent* in the first season in a recurring role as a cross-dressing businessman and in the second season in a recurring role as Magnus Hirschfeld.

Since 2015, Whitford has had a recurring role on *Brooklyn Nine-Nine* as Roger Peralta, father of lead character Det. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg).

In 2017, Whitford played Dean Armitage, a father and neurosurgeon, in the racially themed horror film *Get Out.*

In 2018, he joined the cast of *The Handmaid's Tale* on Hulu as Commander Joseph Lawrence. Whitford guest-starred in the final two episodes of the second season and reprised his role in the third season airing in 2019.

## Personal life

Whitford married actress Jane Kaczmarek in August 1992. They had three children together, Frances Genevieve (born October 1997), George Edward (born December 1999), and Mary Louisa (born November 2002). In June 2009, the couple announced that they were divorcing after 16 years of marriage, and the divorce was finalized in October 2010.

Whitford began dating his *Transparent* co-star Amy Landecker in 2015. They announced their engagement in March 2018. Whitford and Landecker eloped on July 17, 2019.

## Political activism

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*. During the run-up to the November 2004 general election, Whitford, who was then playing White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC TV drama series *The West Wing*, made a satirical video that purported to support then-President George W. Bush for re-election, but which actually lampooned Bush, who went on to win re-election.

On February 26, 2011, Whitford spoke at one of the many protests in his native Madison, Wisconsin in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill. The budget repair bill ultimately became law. During the run-up to the November 2012 general election, Whitford and Courage Campaign founder/chair, Rick Jacobs, appeared together in a video that explained "what's really going on and who's really behind California's Proposition 30 and Proposition 32". The video encouraged viewers to vote "yes" on Prop 30 and "no" on Prop 32. Proposition 30 was approved by California voters by a margin of 54% to 46%. Proposition 32 was defeated by a margin of 56% to 44%.Template:Citation needed

During the run-up to the November 2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election, Whitford visited multiple University of Wisconsin System campuses in support of the campaign for the Democratic nominee for governor Mary Burke, who was running against incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker; Burke lost. In September 2016, he appeared on *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert*, where he expressed his support for Hillary Clinton.

On November 25, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted on Twitter, comparing herself to the character C. J. Cregg from *The West Wing* on an incident involving a situation where the White House was receiving one of the White House Thanksgiving turkeys set to be pardoned by President Donald Trump. After this tweet, Whitford, who portrayed White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the show, replied saying, "I know C. J. Cregg. C. J. Cregg is a friend of mine. You're no C. J. Cregg", an homage to the famed "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" debate quote. Actress Allison Janney, who played C.J. in the series, also replied, thanking Whitford for his sentiment, saying "Thanks, Josh".

He currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander that aims to end voter suppression.

Whitford has publicly supported Democratic candidates nationwide, including Candace Valenzuela, candidate for Texas's 24th Congressional District

In 2019, he and Gwyneth Paltrow hosted a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

## Other

In May 2007, Whitford was honored by Alliance for Justice, a nonprofit organization, as the 2007 Champion of Justice. He was the keynote speaker for Class Day at Princeton University in June 2007. As of 2012, Whitford serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Wesleyan University.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Bradley Whitford Biography", *TV Guide*. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016.
2. ↑ Whitford, Bradley. "Bradley Whitford profile", *HuffPost*. Retrieved on April 3, 2017.
3. ↑ Genevieve Smith Whitford Obituary – Pasadena, California. Legacy.com. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Shister, Gail (June 22, 2000). "'West Wing' Star Finally Took Flight At Age 40". Retrieved on February 2, 2017.
5. ↑ "Genevieve Smith Whitford's Obituary on Main Line Media News". Legacy.com. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mainlinemedianews/obituary.aspx?n=genevieve-smith-whitford&pid=152848313. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
6. ↑ Knutzen, Eirik (October 17, 1999). "'West Wing' Costar Enjoys Political Role".
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Bradley Whitford biography". All Movie Guide The New York Times. https://movies.nytimes.com/person/75991/Bradley-Whitford/biography. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
8. ↑ ""A Few Good Men" production replacements". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121024081128/http://www.ibdb.com/productionreplacements.asp?ID=4255. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
9. ↑ "Spate of pilot castings, pickups" (February 28, 2006). Archived from the original on April 28, 2006.
10. ↑ Kit, Borys (January 21, 2009). "Two feel Joss Whedon's 'Cabin' pressure", *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved on January 21, 2009. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009.
11. ↑ Template:Cite press release
12. ↑ Moylan, Brian (September 30, 2014). "How to watch Amazon's Transparent all in one sitting". Manchester. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/sep/30/-sp-ultimate-guide-binge-watching-transparent.
13. ↑ Rios, Edwin (February 24, 2017). ""Get Out" is the horror flick America needs right now", *Mother Jones*.
14. ↑ Template:Citeweb
15. ↑ Template:Cite journal
16. ↑ "Jane Kaczmarek, babies at age 41, 44 and 46". Retrieved on December 14, 2017.
17. ↑ Jordan, Julie (June 19, 2009). "Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek File for Divorce". http://people.com/celebrity/bradley-whitford-and-jane-kaczmarek-file-for-divorce/. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
18. ↑ Template:Cite journal
19. ↑ "Whitford and Kaczmarek -- Divvying Up the Goodies", *TMZ* (October 22, 2010).
20. ↑ Template:Cite journal
21. ↑ Whitford, Bradley (July 17, 2019). "In a shocking, totally unearned plot twist, Commander Lawrence married Mrs. McKenzie today in Santa Barbara. The shark may have been jumped, but the couple is thrilled." (in en). https://twitter.com/BradleyWhitford/status/1151685038372581378.
22. ↑ "Bradley Whitford 2004 Mock Presidential Ad". *Video on Youtube*. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExfVYjRnxys. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
23. ↑  Bradley Whitford on YouTube. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
24. ↑ "How Wealthy Billionaires are Trying to Destroy our Schools and Silence our Voices". The Courage Campaign. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121228121932/http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/bradley-whitford-and-rick-jacobs-explain-props-30-and-32. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
25. ↑ "Pledge to Vote Yes on Prop 30, No on Prop 32". The Courage Campaign website. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150922033751/https://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/yes-on-30-no-on-32. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
26. ↑ "Actor Bradley Whitford Visits UW Campuses To Campaign For Mary Burke". Wisconsin Public Radio. http://www.wpr.org/actor-bradley-whitford-visits-uw-campuses-campaign-mary-burke. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
27. ↑ "Bradley Whitford: "This is an Astonishing Election"". The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. September 8, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1pQb9IfVGE.
28. ↑ Harriet Sinclair (November 25, 2017). "West Wing Cast Hits Out At Sarah Huckabee Sanders: 'You're no C.J. Cregg'", *Newsweek*. Retrieved on November 25, 2017.
29. ↑ "Advisors". Let America Vote. https://www.letamericavote.org/boardofadvisors/. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
30. ↑ Whitford, Bradley (June 25, 2019). "Whoa. I’m in.https://twitter.com/candacefor24/status/1143482724868657153 …" (in en). https://twitter.com/BradleyWhitford/status/1143728991821389824.
31. ↑ Dan Merica and Kate Sullivan. "Gwyneth Paltrow and Bradley Whitford will host fundraiser for Buttigieg". https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/24/politics/gwyneth-paltrow-bradley-whitford-pete-buttigieg-fundraiser/index.html.
32. ↑ Greenstein, Jennifer (June 4, 2007). Princeton University Class Day. Princeton.edu. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
33. ↑ "Board of Trustees 2012/2013". Wesleyan University. Archived from the original on December 26, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111226234610/http://www.wesleyan.edu/about/trustees.html. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
34. ↑ Betts, Stephen L. (November 7, 2014). "Bradley Whitford, Cherry Jones Cast in Upcoming Hank Williams Movie". *Rolling Stone*. https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/bradley-whitford-hank-williams-movie-i-saw-the-light-20141107. Retrieved December 16, 2014.

## External links

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* Transcript of Whitford's address at the University of Wisconsin's Spring commencement (posted May 17, 2004)
* 2001 NPR Interview

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