Bradley Whitford

Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959)[1] 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.

This article is about the actor. For the musician, see Brad Whitford.

Bradley Whitford
Whitford in 2006
Born	(1959-10-10) October 10, 1959 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Other names	Brad Whitford
Education	Wesleyan University (BFA) Juilliard School (GrDip)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Jane Kaczmarek ​ ( m. 1992; div. 2010) Amy Landecker ​ ( m. 2019)
Children	3

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[2] and is noted for his politically liberal activism.

Early life

Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin,[1] the son of Genevieve Louie (née Smith; 1915–2011)[3] and George Van Norman Whitford (1915–1999).[4][5] Between the ages of three and fourteen, he lived in Wayne, Pennsylvania. His mother, a poet, later resided in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.[4] He grew up in a Quaker household.[6] Whitford graduated from Madison East High School in 1977.[7] He majored in English and theatre at Wesleyan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1981,[7] 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[8] 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.[9] 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,[10] 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.[11]

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[12] 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.[13]

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.[14]

Personal life

Whitford married actress Jane Kaczmarek in August 1992.[15] They had three children together, Frances Genevieve (born October 1997), George Edward (born December 1999), and Mary Louisa (born November 2002).[16][17] In June 2009, the couple announced that they were divorcing after 16 years of marriage,[18] and the divorce was finalized in October 2010.[19]

Whitford began dating his Transparent co-star Amy Landecker in 2015. They announced their engagement in March 2018.[20] Whitford and Landecker eloped on July 17, 2019.[21]

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.[22]

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.[23] 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".[24] The video encouraged viewers to vote "yes" on Prop 30 and "no" on Prop 32.[25] 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%.

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.[26] In September 2016, he appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he expressed his support for Hillary Clinton.[27]

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".[28]

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.[29]

Whitford has publicly supported Democratic candidates nationwide, including Candace Valenzuela, candidate for Texas's 24th Congressional District[30]

In 2019, he and Gwyneth Paltrow hosted a fundraiser for Democratic Presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg.[31]

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.[32] As of 2012, Whitford serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Wesleyan University.[33]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Dead as a Doorman	Terry Reilly
1987	Adventures in Babysitting	Mike Todwell
	Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise	Roger Latimer
1990	Vital Signs	Dr. Donald Ballentine
	Presumed Innocent	Jamie Kemp
	Young Guns II	Charles Phalen	Credited as Brad Whitford
	Awakenings	Dr. Tyler
1992	Scent of a Woman	Randy Slade
1993	RoboCop 3	Jeffrey Fleck
	My Life	Paul Ivanovich
	A Perfect World	Bobby Lee
	Philadelphia	Jamey Collins
	The Silent Alarm	Referee Dad	Short film
1994	The Client	Thomas Fink
	Cobb	Process Server
1995	Billy Madison	Eric Gordon
	The Desperate Trail	Tommy Donnelly
1996	My Fellow Americans	Carl Witnaur
	Wildly Available	Professor
1997	Masterminds	Miles Lawrence	Credited as Brad Whitford
	Red Corner	Bob Ghery
	The People	Michael Leary
1999	The Muse	Hal
	Bicentennial Man	Lloyd Charney
2001	Kate & Leopold	J.J. Camden
2005	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants	Al Lowell
	Little Manhattan	Adam Burton
2007	An American Crime	Prosecutor Leroy K. New
2008	Bottle Shock	Professor Saunders
2012	The Cabin in the Woods	Steve Hadley
	Man Up, Little Boy	Walter	Short film
2013	Savannah	Jack Cay
	Decoding Annie Parker	Marshall Parker
	Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter	Agent John Flynn	Short film
	CBGB	Nicky Gant
	Saving Mr. Banks	Don DaGradi	Nominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2015	I Saw the Light[34]	Fred Rose
2016	Other People	Norman Mulcahey
2017	Get Out	Dean Armitage	Seattle Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Nominated – San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
	A Happening of Monumental Proportions	Arthur Schneedy
	Megan Leavey	Bob Leavey
	Unicorn Store	Gene
	Three Christs	Clyde
	The Post	Arthur Parsons
2018	The Darkest Minds	President Gray
	Destroyer	DiFranco
2019	Phil	Michael Fisk
	Godzilla: King of the Monsters	Dr. Rick Stanton
	The Last Full Measure	Carlton Stanton
2020	Sergio	Paul Bremer
	The Call of the Wild	Judge Miller
TBA	Tick, Tick... Boom!	Stephen Sondheim	Filming
	Songbird		Post-production
	Not Going Quietly	N/A	Completed; executive producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Equalizer	Dillart	Episode: "The Children's Song"
1985–87	All My Children	Jason	Two year recurring role
1986	C.A.T. Squad	Leon Trepper	Television film
1987	The Betty Ford Story	Jack Ford	Television film
1988	Guiding Light	Dr. Jones	2 episodes
1988	Tales from the Darkside	Tom Dash	Episode: "The Deal"
1993	Black Tie Affair	Dave Brodsky	5 episodes
1994	NYPD Blue	Norman Gardner	4 episodes
	Ellen	Doug	Episode: "The Fix-Up"
	The X-Files	Daniel Trepkos	Episode: "Firewalker"
	Web of Deception	Larry Lake	Television film
1995	ER	Sean O'Brien	2 episodes
	Nothing But the Truth	Lt. Thomas "Mack" McCarthy	Television film
1996	Touched by an Angel	Steven Thomas Bell	Episode: "Out of the Darkness
1997	Tracey Takes On...	Nik	Episode: "Vegas"
	In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory	Tom LaSalle	Television film
	Cloned	Rick Weston	Television film
	High Incident	Deputy Carl Engler	Episode: "Black & Blue"
1998	The Secret Lives of Men	Phil	13 episodes
1999–2006	The West Wing	Josh Lyman	Main role, 149 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2001) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2001–02) Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2001–03) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2002–03) Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2003–06) Nominated – Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series (2000)
1999	Felicity	Tom Anderson	Episode: "Happy Birthday" (uncredited)
	Behind the Mask	Brian Shushan	Television film Credited as Brad Whitford
	The Sky's On Fire	John Morgan	Television film
2002	Malcolm in the Middle	Meg's Husband	Episode: "Company Picnic: Part 2"
	Frasier	Stu	Voice; Episode: "Kissing Cousin"
2005	Fathers and Sons	Anthony	Television film
2006–07	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Danny Tripp	Main role, 21 episodes Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama
2008	Burn Up	James Mackintosh	2 episodes Nominated – Gemini Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Special or Miniseries
2009	Monk	Dean Berry	Episode: "Mr. Monk on Wheels"
	Off Duty	Det. Glenn Falcon	Television film
2010	The Sarah Silverman Program	Toby Grossnickel	Episode: "Nightmayor"
	The Good Guys	Det. Dan Stark	20 episodes
	Glenn Martin, DDS	Gonzo Gonzales	Voice; Episode: "Camp"
2011	In Plain Sight	Adam Wilson / Adam Roston	Episode: "Crazy Like a Witness"
	Law & Order: Los Angeles	Attorney Miklin	Episode: "Big Rock Mesa"
	The Mentalist	Timothy Carter	2 episodes
	Have a Little Faith	Mitch Albom	Television film
2012	Parks and Recreation	Councilman Pillner	Episode: "Live Ammo"
	The Asset	Leo Maxiell	Television film
2013	Shameless	Abraham Paige	2 episodes
	Go On	Huey	Episode: "Ring and a Miss"
	Lauren	Paul Milgram	6 episodes
	Drunk History	William Jennings Bryan	Episode: "Nashville"
2013–14	Trophy Wife	Pete Harrison	Main role, 22 episodes
2014	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Frank Maddox	Episode: "Reasonable Doubt"
2014–19	Transparent	Marcy / Magnus Hirschfeld	8 episodes Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series (2015) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2015) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2016)
2014	Alpha House	Senator Ned	Episode: "The Retreat"
2015–20	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Captain Roger Peralta	4 episodes
2015	Happyish	Jonathan Cooke	10 episodes
2016	All the Way	Hubert Humphrey	Television film
	Better Things	Gary	Episode: "Sam/Pilot"
2017, 2019	Mom	Mitch	2 episodes
2017	Chicago Justice	Albert Forest	Episode: "Fake"
2017–19	Tangled: The Series	King Trevor	Voice; 3 episodes
2018–present	The Handmaid's Tale	Commander Joseph Lawrence	Main role, 13 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (2019) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2020)
2019	Valley of the Boom	James L. Barksdale	6 episodes
	Flack	Calvin Cooper	Episode: "Calvin"
2019–20	Infinity Train	Agent Sieve	Voice; 5 episodes
	Perfect Harmony	Arthur Cochran	Main role, 13 episodes

References

1. "Bradley Whitford Biography". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016.
2. Whitford, Bradley. "Bradley Whitford profile". HuffPost. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
3. Genevieve Smith Whitford Obituary – Pasadena, California. Legacy.com. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
4. Shister, Gail (June 22, 2000). "'West Wing' Star Finally Took Flight At Age 40". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
5. "Genevieve Smith Whitford's Obituary on Main Line Media News". Legacy.com. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
6. Knutzen, Eirik (October 17, 1999). "'West Wing' Costar Enjoys Political Role". Chicago Tribune.
7. "Bradley Whitford biography". All Movie Guide The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
8. ""A Few Good Men" production replacements". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
9. "Spate of pilot castings, pickups". The Hollywood Reporter. February 28, 2006. Archived from the original on April 28, 2006.
10. Kit, Borys; Jay A. Fernandez (January 21, 2009). "Two feel Joss Whedon's 'Cabin' pressure". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
11. "AFER & Broadway Impact Announce Full Casting for the World Premiere of Dustin Lance Black's New Play "8"" (Press release). American Foundation for Equal Rights. September 15, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2017 – via PR Newswire.
12. Moylan, Brian (September 30, 2014). "How to watch Amazon's Transparent all in one sitting". The Guardian. Manchester.
13. Rios, Edwin (February 24, 2017). ""Get Out" is the horror flick America needs right now". Mother Jones. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
14. Bradley, Laura (July 11, 2018). "Handmaid's Tale Show-Runner Explains June's Shocking Decision". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
15. Jordan, Julie (June 19, 2009). "Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek File for Divorce". People. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
16. "Jane Kaczmarek, babies at age 41, 44 and 46". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
17. Jordan, Julie (June 19, 2009). "Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek File for Divorce". People. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
18. "Bradley Whitford, Jane Kaczmarek File for Divorce After Nearly 17 Years". TV Guide. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
19. "Whitford and Kaczmarek -- Divvying Up the Goodies". TMZ. October 22, 2010.
20. "Bradley Whitford Calls Relationship with Transparent Costar Amy Landecker 'Spectacular'". People. November 11, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
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". Twitter. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
22. "Bradley Whitford 2004 Mock Presidential Ad". Video on Youtube. Youtube. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
23. West Wing's Bradley Whitford Rallies Wisconsin Workers 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. 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. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
26. "Actor Bradley Whitford Visits UW Campuses To Campaign For Mary Burke". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
27. "Bradley Whitford: "This is an Astonishing Election"". YouTube. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. September 8, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
28. Harriet Sinclair (November 25, 2017). "West Wing Cast Hits Out At Sarah Huckabee Sanders: 'You're no C.J. Cregg'". Newsweek. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
29. "Advisors". Let America Vote. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
30. Whitford, Bradley (June 25, 2019). "Whoa. I'm in.https://twitter.com/candacefor24/status/1143482724868657153 …". @BradleyWhitford. Retrieved January 26, 2020. External link in |title= (help)
31. Dan Merica and Kate Sullivan. "Gwyneth Paltrow and Bradley Whitford will host fundraiser for Buttigieg". CNN. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
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. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
34. Betts, Stephen L. (November 7, 2014). "Bradley Whitford, Cherry Jones Cast in Upcoming Hank Williams Movie". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 16, 2014.

External links

• Bradley Whitford on IMDb
• Bradley Whitford at the Internet Broadway Database
• Bradley Whitford at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Transcript of Whitford's address at the University of Wisconsin's Spring commencement (posted May 17, 2004)
• 2001 NPR Interview