Biography

He was born Joseph Cotter Smith in Washington, D.C., the son of Madeline (née Cotter) and John Lewis Smith, Jr., who was a federal judge. He graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1968. In 1972, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in literature at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.

Career

He began his acting career in New York in 1978, studying with Stella Adler and at the Actors Studio. His New York theater credits include the Broadway premiere of Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter); Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive; Lanford Wilson's Burn This; Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play; Athol Fugard's Blood Knot and the premiere of Craig Lucas' The Dying Gaul, among many others. He spent ten years as a member of the Circle Repertory Company working exclusively on the premiere productions of new American plays, and is currently a member of the Vineyard Theatre Company in New York. He co-starred with Judd Hirsch in the National Tour of Art.

He is currently appearing in the premiere of Michael Weller's two-character play SIDE EFFECTS with Joely Richardson at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York, directed by David Auburn and produced by MCC Theater Company. He recently completed a run of the new play KIN by Bathsheba Doran, directed by Sam Gold, at Playwrights Horizons in New York. He also appeared in the new play NEXT FALL by Geoffrey Nauffts for the Naked Angels Theatre Company, which completed its critically acclaimed off-Broadway run in the summer of 2009 and moved to Broadway, opening at the Helen Hayes Theatre in March 2010, where it played for six months. It was nominated for a Tony Award for Best New Play of the Year.

He spent five summers as a member of the Playwrights Lab at Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and four at the New York Stage and Film Company working on the development of new American plays. Along with Joseph Stern he co-founded The Matrix Theatre Company in Los Angeles, where he has appeared in The Seagull, The Homecoming, Endgame, Mad Forest, and Habeas Corpus. Other Los Angeles performances include Romeo and Juliet, Love Letters, and Raft of the Medusa, as well as the West Coast premieres of A Soldier's Play and How I Learned to Drive at the Mark Taper Forum.

With Heidi Mueller Smith, he founded and served as Artistic Director from 2001-2007 of the Cornerstone Theatre Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he directed and taught acting. Among his directing credits for the company are Edward Albee's The American Dream, Harold Pinter's Night School, and Lanford Wilson's The Gingham Dog. Some of his acting credits there include 12 Angry Men, Betrayal, Long Day's Journey into Night, and Educating Rita.

Smith has been nominated four times by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, receiving the Outstanding Performance Award. He has received four Drama-Logue Awards and two Ovation Award nominations.

His television and film work ranges from his debut 25 years ago co-starring as Robert Kennedy (opposite Robert Blake's Jimmy Hoffa) in the mini-series Blood Feud, to his role as the President of the United States in the 20th Century Fox film, X2. His most recent film roles have been in the upcoming BURNING BLUE and FRIENDS WITH KIDS. Over the years he has appeared in many television shows, from his regular roles on the ABC series Equal Justice and Night Stalker to his recurring roles on Judging Amy, Tru Calling, Courthouse, and Orleans. His most recent television role was on the series White Collar.

Personal life

Cotter Smith has been married three times. His first marriage was to radio documentary producer Christina Egloff from 1972-1980. He was then married to actress Mel Harris from 1988 to 1996. Their daughter, Madeline (born 1990), is a student at Barnard College in New York.

He and his third wife, Heidi Mueller Smith, have been married since 2001, and reside in New York City. He has four stepchildren: Brianne, Christopher, Evan and Byron.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1984	Nickel Mountain	Tucker
1987	Lady Beware	Mac Odell
1988	Cameron's Closet	Sergeant Sam Taliaferro
1989	K-9	Gilliam
1996	Invader	Dr. Case Montgomery	Alternative title: Lifeform
2003	Reeseville	John Meyers
	X2	President McKenna
2005	The Sleeper	Dr. Altman
2008	Lunatics, Lovers & Poets	Scotty MacGregor
2011	"Burning Blue"	Admiral Lynch
	"Friends With Kids"	Phil Fryman
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	St. Elsewhere	Dr. Rowe	1 episode
	Hill Street Blues	Intern	1 episode
1983	Blood Feud	Robert F. Kennedy	Television movie
1984	Mistral's Daughter	Frank	Miniseries
	The Master	Chad Webster	1 episode
	Cagney & Lacey	Captain Fuller	1 episode
1985	A Bunny's Tale	Ned Holcomb	Television movie
	Moonlighting	Brian Baker	1 episode
	The Rape of Richard Beck	Lt. Hugo	Television movie
	Hardcastle and McCormick	Randy Hopke	1 episode
1986	The Twilight Zone	Mitchell Chaplin	1 episode
	Murder, She Wrote	Robert Rhine	1 episode
	D.C. Cops	Michael Halsey	Television movie
1990	Equal Justice	Deputy D.A. Eugene "Gene" Rogan	Television movie
1990-1991	Equal Justice	Deputy D.A. Eugene "Gene" Rogan	25 episodes
1991	The Last Prostitute	Joe	Television movie
1992	Midnight's Child		Television movie
	A Message from Holly		Television movie
1993	A Place to Be Loved	Mike Caldwell	Television movie
	With Hostile Intent	Officer Rob Arnold	Television movie
	L.A. Law	Tony Henderson	3 episodes
	Desperate Journey: The Allison Wilcox Story	Steve	Television movie
1994	Armed and Innocent	Lonnie	Television movie
1995	Chicago Hope	Dr. Bob Marinak	1 episode
	Courthouse	Andrew Rawson	6 episodes
	Remember Me	Adam Nichols	Television movie
1996	High Incident		1 episode
1997	Spy Game	Adam Quill	1 episode
	Bridge of Time	Robert Creighton	Television movie
	Orleans	Bill Brennecke	1 episode
	Law & Order	Eric Martin	1 episode
1998	Oz	Judge Benjamin Fee	1 episode
	Trinity	Agent	1 episode
1999	Vengeance Unlimited	Stan Garcos	1 episode
2000	Run the Wild Fields	Silas Green	Television movie
2001-2005	Judging Amy	ASA Jeremy Friedman	4 episodes
2004	Alias	Agent Foster	1 episode
2004-2005	Tru Calling	Richard Davies	6 episodes
2005-2006	Night Stalker	Tony Vincenzo	10 episodes
2006	Commander in Chief	Governor Stan Preston	1 episode
	NCIS	NCIS Special Agent in Charge Sam Stevens	1 episode
	Invasion	Deputy Buell	1 episode
	Without a Trace	Fr. Sean McGinnis	1 episode
	The Unit	Bill Lachey	1 episode
2008	Depth Charge	Admiral Butler	Television movie
2012	Person of Interest	Denton Weeks	3 episodes
2013-2015	The Americans	Deputy Attorney General	7 episodes
2014	Revolution	President Jack Davis	5 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]