Early life

Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Genevieve Louie (née Smith) and George Van Norman Whitford. He graduated from Madison East High School in 1977. He majored in English and Theater at Wesleyan University (B.A. 1981), where his roommate was the younger brother of future castmate Richard Schiff. Whitford then attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of Group 14 (1981-1985), which also included actor Thomas Gibson.

Career

Whitford first appeared on television in 1985 in an episode of The Equalizer. His film debut was in the 1986 film Doorman. He made his Broadway theatre debut in 1990 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 Aaron Sorkin's later series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip playing the role of Danny Tripp. 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, filmed in 2009 but not released until April 2012. In 2010, Whitford starred as Dan Stark in the canceled Fox TV series 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 the long-sought nemesis of Patrick Jane, Red John. He 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. In 2013, Whitford played Pete Harrison in the ABC comedy Trophy Wife which was canceled after one season and will guest star in the ABC drama Castle in early 2015. Most recently, Whitford appeared in the Amazon series Transparent in the first season in a recurring role as a cross-dressing businessman and in the second season in a recurring role as Magnus Hirschfeld.

Personal life

Whitford was married to fellow Wisconsin native, actress Jane Kaczmarek, best known for her role as Lois on Malcolm in the Middle. They lived in San Marino, California with their three children, Frances Genevieve (b. October 31, 1997), George Edward (b. December 23, 1999) and Mary Louisa (b. November 25, 2002). In 2007, the family appeared in magazine advertisements for the 2008 Chrysler Town and Country van. On June 19, 2009, the couple announced that they were filing for divorce after 16 years of marriage. One of the last times they were seen together publicly was in September 2008, at the opening of a Los Angeles production of The House of Blue Leaves, in which Kaczmarek was starring.

Whitford and his Transparent co-star Amy Landecker began dating in early 2015.

Politics

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's tax cuts for the rich.

On February 26, 2011, Whitford spoke at one of the many protests in Madison, Wisconsin (his birthplace) in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's controversial budget bill.

During the run-up to the November 2012 general election, Whitford and Courage Campaign founder and 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." The video encouraged viewers to vote "yes" on Prop 30 and "no" on Prop 32 Proposition 30 was approved by California voters by a margin of 54 to 46 percent. Proposition 32 was defeated by a margin of 56 to 44 percent.

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.

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

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Dead as a Doorman	Terry Reilly
1987	Adventures in Babysitting	Mike Todwell
1987	Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise	Roger Latimer
1990	Vital Signs	Dr. Donald Ballentine
1990	Presumed Innocent	Jamie Kemp
1990	Young Guns II	Charles Phalen	Credited as Brad Whitford
1990	Awakenings	Dr. Tyler
1992	Scent of a Woman	Randy Slade
1993	RoboCop 3	Fleck
1993	My Life	Paul Ivanovich
1993	A Perfect World	Bobby Lee
1993	Philadelphia	Jamey Collins
1993	The Silent Alarm	Referee Dad	Short film
1994	The Client	Thomas Fink
1994	Cobb	Process Server
1995	Billy Madison	Eric Gordon
1995	The Desperate Trail	Tommy Donnelly
1996	My Fellow Americans	Carl Witnaur
1996	Wildly Available	Professor
1997	Masterminds	Miles Lawrence	Credited as Brad Whitford
1997	Red Corner	Bob Ghery
1997	The People	Michael Leary
1997	The Spittin' Image	N/A	Short film
1999	The Muse	Hal
1999	Bicentennial Man	Lloyd Charney
2001	Kate & Leopold	J.J. Camden
2005	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants	Al Lowell
2005	Little Manhattan	Adam Burton
2007	An American Crime	Prosecutor Leroy K. New
2008	Bottle Shock	Professor Saunders
2012	The Spin Room: Newt Takes South Carolina	N/A	Short film
2012	The Cabin in the Woods	Steve Hadley
2012	Man Up, Little Boy	Walter	Short film
2013	Decoding Annie Parker	Marshall Parker
2013	Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter	Agent Flynn
2013	Savannah	Jack Cay
2013	CBGB	Nicky Gant
2013	Saving Mr. Banks	Don DaGradi	Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2014	Midnight Rider	Michael Lehman
2016	Other People	Norman	Post-production
2016	I Saw the Light	Fred Rose	Post-production
2016	Megan Leavey		Filming
2017	Get Out		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Equalizer	Dillart	Episode: "The Children's Song"
1986	C.A.T. Squad	Leon Trepper	Television movie
1987	The Betty Ford Story	Jack Ford	Television movie
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
1994	Ellen	Doug	Episode: "The Fix-Up"
1994	The X-Files	Daniel Trepkos	Episode: "Firewalker"
1994	Web of Deception	Larry Lake	Television movie
1995	ER	Sean O'Brien	Episodes: "A Miracle Happens Here" and "Love's Labor Lost"
1995	Nothing But the Truth	'Mack' McCarthy	Television movie
1996	Touched by an Angel	Steven Thomas Bell	Episode: "Out of the Darkness
1997	Tracey Takes On...	Nik	Episode: "Vegas"
1997	In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory	Tom LaSalle	Television movie
1997	Cloned	Rick Weston	Television movie
1998	The Secret Lives of Men	Phil	13 episodes
1999-2006	The West Wing	Josh Lyman	149 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series
1999	Felicity	Tom Anderson	Episode: "Happy Birthday" (uncredited)
1999	Behind the Mask	Brian Shushan	Television movie Credited as Brad Whitford
1999	The Sky's on Fire	John Morgan, KTML News	Television movie
2002	Malcolm in the Middle	Meg's Husband	Episode: "Company Picnic: Part 2"
2002	Frasier	Stu	Episode: "Kissing Cousin"
2005	Fathers and Sons	Anthony	Television movie
2006-2007	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Danny Tripp	21 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama
2008	Burn Up	Mack	2 episodes Nominated—Gemini Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Special or Miniseries
2009	Monk	Dean Berry	Episode: "Mr. Monk on Wheels"
2009	Off Duty	Detective Glenn Falcon	Television movie
2010	The Sarah Silverman Program	Toby Grossnickel	Episode: "Nightmayor"
2010	The Good Guys	Detective Dan Stark	20 episodes
2010	Glenn Martin, DDS	Gonzo Gonzales (voice)	Episode: "Camp"
2011	In Plain Sight	Adam Wilson/Adam Roston	Episode: "Crazy Like a Witness"
2011	Law & Order: Los Angeles	Attorney Miklin	Episode: "Big Rock Mesa"
2011	The Mentalist	Timothy Carter	2 episodes
2011	Have a Little Faith	Mitch	Television movie
2012	Parks and Recreation	Councilman Pillner	Episode: "Live Ammo"
2012	The Asset	Leo Maxiell	Television movie
2013	Shameless	Abraham Paige	Episodes: "Civil Wrongs" and "Frank the Plumber"
2013	Go On	Huey	Episode: "Ring and a Miss"
2013	Lauren	Paul Milgram	6 episodes
2013	Drunk History	William Jennings Bryan	Episode: "Nashville"
2013-2014	Trophy Wife	Pete Harrison	22 episodes
2014	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Frank Maddox	Episode: "Reasonable Doubt"
2014-2015	Transparent	Marcy / Magnus Hirshfield	7 episodes Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
2014	Alpha House	Ned	Episode: "The Retreat"
2015-2016	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Captain Roger Peralta	Episodes: "Captain Peralta" and "Karen Peralta"
2015	Happyish	Jonathan Cooke	10 episodes
2015	A Capitol Fourth	Himself	Host
2016	All the Way	Hubert Humphrey	Television movie

[ Source: Wikipedia ]