Bradley Whitford

Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin,[1] the son of Genevieve Louie (née Smith; 1915-2011) [3] and George Van Norman Whitford (1915-1999).[4][5] Between the ages of three and 14, he lived in Wayne, Pennsylvania. His mother, a poet, later resided in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.[4] He grew up in a Quaker household.[6] Whitford graduated from Madison East High School in 1977.[7] He majored in English and theatre at Wesleyan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1981,[7] where he was a roommate of producer Paul Schiff.

Whitford first appeared on television in 1985 in an episode of The Equalizer followed by a two-year recurring role on the ABC Soap Opera All My Children. His film debut was in the 1986 film Dead as a Doorman. He made his Broadway theatre debut in 1990[8] 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 Sorkin's later series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip playing the role of Danny Tripp.[9] 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,[10] filmed in 2009 but not released until April 2012. In 2010, Whitford starred as Dan Stark in the Fox TV comedy 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 "Red John", the long-sought nemesis of the show's protagonist Patrick Jane. Whitford 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.[11]

In 2013 Whitford played Pete Harrison in the ABC comedy Trophy Wife, which was canceled after one season. Most recently, Whitford appeared in the Amazon series Transparent in the first season in a recurring role as a cross-dressing businessman[12] and in the second season in a recurring role as Magnus Hirschfeld.

Since 2015 Whitford has had a recurring role on Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Roger Peralta, father of lead character Det. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg).

In 2017 Whitford played Dean Armitage, a father and neurosurgeon, in the racially themed horror film Get Out.[13]

In 2018 he joined the cast of The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu as Commander Joseph Lawrence. Whitford guest-starred in the final two episodes of the second season and reprised his role in the third season airing in 2019.[14]

Whitford married actress Jane Kaczmarek in August 1992.[15] They had three children together, Frances Genevieve (born October 1997), George Edward (born December 1999), and Mary Louisa (born November 2002).[16][17] In June 2009, the couple announced that they were divorcing after 16 years of marriage,[18] and the divorce was finalized in October 2010.[19]

Whitford began dating his Transparent co-star Amy Landecker in 2015. They announced their engagement in March 2018.[20] Whitford and Landecker eloped on July 17, 2019.[21]

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, who went on to win re-election.[22]

On February 26, 2011, Whitford spoke at one of the many protests in his native Madison, Wisconsin in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill.[23] The budget repair bill ultimately became law. During the run-up to the November 2012 general election, Whitford and Courage Campaign founder/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".[24] The video encouraged viewers to vote "yes" on Prop 30 and "no" on Prop 32.[25] Proposition 30 was approved by California voters by a margin of 54% to 46%. Proposition 32 was defeated by a margin of 56% to 44%.

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, who was running against incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker; Burke lost.[26] In September 2016, he appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he expressed his support for Hillary Clinton.[27]

On November 25, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted on Twitter, comparing herself to the character C. J. Cregg from The West Wing on an incident involving a situation where the White House was receiving one of the White House Thanksgiving turkeys set to be pardoned by President Donald Trump. After this tweet, Whitford, who portrayed White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the show, replied saying, "I know C. J. Cregg. C. J. Cregg is a friend of mine. You're no C. J. Cregg", an homage to the famed "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" debate quote. Actress Allison Janney, who played C.J. in the series, also replied, thanking Whitford for his sentiment, saying "Thanks, Josh".[28]

He currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander that aims to end voter suppression.[29]

Whitford has publicly supported Democratic candidates nationwide, including Candace Valenzuela, candidate for Texas's 24th Congressional District[30]

In 2019, he and Gwyneth Paltrow hosted a fundraiser for Democratic Presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg.[31]

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.[32] As of 2012, Whitford serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Wesleyan University.[33]

• Bradley Whitford on IMDb
• Bradley Whitford at the Internet Broadway Database
• Bradley Whitford at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Transcript of Whitford's address at the University of Wisconsin's Spring commencement (posted May 17, 2004)
• 2001 NPR Interview