Actor Biography
Bradley Whitford, a classically trained stage actor who has received critical acclaim for his roles in theater, film and television, gained overnight fame as the sarcastic yet vulnerable Josh Lyman on NBC's The West Wing. One of the few actors working successfully and simultaneously in theater, film and television, Whitford will be making his return to television this fall in the new ABC comedy, Trophy Wife. He also made memorable guest appearances on Showtime's Shameless and the NBC comedy Go On.
Whitford appeared in the Disney feature film Saving Mr. Banks, opposite Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti and Jason Schwartzman. Written by Kelly Marcel and directed by John Lee Hancock, the film recounts P.L. Travers' travels from London to Hollywood as Walt Disney Pictures adapts her novel, Mary Poppins, for the big screen. Prior to that, Whitford co-starred in two independent feature films by director/writer, Randall Miller, Savannah and CBGB. Last year he was seen in the thriller The Cabin in the Woods, with Richard Jenkins and Chris Hemsworth. Written by Joss Whedon and directed by Drew Goddard, the film opened the South by Southwest Film Festival. He was also seen in the Hallmark film Have a Little Faith, alongside Laurence Fishburne and Martin Landau.
Other film credits include the true-crime drama An American Crime, opposite Catherine Keener and Ellen Page, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, adapted from Ann Brashares' best-selling book and co-starring Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, Little Manhattan, a romantic comedy written and directed by Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, Miramax's comedy Kate and Leopold, opposite Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, The Muse, with Albert Brooks, Bicentennial Man, opposite Robin Williams, Scent of a Woman, A Perfect World, Philadelphia, The Client, My Life, Red Corner, Presumed Innocent and My Fellow Americans.
In 2010 Whitford starred on the FOX television series The Good Guys, created by Matt Nix and co-starring Colin Hanks. Additional television credits include Studio 60 from the Sunset Strip, the critically acclaimed drama The West Wing, created by Aaron Sorkin, ER, The X-Files and NYPD Blue. His performance as Josh Lyman on The West Wing earned him a 2001 Emmy Award, as well as Golden Globe Award nominations in 2001 and 2002.
Growing up in Wisconsin, Whitford studied theater and English literature at Wesleyan University and attended the Juilliard Theater Center. He most recently received rave reviews for his return to the stage in the production of Boeing, Boeing at the Longacre Theatre, opposite Mark Rylance, Christine Baranski, Kathryn Hahn, Gina Gershon and Mary McCormack. Whitford appeared on Broadway in Aaron Sorkin's military courtroom drama, A Few Good Men, and his professional performance debut was in the off-Broadway production of Curse of the Starving Class, with Kathy Bates. Additional theater credits include Three Days of Rain at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Measure for Measure at Lincoln Center Theater, and the title role in Coriolanus at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.
