| Peter MacNicol | |
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MacNicol in 2001 |
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| Born | Peter MacNicol April 10, 1954 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1981 – present |
| Spouse | Martha Sue Cumming (m. 1986–present) |
Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He may be best known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean. For television he is best known for the roles of the eccentric lawyer John Cage in the FOX comedy-drama Ally McBeal, as Tom Lennox in the sixth season of action-thriller 24, Alan Birch in the Medical drama Chicago Hope, and as physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt on CBS's crime drama NUMB3RS.
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MacNicol was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, the youngest of five children. [1] He began his career studying at the University of Dallas and University of Minnesota. While in Minnesota, he performed in two seasons at the Guthrie Theater. A New York talent agent spotted him and told him to make a move to Manhattan.
MacNicol was cast in the off-Broadway play, Crimes of the Heart. The production eventually moved to Broadway, and he won the Theatre World Award. It was also during this production that a casting agent noticed him and called him in to read for his eventual role in Sophie's Choice. In 1981 he landed the starring role in his first film, Dragonslayer, opposite Sir Ralph Richardson. In 1987, he starred in the Trinity Repertory Company's original production of the stage adaptation of All the King's Men, which first appeared at the Dallas Theater Center. This adaptation was developed with the consultation of the author himself.
Among his other stage credits is the Broadway production of Black Comedy/White Lies. He has further extensive classical repertory theater background, including the New York Shakespeare Festival in which he played title roles in Richard II and Romeo and Juliet, and appeared in Twelfth Night, Rum and Coke and Found a Peanut.
On film, he played the naive Southern writer who fell in love with Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice; the museum curator Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II and camp director Gary Granger alongside future NUMB3RS costar David Krumholtz in Addams Family Values. Other film credits include HouseSitter and American Blue Note.
In 1994 MacNicol had a prominent role as Alan Birch for the first season and less than half of the second season of Chicago Hope before departing to take on a role on the TV series Ally McBeal which was also created by David E. Kelley the same person who created Chicago Hope. However, he did return for one final guest appearance in episode five of the show's fifth season.
MacNicol is known by television viewers for his Ally McBeal performance as eccentric attorney John Cage, for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2001. He also starred in the drama NUMB3RS as physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt, and had a role as Tom Lennox in the sixth season of the hit Fox show 24. MacNicol reprised his role as Lennox in the film 24: Redemption. He also played a hotel receptionist in one episode of Cheers titled "Look Before You Sleep".
MacNicol has recorded as Doctor Octopus for the first and second seasons of The Spectacular Spider-Man, which premiered in March 2008. In addition, this year, MacNicol has written a script entitled Salvation on Sand Mountain and is attached to the project as an executive producer and director.
MacNicol has joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Stark, a pediatric surgeon.[2]
Just in 2011, MacNicol played the role of the Mad Hatter in the game Batman Arkham City.
MacNicol resides in Los Angeles with his wife, who runs the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund, a non-profit foundation that provides scholarships for inner-city children in Los Angeles.
| Film appearances | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | Dragonslayer | Galen Bradwarden | |
| 1982 | Sophie's Choice | Stingo | |
| 1986 | Heat | Cyrus Kinnick | |
| 1986 | American Blue Note | Jack Solow | |
| 1989 | Ghostbusters II | Dr. Janosz Poha | |
| 1991 | Hard Promises | Stuart | |
| 1992 | HouseSitter | Marty | |
| 1993 | Addams Family Values | Gary Granger | |
| 1994 | Radioland Murders | Son Writer | |
| 1995 | Dracula: Dead and Loving It | Thomas Renfield | |
| 1997 | Bean | David Langley | |
| 1998 | The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue | Narrator (voice) | Video |
| 1999 | Baby Geniuses | Dan | |
| 2001 | Recess: School's Out | Fenwick | |
| 2002 | Balto II: Wolf Quest | Muru | Video |
| 2004 | Breakin' All the Rules | Philip Gascon | |
| 2005 | Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild | Troopmaster (voice) | Video |
| Television appearances | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1984 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Martin | Episode: The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers |
| 1990 | The Young Riders | Danny | Episode: Blood Moon |
| 1990 | By Dawn's Early Light | Sedgwick | TV Movie |
| 1992 | The Powers That Be | Bradley Grist | |
| 1994–1998 | Chicago Hope | Alan Birch | 31 episodes
Nominated— Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (1995, 1996) |
| 1997–2002 | Ally McBeal | John Cage | 103 episodes
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2001) Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1999, 2000) |
| 2003–2007 | Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law | X the Eliminator / Customer / Employee / Guard / Mr. Felder (voice) | 14 episodes |
| 2004–2007 | Danny Phantom | Sidney Poindexter | Special Guest |
| 2004–2008 | The Batman | Dr. Kirk Langstrom (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Justice League Unlimited | Chronos (voice) | |
| 2005–2010 | NUMB3RS | Dr. Larry Fleinhardt | 94 episodes |
| 2007 | 24 | Tom Lennox | 24 episodes |
| 2008 | 24: Redemption | Tom Lennox | TV Movie |
| 2008–2009 | The Spectacular Spider-Man | Doctor Octopus (voice) | 12 episodes |
| 2010 | Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Oliver / Forever Knight #1 / Mr. Webb (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2010–2011 | Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Robert Stark | 7 episodes |
| 2011 | Young Justice | Amazo / MONQI / Professor Ivo (voice) | 1 episode |
| 2011 | G.I. Joe: Renegades | Firefly (voice) | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Fairly Legal | Judge Smollet | 1 episode Season 1:7 "Coming Home" |
| Video game appearances | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law | X the Eliminator | |
| 2011 | Batman: Arkham City | Mad Hatter | |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jason Alexander; Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Michael Richards; Jerry Seinfeld for Seinfeld |
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series 1998 for Ally McBeal |
Succeeded by Dan Butler; Peri Gilpin; Kelsey Grammer; Jane Leeves; John Mahoney; David Hyde Pierce for Frasier |
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