Early life

Gallagher was born in Manhattan, New York City. His mother, Mary Ann (née O'Shea), was a bacteriologist, and his father, Thomas Francis Gallagher, Jr., was an advertising executive. Gallagher is the youngest of their three children. He is of Irish Catholic background and was raised in Armonk, New York. Gallagher graduated from Tufts University, where he had been active in theater, appearing in such shows as Stephen Sondheim's Company and singing with the all-male a cappella group the Beelzebubs.

Career

Gallagher appeared on Broadway with Glenn Close in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, but first achieved fame for his role in Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989). He also starred as Sky Masterson in the 1992 Broadway hit revival of Guys and Dolls.

Gallagher played a potential career threat to Tim Robbins' studio executive in The Player (1992); the comatose fiancé of Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping (1995); a real estate salesman having an affair with Annette Bening in American Beauty (1999); a media executive in Mr. Deeds (2002); and a political reporter exposing media ethics during a presidential debate in The Last Debate.

From 2003 to 2007, Gallagher starred as Sandy Cohen, a Jewish public defender and corporate lawyer, on the Fox television show The O.C.. He hosts an annual award ceremony named "The Sandy Cohen Awards" or The Sandys, which, in honor of his character on The O.C., gives a scholarship to a law school student at UC Berkeley who wants to become a public defender.

Gallagher released an album entitled 7 Days in Memphis in 2005, on the Sony BMG label. This includes a studio recording of his performance of "Don't Give Up On Me" (originally by Solomon Burke), which was featured in an episode of The O.C. He also has a video for his single "Still I Long For Your Kiss", in which he starred with his TV-wife Kelly Rowan.

In 2005, Gallagher received the P.T. Barnum Award from Tufts University for his exceptional work in the field of media and entertainment. In 2007, Gallagher received the "Light on the Hill" award at Tufts University. The award is given to notable alumni from Tufts who have demonstrated ambition, achievement, and active citizenship.

As of March 2015, Gallagher is co-starring on Broadway in On the Twentieth Century.

Personal life

Gallagher is married to Paula Harwood and has two children, James and Kathryn. His daughter Kathryn is an actress and singer, and most recently performed in Deaf West's production of Spring Awakening on Broadway as the voice of Martha.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	The Idolmaker	Guido/Caesare
1982	Summer Lovers	Michael Pappas
1985	Dreamchild	Jack Dolan
1986	My Little Girl	Kai
1988	High Spirits	Brother Tony
1989	Sex, Lies, and Videotape	John Mullany
1990	Tune in Tomorrow	Richard Quince
1991	Milena	Pollak
	The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez	Matt
	Late for Dinner	Bob Freeman
1992	The Player	Larry Levy
	Bob Roberts	Dan Riley
1993	Watch It	John
	Short Cuts	Stormy Weathers	Golden Globe for Best Ensemble Cast Volpi Cup—Best Ensemble Cast
	Malice	Atty. Dennis Riley
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Vic Tenetta
	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Alan Campbell
	Mother's Boys	Robert Madigan
	White Mile	Jack Robbins
1995	The Underneath	Michael Chambers
	While You Were Sleeping	Peter Callaghan
	Cafe Society	Jack Kale
1996	Last Dance	John Hayes
	To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday	David Lewis
1997	The Man Who Knew Too Little	James 'Jimmy' Ritchie
	Path to Paradise	John Anticev
1998	Johnny Skidmarks	Johnny Scardino
1999	House on Haunted Hill	Donald W. Blackburn, M.D.
	American Beauty	Buddy Kane	Screen Actors Guild Awards—Outstanding Performance by a Cast OFCS Award for Best Ensemble Cast Performance
2000	Center Stage	Jonathan Reeves
	Other Voices	Jordin
2001	Perfume	Guido
	Protection	Ted
2002	Mr. Deeds	Chuck Cedar
	The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina	Mole King	Direct-to-video; Voice-over
2003	How to Deal	Len Martin	Uncredited
2008	Center Stage: Turn It Up	Jonathan Reeves
2009	Adam	Marty Buchwald
	The War Boys	Slater Welch
2010	Conviction	Barry Scheck
	Burlesque	Vincent "Vince" Scali
2011	Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You	Paul Sveck
2012	Step Up Revolution	Bill Anderson
2015	Hello, My Name Is Doris	Willy Williams

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Guiding Light	Chuck Haskell
1980	Skag	John Skagska	6 episodes
1982	American Playhouse	Logan Melton	1 episode
1984	ABC Weekend Specials	Phil Grey	1 episode
	Terrible Joe Moran	Nick	Television film
1987	Long Day's Journey into Night	Edmund Tyrone	Television film
1988	The Murder of Mary Phagan	Leo Frank	Television film
	The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial	Lt. Cmdr. John Challee	Television film
	The Big Knife	Charles Castle	Television film
	I'll Be Home for Christmas	Aaron Coplan	Television film
1990	Love and Lies	David West	Television film
1991	An Inconvenient Woman	Philip Quennell	Television film
1993	Fallen Angels	Mitch Allison Dr. Yorgrau	2 episodes
1996	Titanic	Wynn Park	TV miniseries
1998	Superman: The Animated Series	Kurt	1 episode
	The Secret Lives of Men	Michael	7 episodes
	Brave New World	Bernard Marx	Television film
	Virtual Obsession	Dr. Joe Messenger	Television film
1999	Brotherhood of Murder	Bob Mathews	Television film
2000	The Last Debate	Tom Chapman	Television film
	Cupid & Cate	Harry	Television film
2001	Family Guy	Jared	1 episode
	Feast of All Saints	Philippe Ferronaire	Television film
2002	Contest Searchlight	Himself	1 episode
2002-2003	Page to Screen	Himself - host	1 episode
2003	A Tale of Two Wives	Bill Goodman	Television film
2003-2007	The O.C.	Sandy Cohen	92 episodes Nominated—Prism Award—Best Performance in a Drama Series Episode Nominated—Teen Choice Awards—2005 TV Choice Parental Unit Nominated—Teen Choice Awards—2006 TV Choice Parental Unit
2006	Robot Chicken	Store Clerk Douglas Goldstein / Anchor / Spectator	2 episodes
2007	The Gathering	Dr. Michael Foster	TV miniseries
2008	Shark	Frank Bell	1 episode
2009	Californication	Stacey Koons	7 episodes
2010	Rescue Me	Father Phil Gallagher	7 episodes
2010-2014	Covert Affairs	Arthur Campbell	67 episodes
2011	Whitney	Vince	2 episodes
2012	How I Met Your Mother	Professor Vinick	1 episode
2014-2016	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Deputy Chief William Dodds	Recurring Role, Seasons 16 & 17
2015	The Good Wife	Ethan Carver	3 episodes
2015-2016	Togetherness	Larry	9 episodes
2016	New Girl	Gavin Schmidt	2 episodes
2016	Center Stage: On Pointe	Jonathan Reeves	Television film

Broadway

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Hair	Claude
1978	Grease	Danny Zuko
1982	A Doll's Life	Otto	Theatre World Award
1983	The Corn Is Green	Morgan Evans
	Another Country	Guy Bennett
1984	The Real Thing	Billy	Clarence Derwent Awards—Most Promising Male
1985-86	Pride and Prejudice	Fitzwilliam Darcy
1986	Long Day's Journey Into Night	Edmund Tyrone	Nominated—Tony Award for Featured Actor (Play)
1992	Guys and Dolls	Sky Masterson	Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical
1995	Pal Joey	Joey Evans
2001-02	Noises Off	Lloyd Dallas
2008	The Country Girl	Bernie Dodd
2015	On The Twentieth Century	Oscar Jaffe

[ Source: Wikipedia ]