Bradley Whitford

Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959)<ref name=TVG>Template:Cite news</ref> is an American actor and producer. From 1999 to 2006, Whitford starred as Josh Lyman, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, in NBC's political drama television series The West Wing. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role in 2001.

In addition to The West Wing, Whitford 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, Roger Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, President Gray in the dystopian science fiction film The Darkest Minds and Rick Stanton in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

In 2015, he won a second Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Marcy in Transparent and later garnered a fifth Primetime Emmy Award nomination for portraying Magnus Hirschfeld in the same series. From 2018 to 2025, Whitford portrayed Commander Joseph Lawrence in Hulu dystopian drama The Handmaid's Tale, for which he won his third Primetime Emmy Award in 2019.

Early life

Bradley Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin,<ref name=TVG /> to Genevieve Louie Template:Née<ref name=legacy>Genevieve Smith Whitford Obituary – Pasadena, California Template:Webarchive. Legacy.com. Retrieved July 2, 2020.</ref> and George Van Norman Whitford.<ref name="ChicagoTribune">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=legacy/> Between the ages of three and 14, he lived in Wayne, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a Quaker household.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In an appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark on October 13, 2025, he said, "I am from a strange family. My parents... they lived very long lives... It would have been their 89th (wedding) anniversary... I have a sister, same parents, 85 years old, 19 or 20 years older than me. They (his parents) had three (children). (Ten years later they had) my brother Dave... I grew up watching my older siblings raise families." His mother, a poet, later lived in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.<ref name="ChicagoTribune"/>

Whitford graduated from Madison East High School in Madison in 1977.<ref name="AMG" /> He majored in English and theater at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and was a roommate of producer Paul Schiff, the brother of his future West Wing cast mate Richard Schiff.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Whitford graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981.<ref name="AMG">Template:Cite web.</ref> He then studied drama at the Juilliard School in Manhattan, New York where he was a member of "Group 14". Wendell Pierce, an actor is also from Group 14.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The NBC series Who Do You Think You Are? explored Whitford's ancestry in an August 2022 episode, including ancestors who fought in a crucial American Civil War battle, the Battle of Vicksburg.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Whitford first appeared on television in a 1985 episode of The Equalizer, followed by a two-year recurring role on the ABC daytime drama All My Children. His film debut was in the 1986 film Dead as a Doorman. He made his Broadway theatre debut in 1990<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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's film roles during the 1980s and 1990s included Elisabeth Shue's boyfriend Mike Todwell in Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Roger Latimer in Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987), Jamie Kemp in Presumed Innocent (1990), Charles Phalen in Young Guns II (1990), Dr. Tyler in Awakenings (1990), Al Pacino's nephew Randy Slade in Scent of a Woman (1992), FBI sharpshooter Bobby Lee in A Perfect World (1993), lawyer Jamey Collins in Philadelphia (1993), Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Fink in The Client (1994), antagonist Eric Gordon in Billy Madison (1995), and Lloyd Charney in Bicentennial Man (1999). His television appearances during this time included Guiding Light, NYPD Blue, Ellen, The X-Files, Touched by an Angel, and a guest appearance on ER in the Emmy Award-winning 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He appeared in the British drama Burn Up on the BBC in July 2008.

He starred in the play Boeing-Boeing which opened on Broadway on May 4, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He co-starred in the Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard horror film The Cabin in the Woods,<ref name="HollywoodReporter_20090121">Template:Cite news</ref> 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 combating 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 appeared on Law & Order: Los Angeles as a lawyer. On September 15, 2011, he starred in the one-night-only staged reading of 8, a play written by Dustin Lance Black<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> chronicling the events of a trial surrounding California's Proposition 8.

In 2013, Whitford played Pete Harrison in the ABC comedy Trophy Wife, which was canceled after one season. Also in the same year, he played Don DaGradi in Saving Mr. Banks. In 2014, he appeared in a recurring role as a cross-dressing businessman during the first season of the Amazon Studios series Transparent.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He returned during the series' second season as Magnus Hirschfeld.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2014, it was announced that he was cast in Midnight Rider, a biopic of Gregg Allman directed by Randall Miller.<ref name=MidnightRider>Template:Cite news</ref> Starting in 2015, Whitford had a recurring role in Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Roger Peralta, father of a lead character Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2017, Whitford played Dean Armitage, a father and neurosurgeon, in the horror film Get Out<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and antagonist Arthur Parsons in the political thriller The Post.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2018, Whitford played President Gray in the dystopian science fiction film The Darkest Minds. He joined the cast of the web dystopian tragedy The Handmaid's Tale as Commander Joseph Lawrence, guest starring in the final two episodes of the second season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2019 for his performance becoming the first person to have won the guest acting Emmy Awards for both comedy and drama.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He returned as a series regular for the third season and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, Whitford played Rick Stanton in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters,<ref name="WhitfordJoin">Template:Cite web</ref> and from 2019 to 2020, he starred in the musical comedy series Perfect Harmony, which ran for one season on NBC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2023, he portrayed Francis in the Los Angeles production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong.<ref>Peter Pan Goes Wrong Los Angeles</ref>

Personal life

Whitford married actress Jane Kaczmarek in August 1992<ref name=file>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and they have three children together.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=file/> In June 2009, the couple announced that they were divorcing after almost 17 years of marriage.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The divorce was finalized in October 2010.<ref name="LAT">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2002 they had co-founded the foundation "Clothes off our Back".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They had previously been known for their frequent public appearances together at awards shows, charity events<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in other media including a print car advertisement,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> last appearing together with their children at the premiere of Kaczmarek's 2008 appearance in The House of Blue Leaves.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Whitford and his Transparent co-star Amy Landecker began dating in 2015 and they announced their engagement in March 2018.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Whitford and Landecker eloped on July 17, 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2007, Whitford was honored by Alliance for Justice, a nonprofit organization, as the 2007 Champion of Justice. He delivered the commencement address at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was the keynote speaker for Class Day at Princeton University in June 2007.<ref>Greenstein, Jennifer (June 4, 2007). Princeton University Class Day Template:Webarchive. Princeton.edu. Retrieved September 23, 2011.</ref> As of 2012, Whitford serves on the board of trustees of his alma mater, Wesleyan University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political views and activism

Whitford has been said to have "liberal views".<ref name="LAT"/> He contributed to The Huffington Post as a columnist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He serves on the advisory board of Citizens' Climate Lobby, an international grassroots environmental group founded by Marshall L. Saunders which trains and supports volunteers to build relationships with their elected representatives in efforts to influence climate policy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2011, Whitford spoke at a protest in his native Madison, Wisconsin, in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Prior to the 2012 United States elections, Whitford and Courage Campaign founder, Rick Jacobs, appeared together in a video about California's Proposition 30 and Proposition 32;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the video encouraged viewers to vote "yes" on the former and "no" on the latter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Leading up to the 2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election, Whitford visited multiple University of Wisconsin System campuses in support of nominee Mary Burke, who went on to lose against the incumbent, Governor Walker.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Whitford supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th U.S. president.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2019, he co-hosted a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg alongside actress Gwyneth Paltrow as well as donated to Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Also in 2019, Whitford appeared in a public service announcement in support of abortion rights alongside other cast members of The Handmaid's Tale.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, he appeared as part of a series of "surprise virtual appearances" in support of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He supported Joe Biden<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2025 he was one of over 400 artists who signed an open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union in support of Jimmy Kimmel following ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2025, he criticized the destruction of the East Wing of the White House in an appearance on CNN.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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	FBI Agent Bobby Lee
	Philadelphia	Jamey Collins
1994	The Client	Assistant District Attorney Thomas Fink
	Cobb	Process Server
1995	Billy Madison	Eric Gordon
	The Desperate Trail	Tommy Donnelly
1996	My Fellow Americans	Chief of Staff 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
2013	Savannah	Jack Cay
	Decoding Annie Parker	Marshall Parker
	CBGB	Nicky Gant
	Saving Mr. Banks	Don DaGradi
	Agent Carter	Agent John Flynn	Short film
2015	I Saw the Light	Fred Rose	<ref name=RollingStone2>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2016	Other People	Norman Mulcahey
2017	Get Out	Dean Armitage
	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	Dennis 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
	Songbird	William Griffin
2021	How It Ends	Kenny
	Not Going Quietly	Template:N/A	Executive producer
	Tick, Tick... Boom!	Stephen Sondheim
2022	Rosaline	Adrian Capulet
2023	I'll Be Right There	Henry
2025	For Worse	Dave
2026	Reminders of Him	Patrick Landry	Post-production
TBA	Office Romance		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Equalizer	Dillart	Episode: "The Children's Song"
1985–1987	All My Children	Jason	3 episodes
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
	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	Episodes: "Love's Labor Lost" and "A Miracle Happens Here"
	Nothing But the Truth	Lieutenant Thomas 'Mac' 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	155 episodes
1999	Felicity	Tom Anderson	Episode: "Happy Birthday"; uncreditedTemplate:Citation needed
	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"<ref name="btva">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
2005	Fathers and Sons	Anthony	Television film
2006–2007	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Danny Tripp	22 episodes
2008	Burn Up	James Mackintosh	2 episodes
2009	Monk	Dean Berry	Episode: "Mr. Monk on Wheels"
	Off Duty	Detective Glenn Falcon	Television film; also producer
2010	The Sarah Silverman Program	Toby Grossnickel	Episode: "Nightmayor"
	The Good Guys	Detective Dan Stark	20 episodes; also producer
	Glenn Martin, DDS	'Gonzo' Gonzales	Voice, episode: "Camp"
2011	In Plain Sight	Adam Wilson / Adam Roston	Episode: "Crazy Like a Witness"
	Law & Order: LA	Attorney Miklin	Episode: "Big Rock Mesa"
	The Mentalist	Timothy Carter / Red John claimant	3 episodes; uncredited
	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	Recurring role, 6 episodes
	Drunk History	William Jennings Bryan	Episode: "Nashville"
2013–2014	Trophy Wife	Pete Harrison	Main role
2014	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Frank Maddox	Episode: "Reasonable Doubt"
2014–2019	Transparent	Marcy / Magnus Hirschfeld	Recurring role, 8 episodes
2014	Alpha House	Senator Ned	Episode: "The Retreat"
2015–2020	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"
2017–2019	Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure	King Trevor	Voice, 3 episodes<ref name="btva" />
Template:Nowrap	The Handmaid's Tale	Commander Joseph Lawrence	Main role, 35 episodes
2019	Valley of the Boom	James L. Barksdale	Miniseries
	Flack	Calvin Cooper	Episode: "Calvin"
2019–2020	Infinity Train	Agent Sieve	Voice, 5 episodes<ref name="btva" />
	Perfect Harmony	Arthur Cochran	Main role; also executive producer
2020	A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote	Josh Lyman	Television special; recreation of "Hartsfield's Landing"
	American Dad!	Vic Mancuso	Voice, episode: "Yule. Tide. Repeat."
2021	Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous	Mitch	Voice, 5 episodes<ref name="btva" />
	What If...?	Colonel John Flynn	Voice, episode: "What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?"<ref name="btva" />
2022	We Baby Bears	Glen	Voice, episode: "Tooth Fairy Tech"
	Echo 3	Eric Haas II	3 episodes
2023	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Pence Humphreys	Episode: "King of the Moon"
	The Wonder Years	Dennis Van Der Kamp	Episode: "Bill's New Friend"
2024	Parish	Anton	4 episodes
	The Madness	Stu Magnusson	2 episodes
2025	#1 Happy Family USA	Principal	Voice, episode: "Daughter President!"
	The Diplomat	Todd Penn	Recurring role
	Death by Lightning	James Blaine	Miniseries

Podcasts

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
2021	Batman: The Audio Adventures	Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow	Voice role
2022	The Big Lie	Michael Wilson	Voice role	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Template:IBDB name
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• Bradley Whitford on Twitter
• Bradley Whitford on Instagram
• Bradley Whitford on Bluesky