Early life and education

Baker was born in Syracuse, New York, but was raised in Lynchburg, Virginia. He began his acting career as a teenager in regional theater productions. He attended Holy Cross Regional Catholic School and then went on to attend Darlington School and finally graduated from the Georgetown Preparatory School in 1976.

Baker attended the College of William and Mary in Virginia and later graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1980. Baker then received a Masters in Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama, where he studied alongside Chris Noth and Patricia Clarkson.

Career

Baker's Broadway theatre credits include Eastern Standard, La Bête, Mauritius, and God of Carnage. He won an Obie Award in 1986 for his performance in the off-Broadway play Not About Heroes.

The next year, he made his motion picture debut in the 1987 film Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Baker's first recurring TV role was on Steven Bochco's highly acclaimed Murder One. Since then, he has appeared in such TV series as Northern Exposure, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The West Wing, and the short-lived sitcom The Pitts.

He garnered major critical attention in 1998 with his performance as a tormented pedophile in Todd Solondz's Happiness. He also gained notice for his portrayal of Dr. Curt Connors in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

In 2000, he portrayed Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in Thirteen Days, a historical drama about the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also held a small role in Requiem for a Dream, where he played a doctor who sees Jared Leto's character with a severely infected, rotting arm. In 2002 he portrayed Alexander Rance, an accountant for the Chicago Outfit, in Road to Perdition.

During the short-lived 2007 series Drive, Baker played the role of John Trimble, a father suffering from a terminal illness.

Baker played William Cross in NBC's Kings, in which his wife Becky Ann Baker played Jessie Shepherd, the mother of protagonist David Shepherd. Baker also guest starred in an episode of Monk, playing a theater critic in "Mr. Monk and the Critic".

Baker guest starred in the November 2010 House episode "A Pox on Our House".

Baker guest starred in the season four finale of Burn Notice as Raines, an old spy friend of Michael's. He reprised the role in the season five premiere, and also permitted his likeness to be used in the Burn Notice graphic novel "A New Day". In 2010, Baker played Hollis B. Chenery in Secretariat.

Baker played Pashto-speaking CIA agent Jerry Boorman in season 4 of Damages.

In 2012, Baker guest-starred in "Upper West Side Story", an episode of the TV series White Collar; he also has a recurring role as the father of Katharine McPhee's character Karen Cartwright on the NBC TV series Smash. He appeared in the USA Network miniseries Political Animals which aired in summer 2012. For his performance as Colin Sweeney on The Good Wife, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

In November 2014 it was announced that Baker will join Helen Mirren on Broadway in The Audience. The play depicts meetings between Queen Elizabeth II and important historical figures. Baker will play former Prime Minister John Major. The play opened on March 8, 2015.

Audiobooks

Baker is a prolific narrator of audiobooks, having narrated a wide range of books, from fiction (The Grapes of Wrath, The Corrections) to biography (Steve Jobs).

Dylan garnered the 2002 Audie Award for Abridged Fiction for his reading of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Baker has also recorded Jonathan Franzen's latest novel, (Purity).

Personal life

In 1990, he married actress Becky Gelke, now known professionally as Becky Ann Baker. They have a daughter, Willa, and reside in New York City.

On September 1, 2015, Baker tried to save the life of his neighbor, Broadway and movie actress and dancer Vivien Eng, in the high-rise where he lives in New York City when her apartment caught fire but was driven back by smoke and fire. Firefighters eventually got the seriously injured woman out of the apartment and rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately her injuries were too severe and she succumbed to her injuries September 3, 2015.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	A Case of Deadly Force	Kevin O'Donnell
1987	Planes, Trains & Automobiles	Owen
1988	The Wizard of Loneliness	Duffy Kahler
1990	The Long Walk Home	Tunker Thompson
1991	Delirious	Blake Hedison
1992	Passed Away	Unsworth
	The Last of the Mohicans	Capt. De Bougainville
	Love Potion No. 9	Prince Geoffrey
1993	Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage
	Life with Mikey	Mr. Burns
1994	Disclosure	Philip Blackburn
1995	The Stars Fell on Henrietta	Alex Wilde
1996	True Blue	Michael Suarez, S.J.
1998	Happiness	Bill Maplewood	Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated—Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Celebrity	Priest at Catholic Retreat
1999	Simply Irresistible	Jonathan Bendel
	Random Hearts	Richard Judd
	Oxygen	FBI Agent Jackson Lantham
2000	Committed	Carl's Editor
	Requiem for a Dream	Southern Doctor
	The Cell	Henry West
	Thirteen Days	Robert McNamara
2001	The Tailor of Panama	General Dusenbaker
	Along Came a Spider	Ollie McArthur
2002	Road to Perdition	Alexander Rance
	A Gentleman's Game	Mr. Price
2002	Changing Lanes	Finch
2003	Head of State	Martin Geller
	How to Deal	Steve Beckwith
	Rick	Buck
	The Elizabeth Smart Story	Ed Smart
2004	Spider-Man 2	Dr. Curt Connors
	Kinsey	Alan Gregg
2006	The Matador	Lovell
	Stealing Martin Lane	Parker Banks
	Hide and Seek	Sheriff Hafferty
2006	Fido	Bill Robinson
	Let's Go to Prison	Warden
2007	When a Man Falls	Bill
	Spider-Man 3	Curt Connors
	The Hunting Party	CIA Operative
	Across the Universe	Mr. Carrigan - Lucy's Father
	The Stone Angel	Marvin Shipley
	Trick 'r Treat	Principal Steven Wilkins	Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actor Fright Meter Award for Best Supporting Actor
2008	Diminished Capacity	Mad Dog McClure
	Revolutionary Road	Jack Ordway	Palm Springs International Film Festival Ensemble Cast Award
2009	Under New Management	Legal Aid Lawyer
2010	Secretariat	Hollis Chenery
	The Good Wife	Colin Sweeney (2010 - 2015)	TV series Nominated-Emmy Award for Guest Actor in a Drama Series (2010, 2012 & 2014)
2011	About Sunny	Max
2011	Damages	Jerry Boorman	TV series Nominated-Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series
2012	2 Days in New York	Ron
2013	23 Blast	Larry Freeman	Director
	Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues	Freddy Shapp
2014	Turks & Caicos	Gary Bethwaite
	The Humbling	Dr. Farr
	Selma	J. Edgar Hoover	Nominated-Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated-Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble Nominated-San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble
2015	The Mentalist	Bill Peterson	TV series
	Applesauce	Stevie Bricks
2016	The Americans	William	TV series
	Confirmation	Orrin Hatch	TV movie

[ Source: Wikipedia ]