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Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his work on stage and screen. He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Tony Awards.
Following his acting debut in the 1988 film Married to the Mob, Platt gained prominence for his roles in Working Girl (1988), Flatliners (1990), Beethoven (1992), Indecent Proposal, Benny & Joon, The Three Musketeers (all 1993), A Time to Kill (1996), The Impostors, Bulworth, Dr. Dolittle (all 1998), Lake Placid, Three to Tango, and Bicentennial Man (all 1999). His other notable credits include Gun Shy, Ready to Rumble (both 2000), Don't Say a Word (2001), Pieces of April (2003), Kinsey (2004), The Ice Harvest, Casanova (both 2005), Frost/Nixon (2008), Year One, 2012 (both 2009), Please Give, Love & Other Drugs (both 2010), and (2011).
Platt is known for his work on television series such as The Big C (2010–2013), Fargo (2014) and The Good Wife (2015). He received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his portrayal of George Steinbrenner in the ESPN miniseries The Bronx Is Burning (2007) as well as nominations for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor for his roles in The West Wing (2001), Huff (2005; 2006), and Nip/Tuck (2008). He is known for his recurring role as Jimmy Kalinowski on Hulu's The Bear (2022–present) and has played Dr. Daniel Charles on Chicago Med since 2015.
On stage, Platt made his Broadway theatre debut in the Conor McPherson play Shining City (2006) for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor. He returned to Broadway playing Nathan Detroit in the 2009 revival of the Frank Loesser musical Guys and Dolls.
Platt's paternal great-grandfather was artist and architect Charles A. Platt, and his maternal great-grandparents were equestrian Arthur Scott Burden (of the industrialist Burden family) and socialite Cynthia Roche. Platt is also a great-great-grandson of General Robert Shaw Oliver (through his mother). Platt's paternal great-great-grandfather was diplomat and lawyer Joseph Hodges Choate. Choate was the most successful lawyer in New York City during the Gilded Age and was later appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom by President William McKinley. His brother William Gardner Choate, who was also a prominent lawyer and federal judge, created Choate Rosemary Hall.
When he was nine years old, Platt and his family visited the Kennedy Center in Washington, where he watched a performance that helped inspire his acting career. "One of the performances that really made me want to be an actor started out with this probably 20-minute rambling, drunken monologue by this hobo. And it was a young Morgan Freeman. I'll never forget it. This guy was just so riveting. He stood there on stage alone before the curtain went up, and he held this audience utterly rapt. Including myself, obviously." According to Platt, drama departments gave his childhood some stability, "It was something of a survival mechanism, in that it gave me a little subculture to plug into wherever I ended up. Kids need that. I certainly did."
In 1999, Platt played the wealthy and eccentric crocodile enthusiast Hector in David E. Kelley's Lake Placid, alongside Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda. Platt described Hector as "pretty abrasive and obnoxious at times, but, I hope, he has a way of growing on you. I think David originally thought of him as a great white hunter sort of guy, but when I signed on for the role he sort of wrote him in a different direction."
The short-lived drama Deadline provided Platt's first lead role on television. Created by Dick Wolf, who also created Law & Order, Deadline focused on the lives of newspaper journalists in New York City. Platt starred as Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Wallace Benton, an "unlikely hero". The strong cast, which also included Bebe Neuwirth and Hope Davis, could not compensate for substandard writing and the series was soon canceled. After Deadline failure, Platt avoided work on television until he read a script for The West Wing and signed on for a guest role. He received an Emmy awards nomination for his portrayal of no-nonsense White House Counsel Oliver Babish, brought in during season two to compile a defense for Josiah Bartlet and others who covered up his non-disclosure of multiple sclerosis.
His role in the television series Huff as Russell Tupper from 2004 to 2006 was well-received, especially by creator Bob Lowry, who said, "Oliver plays an alcoholic, drug-addicted, sexual addiction, workaholic, womanizing misogynist who is adorable. I don't know any actor who could do that. I originally saw Russell as a blond stud, but when I saw what Oliver could do, I realized how much better, richer, and less predictable he was than my idea of the character ... Oliver is very committed to the idea that story and dialogue be character-driven and unique". Platt's work was nominated for two Emmy awards and a Golden Globe.
In 2005, Platt acted in Harold Ramis's film The Ice Harvest as an unhappy businessman with a trophy wife and two stepfamily who becomes involved with a friend who has stolen $2 million from a Mafia boss. He also played a lard merchant named Papprizzio in Lasse Hallström's Casanova, who competes with Casanova (Heath Ledger) for marriage to Francesca (Sienna Miller). Platt won the New York Film Critics Online Award for best supporting actor for his role in Casanova.
A Broadway production named Shining City was Platt's Broadway debut in 2006. The play was set in Dublin, and Platt's role was the tortured protagonist, John. Shining City director said, "There is one word to describe Oliver. It's 'humanity.' He's got that everyman quality. He's a contradictory human being with flaws and strengths. And he's loveable. He can simultaneously make you laugh and break your heart. Oliver has brought to the role of John what I expected and more: tremendous inventiveness and sensitivity." Platt visited Dublin to prepare for the role and ensure his performance was authentic. He was nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play".
In 2007, Platt played the part of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx Is Burning. Platt signed onto the project after John Turturro was confirmed as Billy Martin, because "This thing lives or dies by that portrayal ... I think it's great casting. God knows he has the intensity." Platt starred in the pilot episode of The Thick of It, a remake of the British show of the same name in 2007. The series was not picked up by ABC. Platt starred as Nathan Detroit, alongside Lauren Graham as Miss Adelaide, in the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls which began performances at the Nederlander Theatre on February 3, 2009, and officially opened on March 1, 2009. The production closed on June 14, 2009, after 113 performances.
Platt starred as White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser in Roland Emmerich's 2012, a disaster film released November 13, 2009. In August 2010, he was cast in the role of "The Man in Black" in 2011's X-Men spin-off, , directed by Matthew Vaughn. In 2012, he starred in the romantic comedy The Oranges alongside Hugh Laurie and Leighton Meester and appeared in the action film Chinese Zodiac. He provided the voice of Wiser the Owl in the 2013 animated film Dorothy of Oz. He appeared in Miramax's 2016 supernatural thriller, The 9th Life of Louis Drax.
Education
Platt attended a progressive boarding school named Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado. Platt majored in drama at Tufts University, where he met and became close friends with Hank Azaria. He spent three years working in theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, which he said had a "wealth of serious amateur theatre at that time…I played many roles, and it was the best training I could have had." Platt travelled with Shakespeare and Company, based in Lenox, Massachusetts, touring schools to earn his Equity card, before moving to New York. Platt's early career involved Off-Broadway and regional theatre, and he appeared onstage with the New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and other companies across many genres. He obtained an agent while working at Manhattan Punch Line Theatre, and met actor Bill Murray at his cousin's Christmas party. Murray attended Platt's show and recommended Platt to director Jonathan Demme, who cast him in Married to the Mob in 1988. Platt attributes his breakthrough to appearing at the Punch Line Theater.
Career
Platt makes his decisions about accepting acting roles based on the role being "different from what I just did...I do have to be interested in the role". After Married to the Mob, he appeared in Working Girl (1988), Flatliners (1990), Beethoven (1992), The Three Musketeers (1993), A Time to Kill (1996), Executive Decision (1996), and Bulworth (1998). In 1998 Platt and Stanley Tucci played two deadbeat actors who improvise with unsuspecting strangers in The Impostors. Tucci and Platt developed the characters while working on a play at Yale University in 1988, with Tucci later completing the screenplay and directing the film.
Personal life
Platt married Mary Camilla Bonsal Campbell on September 12, 1992, at the First Congregational Church in Kittery, Maine. They have three children, born 1995, 1997 and 1999. As of 1998, Platt had an open airline ticket when filming so he could return home frequently because his family did not accompany him to filming locations. In a 1999 interview, Platt explained that he had chosen to focus on film and television rather than theater because of his family. Platt has a home in North Haven, Maine. Star Map of North Haven Island | Portland Magazine Retrieved April 14, 2017.
Filmography
Film
1988 Married to the Mob FBI Agent Ed Benitez Working Girl David Lutz 1989 Crusoe Mr. Newby 1990 Flatliners Randy Steckle Postcards from the Edge Neil Bleene 1992 Beethoven Harvey Diggstown Daniel Patrick O'Shannon 'Fitz' Fitzpatrick 1993 The Temp Hartsell Indecent Proposal Jeremy Benny & Joon Eric The Three Musketeers Porthos 1995 Tall Tale Paul Bunyan Funny Bones Tommy Fawkes The Infiltrator Yaron Svoray 1996 Executive Decision Dennis Cahill A Time to Kill Harry Rex Vonner 1998 Dangerous Beauty Maffio Venier Bulworth Dennis Murphy The Impostors Maurice Dr. Dolittle Dr. Mark Weller Simon Birch Ben Goodrich 1999 Lake Placid Hector Cyr Three to Tango Peter Steinberg Bicentennial Man Rupert Burns CinderElmo Fairy Godperson 2000 Ready to Rumble Jimmy 'The King' King Gun Shy Fulvio Nesstra 2001 Don't Say a Word Dr. Louis Sachs 2002 Liberty Stands Still Victor Wallace Ash Wednesday Moran Zig Zag Mr.Walters / The Toad 2003 Pieces of April Jim Burns Hope Springs Doug Reed 2004 Kinsey Herman B Wells 2005 The Ice Harvest Pete Van Heuten Casanova Paprizzio 2007 The Ten Marc Jacobson Martian Child Jeff 2008 Frost/Nixon Bob Zelnick 2009 Wonder Woman Hades (voice) Direct-to-DVD Year One High Priest 2012 Carl Anheuser 2010 Please Give Alex Love & Other Drugs Bruce Jackson Letters to Juliet Bobby Uncredited 2011 Man In Black Suit 2012 The Oranges Terry Ostroff Chinese Zodiac Lawrence Ginger & Rosa Activist 2013 Wiser The Owl (voice) The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Lord Minister of The Right Abe (voice) Gods Behaving Badly Apollo Lucky Them Giles 2014 Chef Ramsey Michel Kill the Messenger Jerome Ceppos Cut Bank Joe Barrett A Merry Friggin' Christmas Hobo Santa 2015 Frank and Cindy Frank Garcia One More Time Alan Sternberg 2016 The Cleanse Ken Roberts The Ticket Bob The 9th Life of Louis Drax Dr. Perez Shut In Dr. Wilson Rules Don't Apply Forester 2017 Max Gaines 2020 I'm Thinking of Ending Things The Voice (voice) 2024 Babes Bernie
Television
1987 The Equalizer Norm Jameson Episode: "In the Money" 1988 Miami Vice 'Speed' Stiles Episode: "Baseballs of Death" 1990 Wiseguy Unknown Episode: "Changes Houses" 1995 The Infiltrator Yaron Television movie 2000–2001 Deadline Wallace Benton 13 episodes 2001–2005 The West Wing Oliver Babish 8 episodes 2003 Queens Supreme Judge Jack Moran 13 episodes 2004–2006 Huff Russell Tupper 25 episodes 2007–2008 Nip/Tuck Freddy Prune 4 episodes 2007 The Thick of It Malcolm Tucker Unsold TV pilot George Steinbrenner 8 episodes 2009–2011 Bored to Death Richard Antrem 6 episodes 2010–2013 The Big C Paul Jamison 40 episodes 2012–2018 American Experience Narrator (voice) 11 episodes 2014 Fargo Stavros Milos 5 episodes 2014–2017 Sofia the First Everburn (voice) 2 episodes 2015–2016 Chicago P.D. Dr. Daniel Charles 9 episodes 2015–2023 Chicago Fire 8 episodes Chicago Med 198 episodes 2015 The Good Wife R.D. 3 episodes Bessie Carl Van Vechten Television movie 2015–2017 Modern Family Martin 2 episodes 2016 American Dad! Documentary Narrator (voice) Episode: "Next of Pin" 2017 Chicago Justice Dr. Daniel Charles 2 episodes 2022–present The Bear Jimmy Kalinowski 8 episodes
Theatre
Biltmore Theatre, Broadway Nederlander Theatre, Broadway
Video games
2001 SSX Tricky Luther-Dwayne Grady 2006
Awards and nominations
2001 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series The West Wing 1998 Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy Dr. Dolittle 2005 Boston Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actor The Ice Harvest New York Film Critics Online Award Best Supporting Actor Casanova Boston Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actor St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actor - Television Huff Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 2006 Tony Award Best Actor in a Play Shining City 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie 2008 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nip/Tuck Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Frost/Nixon 2010 Gotham Independent Film Award Best Ensemble Cast Please Give Independent Spirit Awards Robert Altman Award 2023 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series The Bear 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series
External links
Categories: 1960 Births, Living People, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Male Actors, Alumni Of The British American Drama Academy, American Male Film Actors, American Male Stage Actors, American Male Television Actors, American School In Japan Alumni, Male Actors From Washington, D.c., People From North Haven, Maine, Tufts University School Of Arts And Sciences Alumni
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