Peter MacNicol

MacNicol was born on April 10, 1954, in Dallas, Texas, the youngest of five children of Barbara Jean (née Gottlich), a homemaker, and John Wilbur Johnson, a Norwegian-American corporate executive who became an Episcopal priest later in life. He is a graduate of MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas.{{cite journal| url=http://www.petermacnicolonline.com/character98.html| title=Ally McBeal's ally talks bagpipes, yodeling and other quirks| via=Peter MacNicol Online| first=T.| last=Johnson| journal=TV Guide| date=June 13, 1998}}{{cite journal| url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20120778,00.html| title=Striking Out with Sigourney, Social Slimer Peter MacNicol Still Scores in Ghostbusters II| volume=32| number=3| date=17 July 1989| first1=Joanne| last1=Kaufman| first2=Victoria| last2=Balfour| journal=People| access-date=August 6, 2019}}{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9G7AAAAIAAJ&q=%22JOHNSON.%20John%20Wilbur,%20pub.%20relations%20ofcl.;%22| title=Who's who in Commerce and Industry| date=January 1, 1968| publisher=Marquis Who's Who| page=708| volume=15| via=Google Books}}

MacNicol performed at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for two seasons from 1978 to 1979. He appeared in productions, which included Hamlet and The Pretenders. He made his New York debut in the 1980 off-Broadway play, Crimes of the Heart. The production then moved to Broadway in 1981, and he won the Theatre World Award.{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/06/theater/it-was-a-victory-party-for-crimes-of-the-heart.html| last=Corry| first=John| title=It Was A Victory Party For Crimes Of The Heart| newspaper=The New York Times| date=November 6, 1981| url-access=subscription}} It was during this production that a casting agent noticed him and auditioned him for a role in the film, Sophie's Choice. In 1981 he landed the starring role in his first film, Dragonslayer, opposite Ralph Richardson.{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/25/movies/peter-macnicol-captures-key-role-in-sophie-s-choice.html| last=Harmetz| first=Aligean| title=Peter Macnicol Captures Key Role In 'Sophie's Choice'| newspaper=The New York Times| date=September 25, 1981| url-access=subscription| access-date=May 20, 2023}}

In 1987, MacNicol starred in the Trinity Repertory Company's original production of the stage adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, which first appeared at the Dallas Theater Center. The adaptation was developed in consultation with the author.{{cite news| date=1987-04-21| title='All the King's Men' is now a play. Adrian Hall stages a bigger-than-life adaptation| newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor| url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0421/ltrin.html| access-date=2021-02-17| issn=0882-7729| df=mdy}}

Among his other stage credits is the Broadway production of Black Comedy/White Lies. He has appeared in repertory theater, including the New York Shakespeare Festival where he played title roles in Richard II and Romeo and Juliet; and in Twelfth Night, Rum and Coke and Found a Peanut.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/28/theater/a-young-american-dons-richard-ii-s-crown.html| last=Benzel| first=Jan| title=A Young American Dons Richard II's Crown| newspaper=The New York Times| date=June 28, 1987}}

In film, he plays the naive Southern writer who falls in love with Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, the museum curator Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, and camp director Gary Granger alongside future Numbers co-star David Krumholtz in Addams Family Values. Other film credits include the films Housesitter and American Blue Note.

From 1992 to 1993 MacNicol starred opposite John Forsythe, Holland Taylor, David Hyde Pierce and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as press secretary Bradley Grist in the political television comedy The Powers That Be.{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-07-ca-3412-story.html| last=Rosenberg| first=Howard| title=TV Reviews: 'Powers' Has Deft Cast but Mannered Lunacy| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=March 7, 1992}} In addition, he played Mario, a hotel receptionist, in the 1993 Cheers episode "Look Before You Sleep".{{cite web| url=https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/51664/cheers-11x20-look-before-you-sleep| title=Look Before You Sleep| website=TVMaze}}{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0539797/| title=Look Before You Sleep| website=IMDb}}

In 1994 MacNicol played the role of Alan Birch for the first season and part of the second season of Chicago Hope once creator David E. Kelley departed. He later rejoined Kelley in 1997 by taking a role on another TV series, Ally McBeal, as a main guest star from Season 1 to Season 4 and a recurring character in Season 5. MacNicol is well known for his Ally McBeal performance as eccentric attorney John Cage, for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2001. From 2005 to 2010, he starred in the drama Numbers as physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt, taking a brief break from the show to perform as Tom Lennox in the sixth season of the hit FOX show 24. MacNicol reprised his role as Lennox in the film 24: Redemption.

MacNicol has lent his voice to several comic book supervillains: Dr. Kirk Langstrom / Man-Bat in The Batman, David Clinton / Chronos in Justice League Unlimited, Professor Ivo in Young Justice, Dr. Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus in The Spectacular Spider-Man, X The Eliminator in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and the Mad Hatter in the video games Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Knight. He also voiced Firefly in G.I. Joe: Renegades.{{cite web| url=http://comicvine.gamespot.com/articles/peter-macnicol-discusses-voicing-doc-ock/1100-130228/| last=Guerroro| first=Tony| title=Peter MacNicol Discusses Voicing Doc Ock| website=Comic Vine News| date=May 1, 2008}}

MacNicol played Dr. Stark, a pediatric surgeon, on Grey's Anatomy.{{cite journal| url=http://www.tvguide.com/News/Greys-Anatomy-Peter-MacNicol-1023912.aspx| title=Exclusive: Peter MacNicol Joins Grey's Anatomy| first=Natalie| last=Abrhams| journal=TV Guide| date=June 24, 2015| access-date=October 1, 2010}}

MacNicol was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding guest actor in the fifth season of Veep; however, his nomination was rescinded because he appeared in "too many of the show’s episodes; the rules require that a guest actor nominee be in less than half of a season."{{cite journal| url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/07/21/veep_s_peter_macnicol_s_emmy_nomination_has_been_revoked.html| title=Veep's Peter MacNicol Has His Emmy Nomination Revoked Over Eligibility Issue| first=Matthew| last=Dessem| journal=Slate| date=July 21, 2016}} Although MacNicol qualified when his entry was submitted, he later appeared briefly in one more episode. He was nominated again in the same category for the seventh season of Veep.{{cite news| url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/07/peter-macnicol-disqualified-from-emmy| last=Bradley| first=Laura| title=Peter MacNicol Gets Disqualified for Emmys After Getting Nom for Veep| magazine=Vanity Fair| date=July 21, 2016}}

MacNicol has been married to Martha Cumming since 1986.

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Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:American people of Norwegian descent

Category:Male actors from Dallas

Category:Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners