Gary Cole

 ( 1956 Births ) 

Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. His breakout role on screen was playing Jack 'Nighthawk' Killian in the NBC drama series Midnight Caller (1988–1991). Further prominent television roles includes American Gothic (1995–1996), The West Wing (2003–2006), The Good Wife (2010–2016), Veep (2013–2019), and NCIS (2021–present). Cole starred in the films The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and Office Space (1999); and voiced characters in the animated series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (2000–2007, 2018), Family Guy (2000–present), Kim Possible (2002–2007), Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010–2013), and Bob's Burgers (2012–present).

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Early life Gary Michael Cole was born on September 20, 1956, in Park Ridge, Illinois, and raised in nearby Rolling Meadows. His father, Robert, was a municipal finance director, and his mother, Margaret or "Peggy", was a school administrative assistant. Cole has an older sister, Nancy.

While attending Rolling Meadows High School, Cole made his acting debut as Snoopy in a high school production of Clark Gesner's Peanuts musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Cole attended Illinois State University, where he studied theater as a classmate with fellow future actors Laurie Metcalf and John Malkovich.

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Career Cole began his professional career in 1983 as a stage actor in Chicago, where he joined the ensemble of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. In an early role, Cole played accused Army triple-murderer Capt Jeffrey MacDonald in the mini-series Fatal Vision. Cole has also appeared in several off-Broadway productions in New York City. He has done voice work on several animated series ( Family Guy; Kim Possible; Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law; Archer) and had a recurring role on the drama The West Wing as Vice President Bob Russell. He also starred as Matthew Gideon on the short-lived Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade, and had notable guest appearances on and Arrested Development. He also played Joe Maxwell on DCOM Cadet Kelly and appeared as real-life astronaut Edgar Mitchell in HBO's recreation of Project Apollo, From the Earth to the Moon. One of his most notable roles in 1991 was as Lt. Col. George A. Custer in the much acclaimed television film Son of the Morning Star.

Between 1988 and 1991, Cole became popular on TV for playing the part of Jack "Nighthawk" Killian in the series Midnight Caller. In 1999, Cole starred in the film Office Space, in which he portrayed the micromanaging office supervisor Bill Lumbergh. When asked about the oft-quoted character, Cole said: He played The Brady Bunch patriarch Mike Brady in the 1995 film The Brady Bunch Movie, the 1996 sequel A Very Brady Sequel, and the 2002 television film The Brady Bunch in the White House.

Cole starred as Lieutenant Conrad Rose on the TNT series Wanted, he is also the voice of the Harvey Birdman on the Adult Swim series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and starred as Sheriff Lucas Buck on the one season 1995 show, American Gothic. Cole also appeared in the films , Forever Strong, and American Pastime.

Cole played Katherine Mayfair's ex-husband Wayne on Desperate Housewives and has played the dangerous drug lord Ted Jones in Pineapple Express with Seth Rogen and James Franco. He also appeared in an episode from the third season of the USA Network series Psych as S.W.A.T. commander Cameron Luntz. Cole also played Bill Owens, Sy Parrish's (Robin Williams) boss, in the film One Hour Photo.

In 2008, Cole appeared on Chuck as Sarah's con-artist father (in "Chuck Versus the DeLorean"), a role which he reprised in 2011 (in "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner"). He also appeared in the fifth season of HBO's Entourage playing Ari Gold's old pal Andrew Klein for a three-episode story arc prior to joining the regular cast in the sixth season.

He played ballistics expert Kurt McVeigh on The Good Wife and on The Good Fight. On both shows, he played opposite Christine Baranski, who portrayed lawyer Diane Lockhart.

Cole had a guest-appearance on the fourth season of the HBO series True Blood, playing Sookie Stackhouse's grandfather.

In 2011, Cole joined Fox's comedy pilot Tagged, but the series was not picked up.

In 2013, Cole began a recurring role on Suits as Cameron Dennis, the former mentor of Harvey Specter, one of the show's main characters. Also in 2013, Cole began a major recurring role as Kent Davison on the HBO comedy series Veep, joining the main cast at the start of the show's second season. In 2014, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work in season three. Additionally, Cole was nominated with his fellow cast members for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5 before ultimately winning the award in 2017 for season 6.

Cole currently provides the voice of Sergeant Boscoe on Bob's Burgers and Principal Shepherd on Family Guy. He appears in triplicate as 10 Minutes, 10 Days, and 10 Years in the Future Spokesguy in Kabbage's 2019 commercial campaign. Gianatasio, David. "Gary Cole, the Actor You Know From Everything, Is Now the Time-Traveling Spokesguy for Kabbage," Adweek, January 15, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019

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Personal life Cole married actress Teddi Siddall on March 8, 1992. They have one daughter, who is autistic. On June 19, 2017, Siddall filed for divorce; she died the following year. On July 7, 2021, Cole married interior designer Michelle Knapp.

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Filmography

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Film

1985	To Live and Die in L.A.	Man Chased by Richard Chance	Uncredited
1986	Lucas	Assistant Coach
1990	The Old Man and the Sea	Tom Pruitt
1993	In the Line of Fire	Secret Service Agent in Charge Bill Watts
1995	The Brady Bunch Movie	Mike Brady
1996	A Very Brady Sequel	Mike Brady
1997	Santa Fe	Paul Thomas
	Gang Related	DEA Agent Richard Simms
	Cyclops, Baby	Manks
1998	A Simple Plan	Vernon Bokovsky / FBI Agent Neil Baxter
	Kiss the Sky	Marty
	I'll Be Home for Christmas	Jake's Dad
1999	Office Space	Bill Lumbergh
2000	The Gift	David Duncan
2001	The Rising Place	Avery Hodge
2002	One Hour Photo	Bill Owens
	I Spy	Agent Carlos
2004	Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!	Henry Futch
		"Cotton" McKnight
2005	The Ring Two	Martin Savide
	Mozart and the Whale	Wallace
	Cry Wolf	Mr. Matthews
2006		Reese Bobby
2007	My Wife Is Retarded	Dr. Heichman	Short film
	American Pastime	Billy Burrell
	Breach	Rich Garces
	Goodnight Vagina	Dr. Milstein	Short film
2008	Say Hello to Stan Talmadge	Stan Talmadge
	Conspiracy	Rhodes
	Pineapple Express	Ted Jones
	Forever Strong	Coach Larry Gelwix
2009	Extract	Bar Patron	Uncredited
	The Joneses	Larry
2010		Jim Corrigan / Spectre	Voice, short film A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
		"Bobo", James "Jim" Gordon, Shot, Guard	Voice, direct-to-video
	Immortality Bites	Dr. Levine
2011	Hop	Henry O'Hare
	The Chicago 8	William Kunstler
	The Last Rites of Joe May	Lenny
2013	Vamp U	Arthur Levine
2014	Date and Switch	Dwayne
	Tammy	Earl
	Cotton	Clay Peaks	Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival Award for Best Actor
	The Town That Dreaded Sundown	Chief Deputy Hank Tillman
2015	Divine Access	Reverend Guy Roy Davis
	Christmas Eve	Dr. Roberts
	The Bronze	Stan Greggory
2016	Hot Air	Aviator
2017	Small Crimes	Dan Pleasant
	Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown	Rafe	Voice, direct-to-video
2018	Blockers	Ron
	Under the Eiffel Tower	Gerard
		Dr. George Bailey
	Seven in Heaven	Mr. Wallace
2019	The Art of Racing in the Rain	Don Kitch
	Married Young	Aaron
2020	Darkness Falls	Mark Witver
2021		James Gordon, Two-Face, Reporter #4	Voice, short film
2022	The Bob's Burgers Movie	Sergeant Bosco	Voice
	Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe	Phil Mattison	Voice

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Television

1983	Heart of Steel	Lee	Television film
1984	Fatal Vision	Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, MD	Miniseries
	American Playhouse	Man with Xmas Tree	Episode: "A Matter of Principle"
1985	First Steps	Manny	Television film
	The Twilight Zone	Daniel Gaddis	Episode: "Her Pilgrim Soul"
1986	Vital Signs	Dr. Hayward	Television film
	Miami Vice	Jackson Crane	Episode: ""
	Jack and Mike	Chris Sykes	Episode: "Pilot"
1987	Moonlighting	Alan McClafferty	2 episodes
	Echoes in the Darkness	Jack Holtz	Television film
1988–1991	Midnight Caller	Jack 'Nighthawk' Killian	61 episodes
1989	Those She Left Behind	Scott Grimes	Television film
1990	The Old Man and the Sea	Tom Pruitt	Television film
1991	Son of the Morning Star	George Armstrong Custer	Television film
1993	The Switch	Larry McAfee	Television film
	When Love Kills: The Seduction of John Hearn	John Hearn	Television film
1994	A Time to Heal	Jay Barton	Television film
		James	Television film
	Fall from Grace	Major Tom O'Neill	Television film
1995–1996	American Gothic	Sheriff Lucas Buck	22 episodes
1996	For My Daughter's Honor	Pete Nash	Television film
1997	Lies He Told	Dave	Television film
1998	Dead Man's Gun	Travis Everett Thornberry	Episode: "The Photographer"
	The Outer Limits	Detective Ray Venable	Episode: "Criminal Nature"
	From the Earth to the Moon	Edgar Mitchell	Episode: "For Miles and Miles"
1999	Crusade	Captain Matthew Gideon	13 episodes
	Chicken Soup for the Soul	Dad	Episode: "Where's My Kiss, Then?"
1999–2004	The Practice	Solomon Tager, Attorney Brian Seabury	3 episodes
2000	What About Joan	Justin	Episode: "You Can't Go Home Again"
	Family Law	Alan	Episode: "Human Error"
	Batman Beyond	Zeta	Voice, episode: "Zeta"
	Touched by an Angel	Charlie Radcliff	Episode: "Pandora's Box"
	Frasier	Luke Parker	Episode: "The New Friend"
2000–2007	Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law	Harvey Birdman, additional voices	Voice, 39 episodes
2000–present	Family Guy	Principal Shepherd, additional voices	Voice, 93 episodes
2001	Neurotic Tendencies		Pilot
	Justice League	J. Allen Carter	Voice, episode: "Secret Origins"
2002, 2004	Teamo Supremo	Mr. Vague	Voice, 2 episodes
2002	American Adventure	Chuck	Television film
	Cadet Kelly	Brigadier General Joe "Sir" Maxwell	Television film
	The Brady Bunch in the White House	Mike Brady	Television film
2002–2003	Family Affair	Bill Davis	15 episodes
2002–2007	Kim Possible	Dr. James Possible	Voice, 40 episodes
2003	Criminology 101	Roy Franks	Pilot
	Hack	Johnny Scanlon	Episode: "Brothers in Arms"
	Monk	Dexter Larson	Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy"
	Karen Sisco	Konner	2 episodes
		Dr. James Possible	Voice, television film
2003–2006	The West Wing	Vice President Bob Russell	21 episodes
2004	Pop Rocks	Jerry "Dagger" Harden	Television film
		Xander Henry	Episode: "Brotherhood"
2005		Dr. James Possible	Voice, television film
	Wanted	Lieutenant Conrad Rose	13 episodes
	King of the Hill	Vance Gilbert	Voice, episode: "Harlottown"
2006	That Guy	Gary	Pilot
	Company Town	Martin Amberson	Pilot
	Arrested Development	CIA Agent	Episode: "Exit Strategy"
2007		The Balladeer	Voice, television film
	Shark	Christian Chambers	Episode: "Blind Trust"
	Supernatural	Brad Redding	Episode: "Hollywood Babylon"
2008	Good Behavior	Dean West	Unaired series
	12 Miles of Bad Road	Jerry Shakespeare	6 episodes
	Desperate Housewives	Wayne Davis	6 episodes
	Psych	Commander Cameron Lutz	Episode: "Gus Walks Into a Bank"
2008–2010	Entourage	Andrew Klein	12 episodes
2008, 2011	Chuck	Jack Burton	2 episodes
2009	The Cleaner	Davis Durham	2 episodes
	Numb3rs	Shepard Crater	Episode: "Hangman"
2010	The Good Guys	Frank Savage	2 episodes
	The Closer	Major Edward Dorcet	Episode: "War Zone"
	Uncle Nigel	Nigel	Pilot
	Funny or Die Presents	Lead FBI Agent	Episode: "201"
2010–2012	The Penguins of Madagascar	Commissioner McSlade	Voice, 4 episodes
2010–2013	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated	Mayor Fred Jones Sr., additional voices	Voice, 21 episodes
2010–2016	The Good Wife	Kurt McVeigh	14 episodes
2011	True Blood	Earl Stackhouse	Episode: "She's Not There"
	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Joe O'Donnell	Episode: "The Divorce"
	Ricochet	Judge Cato Laird	Television film
	Tagged	James Percy	Pilot
	Pound Puppies	Slick	Voice, episode: "I Never Barked for My Father"
2011–2013 2016, 2019	Suits	Cameron Dennis	10 episodes
2012	An Officer and a Murderer	Colonel Russell Williams	Television film
	Hart of Dixie	Dr. Ethan Hart	2 episodes
	Scruples	Royce Franklin	Pilot
	30 Rock	Roger	Episode: "Unwindulax"
	Royal Pains	Simon Braddock	Episode: "Who's Your Daddy"
	Wedding Band	Jack	Episode: "We Are Family"
	The List	Chief Inspector Bob McKinnon	Pilot
2012–present	Bob's Burgers	Sergeant Bosco	Voice, 13 episodes
2013–2019	Veep	Kent Davison	55 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2017) Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2014) Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2013–2016)
2014	Phineas and Ferb	Principal Lang	Voice, episode: "Doof 101"
	The Legend of Korra	Dai Li Sergeant, Rich Man	Voice, 2 episodes
2014–2015	Archer	Special Agent Hawley	Voice, 6 episodes
2014–2021	The Tom and Jerry Show	Narrator	Voice, 38 episodes
2014–2017		Brock Zero	Voice, 14 episodes
2015	Mr. Robinson	Neville Rex	Episode: "Flesh for Fantasy"
	Rick and Morty	Alien Doctor	Voice, episode: ""
2015–2017	F Is for Family	Roger Dunbarton	Voice, 6 episodes
2016	Unforgettable	Clay Tendler	Episode: "Bad Company"
	Angel from Hell	Stephen Williams	Episode: "Believe Me, Part 2"
	We Bare Bears	CEO	Voice, episode: "Fashion Bears"
	Justice League Action	Black Adam	Voice, 2 episodes
	Angie Tribeca	Professor Everett Lamereau	Episode: "Pilot"
2016–2017	Mercy Street	James Green Sr.	12 episodes
2017–2018	Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters	Mark Armstrong	Voice, 10 episodes
2017–2022	The Good Fight	Kurt McVeigh	24 episodes
2018	The Venture Bros.	Professor Von Helping	Voice, episode: "The High Cost of Loathing"
		Harvey Birdman	Voice, television special
2018–2019		Sky Toronto	Voice, 12 episodes
	Chicago Fire	Fire Commissioner Carl Grissom	12 episodes
2019	Fam	Freddy	7 episodes
	Love, Death & Robots	The Inspector	Voice, episode: "The Dump"
2019–2021	Mixed-ish	Harrison Jackson III	36 episodes
2019, 2022	American Dad!	Ted Robinson	Voice, 2 episodes
2019–2023	Big Mouth	Edward MacDell	Voice, 8 episodes
2020		Leonardo da Vinci Hologram	Voice, episode: "Crisis Point"
2021	Q-Force	Dirk Chunley	Voice, 10 episodes
2021–2022	Inside Job	Male Cop, Sitcom Dad	Voice, 2 episodes
2021–present	NCIS	Alden Parker	Main role
2022			3 episodes
2023			Episode: ""
	White House Plumbers	Mark Felt	Episode: "The Beverly Hills Burglary"
		Gordon Novel	5 episodes
	Agent Elvis	Richard Nixon	Voice, episode: "Maximum Density"
2023–2024	Velma	Lamont Rogers	Voice, 13 episodes
2025	Krapopolis	King of the Valley	Voice, episode: "Don Tyxote"

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Video games

2008		Harvey Birdman, Judge Hiram Mightor
2016	Hitman	Himself

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External links

• The Onion A.V. Club Random Roles article with Gary Cole

Categories: 1956 Births, Living People, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Male Actors, American Male Film Actors, American Male Television Actors, American Male Voice Actors, Illinois State University Alumni, Male Actors From Park Ridge, Illinois, People From Studio City, Los Angeles, Steppenwolf Theatre Company Players

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