Early life

Bostwick was born in San Mateo, California. He is the son of Elizabeth "Betty" (née Defendorf), a housewife, and Henry "Bud" Bostwick, a city planner and actor. His only sibling, Henry "Pete" Bostwick, was killed in a car accident on July 20, 1973. Bostwick attended San Diego's United States International University in 1967, majoring in acting, got his start on the Hillbarn Theatre stage now located in Foster City, and worked for a time as a circus performer. He also attended NYU's Graduate Acting Program, graduating in 1968.

Career

In 1970, Bostwick was a member of a pop group called The Klowns, assembled and promoted by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, whose members performed wearing stylized clown makeup and costumes. Their sole album, released in 1970, was produced by Jeff Barry, and generated a minor Billboard hit single, "Lady Love".

Bostwick replaced C.C. Courtney in the musical Salvation. His next stage appearance was in the 1971 rock opera Soon, which closed after three performances. In 1972, Bostwick originated the role of bad boy Danny Zuko in the stage production of Grease, earning a Tony Award nomination for his performance. He starred with Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) portraying the character of Brad Majors. He also won a Tony Award for his performance in the 1977 musical The Robber Bridegroom. In 1981, Bostwick starred in the TV series adaptation of the 1978 movie Foul Play, with his role modeled after Chevy Chase's and co-star Deborah Raffin in Goldie Hawn's part. The following year, he starred in Megaforce. Bostwick starred, along with Carl Weintraub, as Rick Armstrong in the short-lived ABC sitcom Dads during the 1986-87 season. From 1996 to 2002, Bostwick portrayed Randall Winston, the mayor of New York City in the sitcom Spin City opposite Michael J. Fox and his successor, Charlie Sheen. In 2006, Bostwick replaced Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler, the father of Amanda Bynes' and Jennie Garth's lead characters, on What I Like About You.

Since 2004, Bostwick has had a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He has also had leading roles in various miniseries, including George Washington, its sequel George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation, Scruples, A Woman of Substance, War and Remembrance, and Till We Meet Again.

Bostwick served as host of the nationally televised annual Capitol Fourth celebration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for eight years. Bostwick was also seen in a Pepsi Twist' commercial. In the Cold Case episode "Creatures of the Night", in which he is the main suspect, the theme of the episode revolves around The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is among his best-known performances to date.

In 2003, Bostwick appeared on Scrubs as a patient diagnosed with prostate cancer, a disease Bostwick had in real life. In 2008, he appeared in an episode of TV series Ugly Betty as an attorney to the Meade family. In 2007, Bostwick gained a recurring role, as Grandpa Clyde Flynn on the animated television series, Phineas and Ferb. Bostwick is also the spokesperson for Optimum Voice. In June 2009 he played Father Jimmy, the ineffective exorcist in the independent horror comedy The Selling, written by Gabriel Diani and directed by Emily Lou.

Other television credits include guest appearances in Charlie's Angels, Hawaii Five-O, The Golden Palace, Grace Under Fire, and Las Vegas.

Bostwick was supposed to appear on season 3 of Private Practice as "the Captain", a father of the Addison Montgomery character, but had to resign due to a scheduling conflict. In 2011, Bostwick portrayed a small town sheriff in the John Landis-produced thriller Some Guy Who Kills People!

In October 2010, Bostwick briefly appeared in the Rocky Horror-themed Glee episode.

Since 2009, Bostwick has had a recurring role as Roger Frank on the sitcom Cougar Town which stars Courteney Cox. In season 3 of the show we learn that Bostwick's character has become mayor of the town the comedy is set in, Gulf Haven. In 2015, he starred in Darren Lynn Bousman's Segment of the Anthology film Tales of Halloween, which is the second acting stint under Bousman, after The Devil's Carnival and appeared in the Comedy horror film Helen Keller vs. Nightwolves. In 2015 he portrayed Collin Winthrop, father of the Gig Harbor Killer, in the season-ending CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode The End Game. He has also had a return to cult musical horror films in the for of Terrance Zdunich's "Allaluia: The Devil's Carnival," which is a sequel to the 2012 short film "The Devil's Carnival," which he was not previously a cast member of, being a newcomer to the franchise.

Personal life

Bostwick married Stacey Nelkin in 1987, but they were divorced in 1991. Bostwick married his second wife Sherri Ellen Jensen in 1994 and has two children, Brian and Chelsea.

In 1997, Bostwick was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and ten days later had his prostate removed. In 2004, he won the Gilda Radner Courage Award from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Character	Notes
1971	Jennifer on My Mind	Minstrel #1
1973	Fantastic Planet	Narrator	Voice
1974	Road Movie	Hank
1975	The Rocky Horror Picture Show	Brad Majors
1978	Movie Movie	Johnny Danko / Dick Cummings
1982	Megaforce	Commander Ace Hunter
1993	Weekend at Bernie's II	Arthur Hummel
1996	The Secret Agent Club	Vincent Scarletti
1996	Spy Hard	Norm Coleman
1996	A Different Kind of Christmas	Frank Mallory
2003	101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure	Thunderbolt	Voice
2003	Swing	Freddie
2004	The Skulls III	Nathan Lloyd
2004	Chestnut: Hero of Central Park	Thomas Trundle
2007	Nancy Drew	Dashiel Zachary Biedermeyer
2007	Evening	Mr. Wittenborn
2009	Hannah Montana: The Movie	Mr. Bradley
2010	Secrets of the Mountain	Henry Beecham
2010	Miss Nobody	Father Grisham
2010	Bedrooms	Roger
2010	Moby Dick	Captain Ahab
2010	It's a Dog Gone Tale: Destiny's Stand	Arlen Hanley
2011	The Selling	Father Jimmy
2012	Some Guy Who Kills People	Sheriff Walt Fuller
2012	FDR: American Badass!	Franklin Delano Roosevelt
2013	Finding Joy	Alan
2013	Teen Beach Movie	Big Poppa
2015	Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival	The Watchword
2016	The Land Before Time: Journey of the Brave	Grandpa Longneck	Voice
2016	Range 15	President

Television

Year	Title	Character	Notes
1979	Murder by Natural Causes	Gil Weston
1979	You Can't Take It With You	Anthony Kirby, Jr.	Filmed version of play
1979	Hawaii Five-O	Lucas Sandover	"Year of the Horse"
1980	Scruples	Spider Elliot
1981	Red Flag: The Ultimate Game	Maj. Jay Rivers
1982	Working	Steelworker	American Playhouse production
1984	George Washington	Gen. George Washington	"A Woman of Substance" (miniseries) Major Paul McGill
1985	Deceptions	Grant Roberts
1986	George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation	Gen. George Washington
	Betrayed By Innocence	Nick DeLeon
1987	I'll Take Manhattan	Zachary Amberville
1988	War and Remembrance	Lieutenant Carter “Lady” Aster
	Body of Evidence	Mark Dwyer
1989	Till We Meet Again	Terrence 'Mac' McGuire
1990	Challenger	Comm. Francis R. (Dick) Scobee
1990	The Great Air Race	Roscoe Turner
1992	The Golden Palace	Nick DiCarlo, a gigolo
1994	Once in a Lifetime	Dr. Matthew Dane
1996-2002	Spin City	Mayor Randall Winston	144 episodes
1997	Lexx	Thodin
1998	One Hot Summer Night	Art Brooks
2003	Scrubs	Mr.Randolph
2004-07	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Oliver Gates	6 episodes total
2005	Las Vegas	Martin	Season 3, Episode 11 - "Down and Dirty"
2005	Cold Case	Roy Brigham Anthony	Season 2, Episode 21 - "Creatures of the Night"
2007-12	Phineas and Ferb	Grandpa Clyde Flynn
2007	Ugly Betty	Claire Meade's attorney	Episodes "Odor in the Court," "Betty Suarez Land"
2008	Depth Charge	President Taylor
2009	Nip/Tuck	Roger Payne	"Don Hoberman"
2009	Supernatural	The Amazing Jay	"Criss Angel is a Douchebag"
2009-10	'Til Death	George Von Stuessen	"Eddie's Book," "The Baby"
2010-12	Cougar Town	Roger Frank	Seasons 1-3, 7 episodes
2010	Glee	Tim Stanwick	Cameo in "The Rocky Horror Glee Show" with Meat Loaf
2012	Hot in Cleveland	Hugh	Season 3, Episode 23: "What's Behind the Door"
2012	The New Normal	Marty Sawyer	Season 1, Episode 9: "Pardon Me"
2012-14	Scandal	Gerald Grant	Various episodes
2013	The Haunting Of	Himself	Season 2, Episode 1: "The Haunting of Barry Bostwick"
2013	Blast Vegas	Sal
2013	Masters of Sex	Morris	Season 1, Episode 6, "Brave New World"
2014	Enlisted	Russell	Season 1, Episode 8: "Vets"
2014	New Girl	Harland Cooper	Season 4, Episode 11: "LAXmas"
2015	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Collin Winthrop	Season 15, Episode 18: "The End Game"
2016	Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce	George McCarthy	Season 2, Episode 7: "Rule #14: No...Means No"

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Research.	Dr. Rust

Stage productions

• Grease, 1972, (Danny Zuko). Nominated for Tony Award
• They Knew What They Wanted, 1976, (Joe). Nominated for Tony Award
• The Robber Bridegroom, 1977, Tony Award, Best Actor
• Nick & Nora opposite Joanna Gleason, 1991

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1972	Tony Awards	Best Actor in a Musical	Grease	Nominated
1976		Best Featured Actor in a Play	They Knew What They Wanted	Nominated
1977	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Musical	The Robber Bridegroom	Nominated
	Tony Awards	Best Actor in a Musical		Won
1978	New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Movie Movie	Nominated
1979	National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
1989	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	War and Remembrance	Won
2013	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Some Guy Who Kills People	Nominated

Further reading

• Evans, David and Scott Michaels. Rocky Horror: Concept to Cult. London: Sanctuary, 2002.
• Lipton, Michael A. and Nancy Matsumoto. “Serial Dad: Michael J. Fox Looks Up to 6’4” Actor”. People March 10, 1997: 99.
• Uhry, Alfred. "The Trail of the Robber B". The Robber Bridegroom CD Liner Notes 1998: 2.
• Hunt, Paula. "Bostwick Tells Story of Survival". Express-News, March 6, 2006.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]