Peter MacNicol facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peter MacNicol
MacNicol at Eagle Base in 2001
Born	(1954-04-10) April 10, 1954 (age 71) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Other names	Peter Johnson
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Martha Cumming ​ ​ (m. 1986)​

Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his many roles in movies and TV shows. He has played characters like Galen in Dragonslayer, Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, and Gary Granger in Addams Family Values.

Peter MacNicol also won an Emmy Award for his role as the funny lawyer John Cage in the TV show Ally McBeal. You might also know his voice from cartoons and video games, where he often plays cool supervillains!

Early Life and Start

Peter MacNicol was born on April 10, 1954, in Dallas, Texas. He was the youngest of five children. His dad was a business executive who later became a priest. Peter went to MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas.

After high school, Peter started acting in plays. He worked at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for two years. He performed in famous plays like Hamlet.

First Big Roles

In 1980, Peter made his first appearance in a play in New York called Crimes of the Heart. This play later moved to Broadway, which is a very famous theater district. For his work in this play, he won the Theatre World Award.

While acting on Broadway, a casting agent noticed him. This led to his first big movie role in 1981. He starred as Galen in the fantasy film Dragonslayer. The next year, he played Stingo in the movie Sophie's Choice, where he acted alongside Meryl Streep.

Acting Career Highlights

Peter MacNicol has had many memorable roles in both movies and television.

Movie Roles

He is well-known for playing the museum curator Dr. Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II. He also played the camp director Gary Granger in Addams Family Values. Other movie roles include Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean.

Television Roles

Peter has been in many popular TV shows.

• From 1994 to 1995, he played Alan Birch in the medical drama Chicago Hope.
• From 1997 to 2002, he starred as the unique lawyer John Cage in Ally McBeal. This role earned him an Emmy Award in 2001 for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He even directed some episodes of the show!
• From 2005 to 2010, he played the smart physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt in the crime drama Numbers.
• He also appeared as Tom Lennox in the action-thriller series 24 in 2007.
• Later, he played Dr. Stark on Grey's Anatomy from 2010 to 2011.
• From 2016 to 2019, he was Jeff Kane in the comedy series Veep. He was nominated for another Emmy for this role.

Voice Acting

Peter MacNicol is also a talented voice actor. He has voiced many characters, especially villains, in cartoons and video games.

• He was Dr. Kirk Langstrom, also known as Man-Bat, in The Batman.
• He voiced Chronos in Justice League Unlimited.
• He played Professor Ivo in Young Justice.
• He was the voice of the famous villain Doctor Octopus in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
• In video games, he voiced the Mad Hatter in the Batman: Arkham series, including Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight.
• He also voiced Firefly in G.I. Joe: Renegades.

Personal Life

Peter MacNicol has been married to Martha Cumming since 1986.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

See also

In Spanish: Peter MacNicol para niños