Early life

Daly was born March 1, 1956, in New York City, the only son and youngest of four children of actors James and Mary Hope (née Newell) Daly. He is the younger brother of actress Tyne Daly. He has two other sisters, Mary Glynn (wife of Mark Snow) and Pegeen Michael. Daly attended The Putney School, where he started to study acting.

Daly began his professional career while a student at Vermont's Bennington College, where he studied Theatre and Literature, in which he now holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, and acted in summer stock. He graduated from college in 1979, and returned to New York to continue studying acting and singing.

Career

Daly debuted on stage when he was seven years old in Jenny Kissed Me by Jean Kerr, together with his parents and two sisters. He appeared for the first time on TV when he was 10 years old in an American Playhouse adaptation of An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, which starred his father James Daly. He dreamed about a sports or music career and also considered becoming a doctor or a lawyer, but finally decided to become an actor. Daly started his professional acting career when he appeared in a 1978 adaptation of Peter Shaffer's play Equus.

His first leading film role was in the film Diner, directed by Barry Levinson, in which he shared screen time with actors including Kevin Bacon and Mickey Rourke. Starring roles soon followed in Alan Rudolph's feature, Made in Heaven, the American Playhouse production of The Rise & Rise of Daniel Rocket, and the CBS dramatic series, Almost Grown created by David Chase.

In theatre he has starred in the Broadway production of Coastal Disturbances by playwright Tina Howe opposite Annette Bening and received a 1987 Theatre World Award for his performance. He has also starred in Oliver, Oliver at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Mass Appeal by Bill C. Davis and Bus Stop by William Inge at Trinity Square Repertory, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams at the Santa Fe Festival Theatre, A Knife in the Heart and A Study in Scarlet at the Williamstown Playhouse, and Paris Bound at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. During this time, Daly also starred in the CBS television miniseries I'll Take Manhattan as Toby Amberville.

Daly describes himself as being highly self-critical in regard to his career. In an interview with New Zealand 'ZM' radio personality Polly Gillespie, Daly was quoted as saying, "I think part of it (his self-critical nature) is passed down to me from my parents who are actors. The theatre was our temple... When you entered you were expected to live up to the example of this glorious place."

1990s

Wings is an American sitcom that ran on NBC from April 19, 1990 to May 14, 1997. It starred Daly and Steven Weber as brothers Joe and Brian Hackett. The show was set at the fictional Tom Nevers Field, a small airport in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where the Hackett brothers operated the one-plane airline, Sandpiper Air.

In 1997, he and J. Todd Harris formed Daly-Harris Productions, through which he produced such movies as: Execution of Justice (1999) (TV), Urbania (2000) and Tick Tock (2000). In 1998, Daly appeared in several episodes of the Emmy award-winning, Tom Hanks-produced HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon playing astronaut Jim Lovell, whom Hanks himself had portrayed in the film Apollo 13.

2000s

In 2002, Daly guest-starred as himself in the TV series Monk in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Airplane", briefly reuniting him with his Wings castmate Tony Shalhoub. In 2006, Daly returned to Broadway when he appeared on stage opposite David Schwimmer and Željko Ivanek in the Broadway revival of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.

Daly made several appearances on The Sopranos as J.T. Dolan, an AA buddy of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli). Daly received a 2007 Emmy nomination for his work on the series. He appeared on the midseason ABC crime series Eyes, which got good reviews but was canceled after only five episodes.

As a voice-actor, Daly portrayed superhero Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent in Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000), but was unable to return as Superman (thus being replaced by Christopher McDonald in Batman Beyond and George Newbern in Justice League), as he was already under contract to star in a remake of the 1960s TV drama The Fugitive, which aired for only one season (2000-2001). He reprised his role as Superman in the video game Superman: Shadow of Apokolips and the direct-to-video releases Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse and Justice League: Doom. Daly reprised his role as Superman in an animated remake of the trailer for the 2013 film Man of Steel by the Hub Network to celebrate the release of the film and to promote the network's upcoming marathon of Superman episodes.

In 2006, Daly played the role of Nick Cavanaugh on the new ABC drama The Nine. Starting May 3, 2007, Daly began playing a new love interest for Kate Walsh's character on Private Practice, a spinoff of Grey's Anatomy.

Daly heads Red House Entertainment. Movies produced through the company include Peabody Award and Humanitas Prize winning Edge of America and Daly's directing debut, the independent film Bereft.

Daly also created Wandering Bark Productions, based at Paramount Pictures, a company designed to develop and produce a variety of film, television and theater projects. The company producing credits include the critically acclaimed and award winning Los Angeles premiere of Vincent Cardinal's play A Colorado Catechism, starring Daly. The play received outstanding reviews and earned Daly the Drama-Logue Award for Best Actor.

Daly co-produced a documentary, PoliWood, about the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The documentary, directed by Barry Levinson had its premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.

Non-profit work

Daly is an activist in various liberal political and social causes. In 2004, he became active in the presidential politics of the Democratic Party by joining "John Kerry for President," an organization dedicated to John Kerry's presidential candidacy for the 2004 election.

In the beginning of 2007, Daly became a member of The Creative Coalition (TCC), a nonprofit, (501(c)(3)) nonpartisan, politically active group formed of members of the American film entertainment industry; since 2008, Daly has served as President of the Creative Coalition. As a member of TCC Daly has joined the National Task Force on Children's Safety, a program co-founded by The Creative Coalition and Safety4Kids, "the first children's media brand focused solely on safety and health." According to the program website: "The Task Force is the first critical step in creating a national dialogue on safety and media literacy and determining next steps to ensure that the issues are prioritized in the minds of parents, educators and legislators." "The Task Force is dedicated to awareness, education and lasting change by impacting national policy on safety education and media literacy." In August 2007, Daly became one of the three chairs for the organization's activity at the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions. Along with actress Kerry Washington and writer/director Sue Kramer, Daly was responsible for leading "TCC's Convention efforts designed to bring issues of importance to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign." In November 2007, Daly interviewed senator John Edwards, one of the Democratic presidential candidates.

In June 2008, Daly, together with Chandra Wilson, was named the 2008 ambassador for Lee National Denim Day - a fundraiser for breast cancer, benefiting the Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In August 2008, Daly was named co-president of the Creative Coalition, a nonpartisan group that works on issues such as health care reform and arts funding.

Personal life

Daly married actress Amy Van Nostrand in 1982. They have two children, Sam Daly and Emelyn Daly. In 2010, Daly and Van Nostrand divorced. He has been dating his Madam Secretary co-star Téa Leoni since December 2014.

In 2012, on a personal quest, Daly climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. That same year, he and his sister, Tyne, endorsed the re-election campaign of Democratic U.S President Barack Obama.

In 2013, Daly was in the Virgin America first-class lounge during a shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Diner	William "Billy" Howard
1984	Just the Way You Are	Frank Bantam
1987	Made in Heaven	Tom Donnelly
1988	Spellbinder	Jeff Mills
1990	Love or Money	Chris Murdoch
1989	The More You Know	Himself
1992	Year of the Comet	Oliver Plexico
1994	Caroline at Midnight	Detective Ray Dillon	aka Someone's Watching
1995	Denise Calls Up	Frank Oliver
1995	Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde	Doctor Richard Jacks	Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple
1996	The Associate	Frank Peterson
1998	The Object of My Affection	Dr. Robert Joley
1998	The Batman/Superman Movie	Clark Kent / Superman	Voice
1999	Seven Girlfriends	Jesse Campbell
2003	Basic	Colonel Bill Styles
2004	Against the Ropes	Gavin Reese
2004	Bereft	Uncle 'Happy'	also producer and director
2004	Return to Sender	Martin North	aka Convicted
2005	My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro)	Professor Tatsuo Kusakabe (father)	Voice (English version)
2006	Superman: Brainiac Attacks	Clark Kent / Superman	Voice
2006	The Good Student	Ronald Gibb	aka Mr. Gibb
2006	Generation Boom	Himself
2009	The Skeptic	Bryan Becket
2009	Superman/Batman: Public Enemies	Clark Kent / Superman	Voice
2009	PoliWood	Himself	Documentary
2010	Superman/Batman: Apocalypse	Clark Kent / Superman	Voice
2010	Dilf	Jake Holt	Short film
2012	Justice League: Doom	Clark Kent / Superman	Voice
2013	Waking	Jonathan
2013	After Darkness	Raymond Beaty Sr.
2014	Low Down	Dalton
2015	A Rising Tide	Tom Blake
2015	Submerged	Hank Searles

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	An Enemy of the People	Morten Stockmann	Television movie
1981	Hill Street Blues	Dann	Episode: "Gatorbait"
1983	Ryan's Four	Dr. Edward Gillian	Episode: "Ryan's Four"
1984	I Married a Centerfold	Kevin Coates	Television movie
1985	Mirrors	Chris Philips	Television movie
1986	American Playhouse	Richard	Episode: "The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket"
1986	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Scott	Episode: "Enough Rope for Two"
1987	I'll Take Manhattan	Toby Amberville	2 episodes
1988-1989	Almost Grown	Norman Foley	13 episodes
1989	Midnight Caller	Elliot Chase	Episode: "Watching Me, Watching You"
1989	Red Earth, White Earth	Guy Pehrsson	Television movie
1990-1997	Wings	Joe Montgomery Hackett	172 episodes
1993	Alex Haley's Queen	Colonel James Jackson Jr.	2 episodes
1993	In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco	David Koresh	Television movie
1994	Dangerous Heart	Angel Perno	Television movie
1994	Witness to the Execution	Dennis Casterline	Television movie
1995	The John Larroquette Show	Thor Merrick	Episode: "Bad Pennies"
1996-2000	Superman: The Animated Series	Clark Kent / Superman / Bizarro	52 episodes
1998	From the Earth to the Moon	Jim Lovell	4 episodes
1998	Invasion America	Additional Voices	13 episodes
1999	Storm of the Century	Mike Anderson	3 episodes
1999	Execution of Justice	Dan White	Television movie
1999	Intimate Portrait: Tyne Daly	Narrator	Television movie
2000	A House Divided	Charles Dubose	Television movie
2000-2001	The Fugitive	Dr. Richard Kimble	23 episodes Satellite Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
2002	Monk	Himself	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Airplane"
2002	The Outsider	Johnny Gault	Television movie
2003	Judging Amy	Monty Fisher	Episode: "Shock and Awe"
2003	Edge of America	Leroy McKinney	Television movie Nominated—Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Youth Special
2003	Wilder Days	John Morse	Television movie
2004-2007	The Sopranos	J.T. Dolan	4 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2005	Eyes	Harlan Judd	12 episodes
2006	Commander in Chief	Cameron Manchester	Episode: "Happy Birthday, Madam President"
2006-2007	The Nine	Nick Cavanaugh	13 episodes
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Reverend Jeb Curtis	Episode: "Sin"
2007	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Peter "Pete" Wilder	2 episodes
2007-2012	Private Practice		98 episodes
2013	Hawaii Five-0	Ray	Episode: "A'ale Ma'a Wau"
2014	The Mindy Project	Charlie Lang	3 episodes
2014	Hot in Cleveland	Mitch	5 episodes
2014-present	Madam Secretary	Henry McCord	44 episodes

Director credits

Year	Title	Notes
2004	Bereft	also producer and actor

Producer credits

Year	Title	Notes
1999	Execution of Justice	Executive producer, also actor GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie
2000	Tick Tock
2003	Edge of America	Executive producer, also actor Peabody Award Image Humanitas Prize
2004	Bereft	also director and actor
2009	PoliWood	Documentary

Theatre

(Source: Broadway.com)

Broadway

Year	Production	Playwright	Role	Notes
1987-1988	Coastal Disturbances	Tina Howe	Leo Hart	Broadway debut Performances: Circle in the Square Theatre (February 14, 1987 - January 3, 1988) Won - 1987 Theatre World Award
2006	The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial	Herman Wouk	prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. John Challee	Performances: Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (May 7, 2006 - May 21, 2006)

Off-Broadway

Year	Production	Playwright	Role	Notes
1984	Fables For Friends		Trevor/Chris/Nicky/Victor/Eddie	Off-Broadway debut Performances: Playwrights Horizon Theatre
1985	Oliver, Oliver	Paul Osborn	Oliver Oliver	Performances: Manhattan Theatre Club (Stage 73) City Center
1986	The Rise & Rise of Daniel Rocket	Peter Parnell	Richard
1986-1987	Coastal Disturbances	Tina Howe	Leo Hart	Performances: McGinn-Cazale Theatre (Second Stage Theatre) (from November 19, 1986 - ran for 45 performances, then transferred to Broadway)
2003	Fear of Flying at 30	Erica Jong		Performances: Manhattan Theatre Club (May 2003)
2003	The Exonerated	Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen		Performances: Theatres at 45 Bleecker/Bleecker Street Theatre

Off-Off-Broadway

Year	Production	Playwright	Role	Notes
2005	Henry Flamethrowa	John Belluso	Peter Rhamelower	Performances: Studio Dante

Other stage credits

Year	Production	Playwright	Role	Notes
1963	Jenny Kissed Me	Jean Kerr		Performances: Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, Pennsylvania
1978	Equus	Peter Shaffer	Alan Strang	Performances: Summer Stock (with Kevin McCarthy)
1981	The Fifth of July	Lanford Wilson		Performances: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
1981	The Buried Child	Sam Shepard		Performances: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
1981	Of Mice and Men	John Steinbeck		Performances: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
1983	Mass Appeal	Bill C. Davis		Performances: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
1983	Bus Stop	William Inge		Performances: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
1983	The Cabaret			Performances: Williamstown Playhouse
1983	A Knife in the Heart	Susan Yankowitz	Donald Holt	Performances: Williamstown Playhouse
	Christmas Carol	Charles Dickens/Hall and Cumming adaptation		Performances: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
1985	Paris Bound	Philip Barry		Performances: Berkshire Theatre Festival
	The Glass Menagerie	Tennessee Williams		Performances: Santa Fe Festival Theatre, Santa Fe, New Mexico
	The Lion in Winter	James Goldman		Performances: Windham Repertory
1987	A Study in Scarlet	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle	Jefferson Hope	Performances: Williamstown Playhouse
	Dugout			Performances: Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles
1993	The Colorado Catechism	Vincent J. Cardinal	Ty Wain	Performances: Coast Playhouse Los Angeles Won - 1993 Drama-Logue Award for Outstanding Actor
	Love Letters	A. R. Gurney	Andrew Makepiece Ladd III	Performances: Canon Theater Los Angeles
2000	Ancestral Voices	A. R. Gurney		Performances: George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, New Jersey
	Love Letters	A. R. Gurney	Andrew Makepiece Ladd III	Performances: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
2004	Cabaret & Main		Darius de Haas	Performances: Williamstown Playhouse
2010	Six Degrees of Separation	John Guare	Flan Kittredge	Performances: Williamstown Theatre Festival, July 14-25

Awards and honors

Year	Award	Category	Project	Result
1987	Theatre World Award	Best Debut Performance in a Broadway production	Coastal Disturbances	Won
1993	Drama-Logue Award	Outstanding Actor	The Colorado Catechism	Won
1996	Golden Raspberry Award	Worst Screen Combo	Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde	Nominated
2000	GLAAD Media Award	Outstanding TV Movie	Execution of Justice	Won
	Golden Satellite Award	Best Actor in a Television Series Drama	The Fugitive	Won
2001	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series	The Fugitive	Nominated
	TV Guide Award	Actor of the Year in a New Series	The Fugitive	Nominated
2005	TV Land Award	Favorite Airborne Character(s)	Wings (shared with Steven Weber)	Nominated
	Peabody Award	Peabody Award Image	Edge of America	Won
2006	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in a Children/Youth/Family Special	Edge of America	Nominated
	Humanitas Prize	Children's Live - Action Category	Edge of America	Won
2007	Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	The Sopranos	Nominated
2008	Vail Film Festival Award	Excellence in Acting Award	an annual award	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]