Richard Schiff
Template:Short description Template:Infobox person
Richard Schiff (born May 27, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his television directorial debut with The West Wing, directing an episode titled "Talking Points". He is on the National Advisory Board of the Council for a Livable World.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He had a recurring role on the HBO series Ballers. He had a leading role in ABC's medical drama The Good Doctor, as Dr. Aaron Glassman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and portrayed Odin in Santa Monica Studio's God of War: Ragnarök, released in 2022.
Early life
Schiff was born on May 27, 1955, in Bethesda, Maryland, and was raised in New York City. He is the second of three sons of Charlotte, a television and publishing executive, and Edward Schiff, a real estate lawyer.Template:Citation needed His brothers are producer Paul Schiff and talent manager David Schiff.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His parents divorced, and Charlotte later married Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King Jr.'s lawyer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Caesar-2007" /> His early jobs before acting included driving a taxi in New York City and cleaning buses in the Greyhound terminal on 11th Avenue. "It was a Teamster job, from 11pm to 7am. ... We cleaned the grease off bus wheels with diesel fuel. I also laid cable for Manhattan Cable Television. I was a Teamster in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers".<ref name=":2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Schiff and his family are Jewish. His grandfather was alleged to have connections to New York’s Jewish Mafia, a background that inspired a plot line on The West Wing.<ref>"Infidel actor Richard discovered drama in his family's history". The Jewish Telegraph. jewishtelegraph.com Published 2010. Accessed February 12, 2016.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1" /> He attended the Bronx High School of Science for a time but did not graduate, instead taking night classes at Washington Irving High School while working.<ref name=":2" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He graduated in 1983 from City College of New York after initially dropping out and moving to Colorado.<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> He studied acting at the William Esper Studio.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His brother Paul Schiff was college roommates with his future West Wing cast mate Bradley Whitford.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
Schiff initially studied directing. He directed several off-Broadway plays, including Antigone in 1983 with a just-graduated Angela Bassett. In the mid-1980s Schiff decided to try his hand at acting and landed several TV roles. He was seen by Steven Spielberg in an episode of the TV drama High Incident and was cast in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) which led to being cast more frequently and eventually to the role of White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler in the television series The West Wing. Schiff became known for his reclusive and intense approach to his craft as well as his low-key delivery style.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the early 1990s, Schiff landed numerous small roles in a variety of films, including a Train Driver in Speed. In 1995, Schiff portrayed a lawyer defending the serial killer in Se7en. In 1996, he guest-starred on the TV series ER (Season 2, Episode 17), and appeared in NYPD Blue the following year. In 1996, he portrayed a corrupt probation officer in City Hall along with Al Pacino and John Cusack. Schiff portrayed a doctor alongside Eddie Murphy in the 1998 Dr. Dolittle remake. He also portrayed Col./Brig. Gen. Robert Laurel Smith in the 1998 HBO TV movie The Pentagon Wars, based on the real-life development of the US Army's Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The same year, Schiff appeared in the movie Deep Impact. Schiff appeared in one episode of Becker during its first season. In 2001, he acted in the movie What's the Worst That Could Happen? starring Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito. He played the part of the tough lawyer Mr. Turner in I Am Sam opposite Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer and co-starred in People I Know with Al Pacino.
Schiff appeared in Ray as Jerry Wexler, shaving his beard for the role. After working on The West Wing for six seasons, Schiff chose to leave the series, fulfilling his contractual obligations by appearing in half of the final season's episodes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That same year, he starred alongside Peter Krause in Civic Duty.
Schiff had a cameo appearance as himself in the second-season finale of the series Entourage. The scene has Schiff at lunch with his agent Ari Gold, where he declares a desire to act in action movies. He appeared again as a fictionalized version of himself in Entourage (2015). He also starred in the premiere run of Underneath the Lintel, a one-act, single-character play by Glen Berger, at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In February 2007, he appeared in the West End production of Underneath the Lintel in the Duchess Theatre<ref name="Caesar-2007">Template:Cite news</ref> in London, England, and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live and talked at length to Simon Mayo about his experiences acting in The West Wing and his new West End production. In 2007, he appeared as Philip Cowen in the season finale of Burn Notice. A radio version of Underneath the Lintel, performed by Schiff, was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on January 5, 2008. Schiff starred in Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey in fall 2008 as accountant Matt Friedman, opposite Margot White as Sally Talley. Later that year Schiff co-starred in Last Chance Harvey with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson and Another Harvest Moon with Ernest Borgnine and appeared in the season finale of Eli Stone.
Schiff portrayed Charles Fischer in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles in the Season 2 episode "Complications". The character was a collaborator of Skynet and a traitor to the resistance. He was sent back in time to the present as a reward for his service to Skynet. He played an Orthodox rabbi on an episode of In Plain Sight with former West Wing co-star Mary McCormack. In 2009, he co-starred in the movies Imagine That, with Dr. Dolittle co-star Eddie Murphy, and Solitary Man, with Michael Douglas and Susan Sarandon. Later in 2009, he returned to London to shoot two other movies: The Infidel,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in which he starred opposite Omid Djalili, and Made in Dagenham, with Sally Hawkins and Bob Hoskins. Schiff also appeared as a hypnotist in one episode of MonkTemplate:'s seventh season.
Schiff starred in Past Life. He also had a recurring role in Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior as FBI Director Jack Fickler. Schiff had a recurring role in The Cape.<ref>What's Behind the Cape? on Parallel Universe on MSN: Features. Last accessed 28th November 2013</ref> He also has guest-starred on Any Human Heart with Jim Broadbent playing the role of a psychiatrist and on White CollarTemplate:'s second-season episode 15. He also played the role of an ex-CIA agent in a terrorist organization in Johnny English Reborn. In April 2011, Schiff returned to the London West End in the play Smash!<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He played opposite Rob Lowe in the drama Knife Fight, and starred opposite Josh Duhamel, Rosario Dawson and Bruce Willis in Fire with Fire. Schiff played an important plot character in three episodes of CBS's NCIS, bridging seasons 9 and 10, as Harper Dearing, the replacement for Osama bin Laden on the Most Wanted Wall for attacks against the United States Navy.
Schiff was cast to star in the Showtime series House of Lies, starring Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle. He also starred in the TV movie Innocent with Bill Pullman. He had a recurring guest role in the TV series Once Upon A Time and joined Helen Hunt and former West Wing star Bradley Whitford in the movie Decoding Annie Parker. Schiff starred in the political series Chasing The Hill.
In late 2012 and early 2013, he portrayed George Aaronow in a Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross. He portrayed Erie Smith in a revival of the Eugene O'Neill play, Hughie, at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., in February and March 2013, and Dr. Emil Hamilton in Zack Snyder's 2013 Superman film, Man of Steel. In September 2014, Schiff returned to the West End in a revival of Speed-the-Plow by David Mamet, co-starring Lindsay Lohan. In 2015, Schiff appeared as Dwayne Johnson's character's boss on HBO's Ballers. Around the same time, he also had roles in the films Kill the Messenger, The Automatic Hate, and Take Me to the River. Schiff appeared on Mom in the episode "Pure Evil and a Free Piece of Cheesecake", in which he was reunited with his West Wing co-star Allison Janney.
Schiff had a regular role on the TNT's crime drama Murder in the First in 2014 as David Hertzberg. The show also starred Taye Diggs, Kathleen Robertson, and Tom Felton.
He played Aaron Glassman on The Good Doctor from 2017 to 2024.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
He provided the performance capture for Odin in Santa Monica Studio's 2022 video game God of War Ragnarök.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
He appeared in the short film Swipe NYC released in 2023, and was the Ambassador of the Arts Recipient honoree at the 2024 North Fork TV Festival on Long Island.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
In 2024 he was an executive producer of the documentary film Public Defender.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In spring 2025, he was set to appear on stage off-Broadway in a New York Theatre Workshop production of Becoming Eve based on the memoir by Abby Stein.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Schiff's first marriage to Sheryl Noethe ended in divorce.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Schiff and actress Sheila Kelley married in 1996.<ref name="Lynch-2001">Template:Cite news</ref> Kelley played Schiff's character's love interest, and later his wife, on The Good Doctor. They have a son, Gus, born in 1994, and a daughter, Ruby, born in August 2000.<ref name="Lynch-2001" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024, Ruby portrayed the character of Hannah in the final season of The Good Doctor.
Schiff has supported Democratic candidates, but has said he is not a registered member of the party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Previously, he had endorsed then-Senator Joe Biden, before Biden dropped out. In 2016, Schiff supported Senator Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primaries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He endorsed Cynthia Nixon's bid for Governor of New York in the 2018 election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Schiff supported Joe Biden in the 2020 election.<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>
On November 10, 2020, Schiff announced that he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19 on Election Day and were quarantining at their home in Vancouver.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following Monday, he announced he was hospitalized, but "showing improvements" while Kelley was at home "doing better", but still sick.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 19, 2020, Schiff was released from the hospital.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Arena Brains | Deli Clerk | Short film |
| 1988 | Medium Straight | Pat Harding | |
| 1990 | Young Guns II | Rat Bag | |
| 1992 | Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot | Gun Clerk | |
| Rapid Fire | Art Teacher | ||
| The Public Eye | Thompson Street Photographer | ||
| Malcolm X | JFK Reporter | ||
| The Bodyguard | Skip Thomas | ||
| Hoffa | Government Attorney | ||
| 1993 | Skinner | Eddie | |
| My Life | Young Bill Ivanovich | ||
| Ghost in the Machine | Scanner Technician | ||
| 1994 | The Hudsucker Proxy | Mailroom Screamer | |
| Speed | Train Driver | ||
| Major League II | Commercial Director | ||
| 1995 | Tank Girl | Trooper In Trench | |
| Rough Magic | Marvin Wiggins | ||
| Se7en | Mark Swarr | ||
| 1996 | City Hall | Larry Schwartz | |
| The Arrival | Calvin | ||
| The Trigger Effect | Gun Shop Clerk | ||
| Michael | Italian Waiter | ||
| 1997 | Touch | Jerry | |
| Volcano | Haskins | ||
| The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Eddie Carr | ||
| 1998 | Dr. Dolittle | Gene Reiss | |
| Living Out Loud | Phil 'Philly' Francato | ||
| Deep Impact | Don Beiderman | ||
| Heaven | Stanner | ||
| 1998 | The Pentagon Wars | Colonel R.L. Smith | |
| 1999 | Forces of Nature | Joe | |
| Crazy in Alabama | Norman | ||
| 2000 | Gun Shy | Elliot | |
| Whatever It Takes | P.E. Teacher | ||
| 2001 | I Am Sam | Mr. Turner | |
| What's the Worst That Could Happen? | Walter Greenbaum | ||
| 2002 | People I Know | Elliot Sharansky | |
| 2004 | Ray | Jerry Wexler | |
| 2004 | With It | Virgil LaRocca | Short film |
| 2006 | Civic Duty | Tom Hilary | |
| 2007 | Waiting | John | Short film |
| Martian Child | Mr. Lefkowitz | ||
| 2008 | Last Chance Harvey | Marvin | |
| 2009 | Imagine That | Carl Simons | |
| Solitary Man | Steve Heller | ||
| Another Harvest Moon | Jeffery | ||
| 2010 | The Infidel | Lenny Goldberg | |
| Made in Dagenham | Robert Tooley | ||
| 2011 | Johnny English Reborn | Titus Fisher | |
| 2012 | Knife Fight | Dimitris Vargas | |
| 2013 | Decoding Annie Parker | Mr. Allen | |
| The Frozen Ground | Roy Hazelwood | ||
| Man of Steel | Emil Hamilton | ||
| 2014 | Kill the Messenger | Richard Zuckerman / Walter Pincus | |
| The Gambler | Jeweler | ||
| Before I Disappear | Bruce Warham | ||
| 2015 | The Automatic Hate | Ronald Green | |
| Entourage | Himself | ||
| Take Me to the River | Don | ||
| 2016 | American Fable | Jonathan | |
| 2017 | Alien Code | Miles Driskoll | AKA The Men |
| Shock and Awe | The Usual | ||
| Geostorm | Senator Thomas Cross | ||
| 2019 | Clemency | Marty Lumetta | |
| After Class | Jeff Cohen | ||
| 2022 | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | U.S. Secretary of State |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Cheers | Tourist | Episode: "One Happy Chappy in a Snappy Serape" |
| 1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Lester Middleton | Episode: "Korman's Kalamity" |
| 1992 | Picket Fences | Joey Fero | Episode: "Pilot" |
| L.A. Law | Dog Pound Operator | Episode: "Helter Shelter" | |
| 1993 | South of Sunset | Bobby Bruck | Episode: "Dream Girl" |
| Doogie Howser, M. D. | Billy Tishler | Episode: "What Makes Doogie Run" | |
| 1994 | The John Larroquette Show | Wilson | Episode: "Don't Drink and Drive Nuclear Waste" |
| Murphy Brown | Mel Woodworthy | Episode: "Anything but Cured" | |
| Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas | Deputy Dano | Television film | |
| Thunder Alley | Pat Perkins | Episode: "Blood Suckers" | |
| Love & War | Lester Michaels | Episode: "The Bum" | |
| 1995 | Maybe This Time | Pearlman | Episode: "Snitch Doggy-Dogg" |
| NYPD Blue | Vartan Illiescu | Episode: "Bombs Away" | |
| Murder One | Professor Stanley Fletcher | Episode: "Chapter Nine" | |
| 1996 | ER | Mr. Bartoli | Episode: "The Match Game" |
| Chicago Hope | Mark Sarison | Episode: "Quiet Riot" | |
| Special Report: Journey to Mars | Eric Altman | Television film | |
| 1996–1997 | Relativity | Barry Roth | 17 episodes |
| 1997 | NYPD Blue | Steve Cameron | Episode: "Is Paris Burning?" |
| 1998 | The Practice | Bob Show | Episode: "Trees in the Forest" |
| Brooklyn South | Chris McIntrick | Episode: "Cinnamon Buns" | |
| Ally McBeal | Bernie Gilson | Episode: "These Are the Days" | |
| The Pentagon Wars | Lieutenant Colonel / Brigadier General Robert Laurel Smith | Television film | |
| The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Mr. Green | Television film | |
| 1999–2006 | The West Wing | Toby Ziegler | 141 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2000) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2001–02) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2001–02) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2003–06) |
| 1999 | Becker | Barry | Episode: "Truth and Consequences" |
| Roswell | Agent Stevens | 3 episodes | |
| 2005 | Entourage | Himself | Episode: "The Abyss" |
| 2007 | Burn Notice | Phillip Cowan | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Eli Stone | David Green | Episode: "Soul Free" |
| Monk | Dr. Lawrence Climan | Episode: "Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized" | |
| Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Charles Fischer | Episode: "Complications" | |
| 2009 | In Plain Sight | Samuel Garfinkel | Episode: "Aguna Matatala" |
| 2010 | Past Life | Dr. Malachi Talmadge | 9 episodes |
| Svetlana | Dr. Lawrence | Episode: "Eco-Shlong" | |
| Any Human Heart | Dr. Byrne | 2 episodes | |
| 2011 | The Cape | Patrick Portman | 3 episodes |
| White Collar | Andrew Stanzler | Episode: "Power Play" | |
| Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior | Jack Fickler | 4 episodes | |
| Up All Night | Dr. Dean Chafin | Episode: "Parents" | |
| 2012–2016 | House of Lies | Harrison 'Skip' Galweather | 9 episodes |
| 2012 | Once Upon a Time | King Leopold | 2 episodes |
| Fire with Fire | Harold Gether | Television Movie | |
| The Mindy Project | Doctor | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2012 | NCIS | Harper Dearing | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Bones | Professor Leon Watters | Episode: "The Spark in the Park" |
| 2014 | Murder in the First | David Hertzberg | 10 episodes |
| Key and Peele | Ambassador | Episode: "Sex Addict Wendell" | |
| 2014–2015 | Manhattan | Occam | 9 episodes |
| 2015 | Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp | Dean Fairchild | Episode: "Auditions" |
| 2015–2017 | Rogue | Marty Stein | 22 episodes |
| 2015–2019 | Ballers | Brett Anderson | 26 episodes |
| The Affair | Jon Gottlief | 12 episodes | |
| 2016 | The Grinder | Gordon Stutz | 2 episodes |
| Mom | Robert | Episode: "Pure Evil and a Free Piece of Cheesecake" | |
| Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Detective Zimmerfield | 5 episodes | |
| 2017 | When We Rise | Judge Vaughn Walker | 2 episodes |
| Chicago Justice | Frank Linden | Episode: "Tycoon" | |
| Jean-Claude Van Johnson | Alan Morris | 2 episodes | |
| 2017–2024 | The Good Doctor | Dr. Aaron Glassman | 121 episodes |
| 2018 | Castle Rock | Warden Porter's Superior (voice) | Episode: "Harvest" |
| 2018–2019 | Counterpart | Roland Fancher | 7 episodes |
| 2020 | Psych 2: Lassie Come Home | Dr. Hirsch | Television film |
| A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote | Toby Ziegler | Television special | |
| 2022 | Super Pumped | Randall Pearson | Episodes: "Grow or Die" and "War" |
Stage
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | God of War Ragnarök | Odin | Facial, motion capture & voice acting |
References
External links
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- Template:EmmyTVLegends name
- Richard Schiff on Twitter
- Richard Schiff on Instagram
- Richard Schiff profile on Artist&Brand
- Pages with broken file links
- 1955 births
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- 21st-century American Jews
- Actors from Bethesda, Maryland
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- City College of New York alumni
- Jewish American male actors
- Jews from New York (state)
- Jews from Maryland
- Living people
- Male actors from Maryland
- Male actors from New York City
- Maryland Democrats
- Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
- The Bronx High School of Science alumni
- William Esper Studio alumni