Oliver Platt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Oliver Platt
Platt in 2010
Born	(1960-01-12) January 12, 1960 (age 65) Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	American
Education	Tufts University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Camilla Campbell ​ (m. 1992)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Nicholas Platt (father)
Relatives	Adam Platt (brother)

Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a famous American actor who has appeared in many movies, television shows, and plays. He is known for being a versatile actor, playing both funny and serious characters. For his acting, he has been nominated for many awards, including five Primetime Emmys and a Golden Globe.

Platt became well-known for his roles in popular movies from the 1990s. These include Working Girl (1988), Flatliners (1990), the family comedy Beethoven (1992), and as Porthos in The Three Musketeers (1993). He also appeared in A Time to Kill (1996), Dr. Dolittle (1998), and the giant crocodile movie Lake Placid (1999).

Later in his career, he acted in films like Pieces of April (2003), Frost/Nixon (2008), the disaster movie 2012 (2009), and X-Men: First Class (2011). On television, he is known for playing Dr. Daniel Charles on the long-running show Chicago Med since 2015. He also had memorable roles in The West Wing, The Big C, and The Bear.

Early Life and Education

Family Background

Oliver Platt was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, but his parents were American. His family moved back to the United States when he was just three months old. His father, Nicholas Platt, was a diplomat. A diplomat is someone who represents their country in other nations. This job meant the family moved around a lot.

Platt comes from a family with a long history in America. His great-grandfather, Charles A. Platt, was a famous artist and architect. Another relative, Joseph Hodges Choate, was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Growing Up Around the World

Because of his father's job, Platt spent much of his childhood in Asia and Washington, D.C. He went to twelve different schools, including the American School in Japan. Moving so often was hard, but he found a home in school drama clubs. Acting gave him a way to connect with other kids wherever he went.

A key moment for him was seeing a play at the Kennedy Center in Washington when he was nine. He watched a young Morgan Freeman give a powerful performance on stage. Platt said this experience was so captivating that it inspired him to become an actor.

Education

Platt attended Tufts University, where he studied drama and became good friends with fellow actor Hank Azaria. After college, he worked in theater in Boston. He later toured with a theater group called Shakespeare and Company to gain professional experience.

He moved to New York City to pursue his acting career. He performed in many plays and eventually got an agent. Actor Bill Murray saw one of his shows and recommended him to director Jonathan Demme. This led to his first major movie role in Married to the Mob in 1988.

Acting Career

Platt chooses his roles based on whether they are different from what he has done before. This has led him to play a wide variety of characters throughout his career.

Film Roles

After his first films, Platt appeared in many successful movies. He played a computer expert in Flatliners (1990) and a caring father in Simon Birch (1998). In 1998, he co-starred with Stanley Tucci in The Impostors, a comedy they developed together.

In 1999, he played Hector, a rich and quirky crocodile expert, in the monster movie Lake Placid. Platt enjoyed making the character unique and memorable. Some of his other well-known films include Pieces of April (2003), The Ice Harvest (2005), and Casanova (2005), for which he won an award from the New York Film Critics Online.

Platt greets fans after a performance of Guys and Dolls in 2009.

In the 2000s and 2010s, he continued to take on interesting parts. He played a government official in the disaster film 2012 and a mysterious character known as "The Man in Black" in X-Men: First Class (2011).

Television and Stage Work

Platt has also had a very successful career in television. He earned an Emmy nomination for his role as White House Counsel Oliver Babish in the political drama The West Wing. From 2004 to 2006, he starred in the series Huff, earning two more Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination.

Since 2015, Platt has played Dr. Daniel Charles in the popular TV series Chicago Med. His character has also appeared in the related shows Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire. More recently, he plays Uncle Jimmy in the hit show The Bear.

Platt has also performed on Broadway. In 2006, he made his Broadway debut in the play Shining City, which earned him a Tony Award nomination. In 2009, he starred as Nathan Detroit in a revival of the classic musical Guys and Dolls.

Personal Life

Platt married Mary Camilla Bonsal Campbell on September 12, 1992. They have three children, born in 1995, 1997, and 1999. He has said that he chose to focus more on film and television than theater so he could be closer to his family. When filming movies, he often arranged to fly home frequently to be with them.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Oliver Platt para niños