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Bradley Whitford

 
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Whitford, Bradley
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Winner of an Emmy award for his portrayal of The West Wing's Josh Lyman, Bradley Whitford received his actor's training at the Julliard Theatre Center. Prior to being cast as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Whitford appeared in a number of stage roles, including a Broadway production also called The West Wing. Other theater credits include, Curse of the Starving Class, Measure for Measure, at the Lincoln Center, and the title role in Coriolanus, at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Whitford has performed in dozens of movies, including Presumed Innocent, Scent of a Woman, Philadelphia, The Client, Red Corner, The Muse, Bicentennial Man, Kate and Leopold, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, An American Crime and Bottle Shock. He made frequent TV guest appearances and was cast in the starring role of Phil in TV's short-lived comedy series, Secret Lives of Men, before landing the part in The West Wing.

Whitford went on to star in the Aaron Sorkin series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional sketch comedy TV show a la Saturday Night Live.

Born October 10, 1959 in Wisconsin, Whitford is married to actress Jane Kaczmarek, and they have three children.

Last updated: December 15, 2008.

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Actor: Bradley Whitford
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '90s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Billy Madison, In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory, Masterminds
  • First Major Screen Credit: Dead as a Doorman (1985)

Biography

An actor whose well-scrubbed Midwestern good looks have served him well in a wide variety of roles, Bradley Whitford was born in Madison, WI, on October 10, 1959. Whitford developed an interest in acting while in high school, and after graduating in 1977, he attended Wesleyan University, where he majored in English and Theater. After completing his studies at Wesleyan, he went on to receive a master's degree in Theater from the Juilliard Theater Center, and began pursuing an acting career in New York. Whitford made his screen debut in 1985 in a low-budget thriller called Dead As a Doorman, but received a good bit more attention for a supporting role in a 1986 TV movie, C.A.T. Squad, directed by William Friedkin. In 1987, Whitford appeared in both the New York and Los Angeles productions of Sam Shepard's drama Curse of the Starving Class; while in L.A. with the play, Whitford was cast as Jack Ford in the TV movie The Betty Ford Story. After returning to New York, Whitford continued to alternate stage roles with film assignments, and by the early '90s was appearing in a steady stream of supporting roles in such films as Presumed Innocent, A Perfect World, and Philadelphia. However, Whitford soon began scoring more substantial roles on television, including a recurring role as Norman Gardner on the series NYPD Blue and a memorable turn as a distraught father-to-be on the Emmy-award winning "Love's Labor's Lost" episode of E.R. In 1999, Whitford's finally scored the role that made him famous when he was cast as Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the TV series The West Wing (created by Aaron Sorkin, whose play A Few Good Men had featured Whitford in its Broadway cast). Whitford's work on the series eventually earned him an Emmy Award in 2001; the same year, he was also recognized as part of the show's ensemble cast by the Screen Actor's Guild Awards (also honored with Whitford was John Spencer, who had appeared with him in the movie Presumed Innocent). ~ All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Bradley Whitford
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
This article is about the actor. For the musician, see Brad Whitford.
Bradley Whitford

Bradley Whitford, 2006
Born October 10, 1959 (1959-10-10) (age 50)
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Spouse(s) Jane Kaczmarek (1992-2009)
3 children (separated)

Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing.

Contents

Career

One of Whitford's most memorable roles was as the evil businessman Eric Gordon in the 1995 comedy Billy Madison. He made his Broadway theatre debut playing Lt. Daniel Kaffee, succeeding Tom Hulce, in A Few Good Men. Whitford also made a guest appearance on ER in the Emmy award-winning March 1995 episode "Love's Labor Lost".

Whitford joined The West Wing as Josh Lyman with the show's premiere in 1999. For his role, he won an Emmy 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).

Since The West Wing ended in May 2006, Whitford has appeared in West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin's later series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip playing the role of Danny Tripp.[1] He also appeared in the British drama Burn Up on the BBC in July 2008.

He starred on Broadway in Boeing-Boeing which began previews April 19, 2008 and opened on May 4, 2008. Whitford left the show in September of that year and was replaced by Greg Germann.

Whitford is currently producing and set to star in a comedy pilot for NBC called Off Duty.[2]

Whitford is cast in the Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard horror The Cabin in the Woods.[3]

Personal life

Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin and graduated from Madison East High School. He majored in English and Theater at Wesleyan University, where his roommate was the younger brother of future castmate Richard Schiff. He went on to receive a fine arts degree from The Juilliard School.

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 (b. October 1997), George Edward (b. December 23, 1999) and Mary Louisa (b. November 25, 2002). On June 19, 2009, the couple announced that they were filing for divorce after 16 years of marriage.[4] 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,[5] in which Kaczmarek was starring. According to a June 2009 magazine interview with More.com conducted prior to announcement of the divorce, she replied "That's a big no comment" when asked to sum up her love life. She also added that she used to believe that she could "“go it alone and as long as I had some fabulous boy on my arm, or man, and my career was sailing, that’s all I needed" whereas she now had grown to appreciate the support of her girlfriends to "to talk about kids, to talk about marriages, to talk about just life."[6]

Whitford is politically 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 in the "Al Franken Show Party Album".

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.[7]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ The Hollywood Reporter
  2. ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ib356467890c70c662b89eb1050e16cd0
  3. ^ Kit, Borys; Jay A. Fernandez (21 January 2009). "Two feel Joss Whedon's 'Cabin' pressure". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ife1903a36d09a1d81140b973c2f4f580. Retrieved 21 January 2009. 
  4. ^ "Bradley Whitford, Jane Kaczmarek File for Divorce After Nearly 17 Years". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Whitford-Kaczmarek-divorce-1007125.aspx. Retrieved June 20, 2009. 
  5. ^ http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=editorial&p=bradley%20whitford&assetType=image&src=quick#
  6. ^ http://www.more.com/2049/5690-jane-kaczmarek-and-bradley-whitford
  7. ^ Princeton University Class Day

External links

v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series

Bradley Whitford (2001) · John Spencer (2002) · Joe Pantoliano (2003) · Michael Imperioli (2004) · William Shatner (2005) · Alan Alda (2006) · Terry O'Quinn (2007) · Željko Ivanek (2008) · Michael Emerson (2009)

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