Eric Michael Bogosian (; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Chicago and Oberlin College. His play Talk Radio, was a finalist for the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Bogosian also wrote and starred in the 1988 film adaptation, winning the Silver Bear.
As an actor, he has appeared in plays, films, and television series throughout his career. His television roles include Captain Danny Ross in (2006–10), Lawrence Boyd on Billions (2017–18), Daniel Molloy on Interview with the Vampire (2022–present), and Gil Eavis on Succession (2018–23). He also starred as Arno in the Safdie brothers' film Uncut Gems (2019).
Bogosian has also been involved in New York City ballet production, and has written several novels as well as the historical nonfiction Operation Nemesis (2015), based on the program to assassinate perpetrators of the Armenian genocide. He is the recipient of three Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award, as well as two-time fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Early life
Eric Bogosian () was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina (née Jamgochian), a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant.
He spent his early childhood in Watertown, Massachusetts, home to a large Armenian-American community which included his grandparents, survivors of the Armenian genocide. His family moved to nearby Woburn in 1960. He became interested in theater while attending Woburn Memorial High School, and would later base his play
subUrbia on his youth in Woburn's Four Corners neighborhood.
He attended the University of Chicago before graduating from
Oberlin College.
Career
Bogosian is an author and actor known for his plays
Talk Radio and
subUrbia, as well as numerous one-man shows. In 1983, early in his career, Bogosian appeared in the music video for Jim Capaldi's song "That's Love". In recent years he has starred on
Broadway theatre in
Donald Margulies'
Time Stands Still, published three novels, and was featured on
as Captain .
Stage
Between 1980 and 2000, six major solos written and performed by Bogosian were produced
Off-Broadway, garnering him three
Obie Awards as well as the Drama Desk award. His first two solos,
Men Inside and
funHouse were presented at the New York Shakespeare Festival.
His third,
Drinking in America, was produced by American Place Theater.
,
Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead and
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee were all produced commercially Off-Broadway by
Frederick Zollo.
Bogosian is also the author of six produced plays, including 1987's Talk Radio. Talk Radio was a finalist for Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but lost to Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy.
In addition to his many appearances in his solo work and starring in his play Talk Radio, Bogosian has also starred in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (LAByrinth)
Film
Bogosian's play
Talk Radio was adapted to film in 1988 by
Oliver Stone, garnering Bogosian the prestigious Berlin Film Festival
Silver Bear.
The film version of
subUrbia (1996) was directed by Richard Linklater. His play
Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll was adapted to film in 1991.
He has appeared in several other films including
and
Wonderland.
In addition, he has been featured in films by such directors as
Woody Allen,
Robert Altman,
Taylor Hackford,
Atom Egoyan, and Agnieszka Holland.
Television
In television, Bogosian is best known for his starring role as Captain Danny Ross in the series
'.Succession
as Senator Gil Eavis,Interview with the Vampire
as Daniel Molloy, the reporter who interviews the titular vampire.Dracula
on Broadway. I was there with a girlfriend, and we were probably in the last row of the balcony. And I felt like he was breathing down my neck. That power, that energy that he could create, thrilled me." That titillating thrill embedded itself deep into Bogosian, awakening an inclination toward the vampire's allure that has persisted for decades. "I love the eroticism of vampire stuff. I love these movies and plays more than anything. I petitioned Francis Ford Coppola to be in his Dracula'', but unfortunately, I wasn't a big enough star," Bogosian shrugs. "But he did invite me to the set, and I got to hang around with him and look at all the storyboards for that movie. That was really exciting." As the years went on, Bogosian's fascination crystallized into a specific desire for his career: One way or another, he was determined to play a vampire. "It's just always on my mind," Bogosian smiles. "I think there's something about the power of a vampire. And hey, the biting the neck stuff is just sexy to me, so that doesn't hurt."
Books
Bogosian is the author of three novels published by Simon & Schuster:
Mall,
Wasted Beauty, and
Perforated Heart. All of his dramatic work is in print, published by Theater Communication Group. In 2015, Little, Brown published
, a history of Operation Nemesis, which involved a group of Armenian assassins who set out to avenge the deaths of the one and a half million victims of the Armenian genocide.
Dance
Bogosian founded the dance series at The Kitchen. During his charter tenure there, he produced the first concerts in New York City by Bill T. Jones and
Arnie Zane,
and
Molissa Fenley as well as dozens of other choreographers.
In 2006, Bogosian acted as producer on the New York City Ballet's documentary,
Bringing Back Balanchine.
Collaborations
In addition to working with Jo Bonney and Tad Savinar, other notable collaborations include with
Michael Zwack ("I Saw the Seven Angels"); Joe Hannan ("The Ricky Paul Show");
Glenn Branca ("The New World");
Robert Longo ("American Vanity");
Ann Magnuson (sketches at
Folk City)
and
Elliott Sharp ("This Is Now!").
Since 2016 Bogosian has been filming the 100monologues.com series with Travis Bogosian and Good Baby Films.
Awards
Bogosian has won the
Obie Award three times as well as the Drama Desk Award.
He received the prestigious "Silver Bear" at the 1989 Berlin Film Festival for his work on
Talk Radio.
He is a 2004 Guggenheim fellow
and the recipient of two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Legacy and influence
In April 2025, the one-night monologue performance
Wake Up and Smell the C*VID: An Evening Without Eric Bogosian was staged in New York City and online via livestream by the anonymous arts collective HEPA (Holy Erotic Propaganda Arson). While Bogosian was not involved with the play, his legacy and style were invoked in what reviewers described as “a series of monologues about artists and community members whose lives have drastically changed due to COVID-19 and Long COVID.”
reported that the play featured “a fictional septuagenarian playwright who’s telling the world it’s collapsing while overlooking the collapse of his community—and his own vascular system.”
According to
The Sick Times, the event drew “packed, engaged audiences.” Reviewers noted that “even when events like this may be suppressed by social media algorithms… the community who refuses to ‘move on’ is still hungry for spaces where they can connect.”
Personal life
In 1980, he married
Jo Bonney, with whom he has two sons, Harry and Travis Bogosian.
In an April 2025 interview with Nerdist, Bogosian reflected on his experiences in the 1970s and his proximity to queer spaces during that period. He stated, "There wasn’t a door I didn’t walk through. There was nothing that scared me. I was fascinated by whatever was going on. My gay experiences were very limited, but it wasn’t like I wouldn’t do something."
Performances and works
Film
|
|
| 1983 | Born in Flames | CBS Technician | |
| 1984 | Special Effects | Christopher Neville | |
| 1985 | The Stuff | Supermarket Clerk | Uncredited |
| 1988 | Talk Radio | Barry Champlain | Also writer |
| 1989 | Suffering Bastards | Mr. Leech | |
| 1991 | Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll | Himself | Also writer |
| 1995 | Arabian Knight | Phido the Vulture (voice) | |
| Dolores Claiborne | Peter | |
| Travis Dane | |
| 1996 | The Substance of Fire | Gene Byck | |
| Beavis and Butt-Head Do America | Ranger at Old Faithful / White House Press Secretary
/ Lieutenant at Strategic Air Command (voice) | |
| SubUrbia | | Writer |
| 1997 | Office Killer | Peter Douglas | Uncredited |
| Deconstructing Harry | Burt | |
| Anastasia | Lazingo (voice) | deleted scene |
| 1998 | Safe Men | Edward Templeton, Sr. (voice) | |
| 2000 | Gossip | Professor Goodwin | |
| In the Weeds | Simon | |
| 2001 | Wake Up and Smell the Coffee | Himself | Also writer |
| 2002 | Igby Goes Down | Mr. Nice Guy | |
| Ararat | Rouben | |
| 2003 | | Alan Caulfield | |
| Wonderland | Eddie Nash | |
| 2004 | King of the Corner | Rabbi Evelyn Fink | |
| Bentley Tittle | |
| 2005 | Heights | Henry | |
| 2008 | Cadillac Records | Alan Freed | |
| 2010 | Don't Go in the Woods | Producer | |
| 2014 | Listen Up Philip | The Narrator (voice) | |
| 2017 | Rebel in the Rye | Harold Ross | |
| 2019 | Uncut Gems | Arno | |
| 2021 | Make Me Famous | Himself | |
| 2023 | Reptile | Captain Robert Allan | Completed |
Television
|
|
| 1985 | Miami Vice | Zeke | Episode: "Milk Run" |
| Tales from the Darkside | Junkie | Episode: "The Tear Collector" |
| The Twilight Zone | Jackie Thompson | Episode: "Healer" |
| 1986 | Reading Rainbow | Conan the Librarian (voice) | Episode: "Alistair in Outer Space" |
| Crime Story | Dee | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Alive from Off Center | Various Characters |
| 1988 | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | Lt. Barney Greenwald | Television film |
| 1990 | Last Flight Out | Larry Rose |
| 1992–1993 | Law & Order | Gary Lowenthal | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | The Larry Sanders Show | Stan Paxton | Episode: "Larry's Partner" |
| 1994 | Witch Hunt | Senator Larson Crockett | Television film |
| 1996–1997 | High Incident | | Creator; Executive producer |
| 1998 | A Bright Shining Lie | Doug Elders | Television film |
| 1999 | Beggars and Choosers | Eric Bogosian | Episode: "Sex, Drugs & Videotape" |
| 2000 | Welcome to New York | Robby | Episode: "The Crier" |
| 2001 | Third Watch | Lieutenant Lewis | Episode: "The Self-Importance of Being Carlos" |
| Blonde | Otto Ose | Television miniseries |
| Shot in the Heart | Larry Schiller | Television film |
| 2003 | Scrubs | Dr. Gross | Episode: "His Story" |
| 2006 | Love Monkey | Phil Leshing | 5 episodes |
| 2006–2010 | | Captain Danny Ross | 61 Episodes |
| 2014 | The Good Wife | Nelson Dubeck | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Elementary | Collin Eisely | Episode: "A Stitch in Time" |
| 2016–2017 | The Get Down | Roy Asheton | 7 episodes |
| 2017–2021 | Billions | Lawrence Boyd | 11 episodes |
| 2018–2019 | Succession | Gil Eavis | 7 episodes |
| 2019 | Instinct | Harry Kassabian | Episode: "One-of-a-Kind" |
| 2022–present | Interview with the Vampire | Daniel Molloy | 15 episodes |
Writing credits
-
Men in Dark Times
-
Scenes from the New World
-
Sheer Heaven (1980)
-
Men Inside (1981)
-
The New World (1981)
-
FunHouse (1983)
-
Drinking in America (1986) (Winner of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show)
-
Talk Radio (1987) (also film version 1988)
-
Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (1990)
-
Notes from the Underground (1993)
-
Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead (1994)
-
subUrbia (1994) (also film version 1996)
-
Griller (1998)
-
Mall (2000)
-
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2000)
-
Humpty Dumpty (2004)
-
Non-profit Benefit
-
Red Angel
-
Wasted Beauty (2005)
-
1+1 (2008)
-
Perforated Heart (2009)
-
Operation Nemesis (2015)
External links
