John C. McGinley

New York University (MFA)

John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor. He played Perry Cox in Scrubs, Bob Slydell in Office Space, Captain Hendrix in The Rock, Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's Platoon, Marv in Stone's Wall Street, FBI agent Ben Harp in Point Break, and the serial killer Edgler Foreman Vess in the TV miniseries of Intensity.

Early life

McGinley, who is one of five children, was born in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, the son of a schoolteacher and a stockbroker. His paternal great-grandfather was from Donegal, Ireland. McGinley was raised in Short Hills, New Jersey, and attended Millburn High School, where he played wide receiver for the school's football team. He studied acting at Syracuse University, and later at New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in 1984. Upon completing his education, McGinley did a variety of different work, including off-Broadway and Broadway productions, and a two-year stint on the soap opera Another World.

Career

McGinley was noticed by a casting scout while working as John Turturro's understudy in John Patrick Shanley's 1984 production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, which led to a successful audition for the role of Sergeant Red O'Neill in the Oscar-winning Platoon (1986). McGinley had been cast in his first film role in Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty earlier in 1986. That was followed the next year with Wall Street (1987), and again the following year with Talk Radio (1988). He was featured in a 1980s Subaru commercial. He appeared in the "Celebrity Challenge" version of American Gladiators, losing to Dean Cain. McGinley wrote the script for, and co-starred in, the 1990 film Suffering Bastards.

He worked continually throughout the 1990s, appearing in films such as Point Break (1991), Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), Article 99 (1992), Wagons East (1994), Seven (1995), The Rock (1996), Set It Off (1996), Nothing to Lose (1997) and Office Space (1999) (McGinley improvised several takes about his character's fondness for Michael Bolton). In 2007, he had a role as Chuck in the film Are We Done Yet? He had a small role as a gay highway patrolman in the film Wild Hogs which co-stars his Article 99 co-star Ray Liotta, although they don't share any screen credit.

McGinley has done voice-over work on animated television series, including the superhero The Atom on several episodes of Justice League Unlimited, a guest appearance as "The White Shadow", the secret government agent overseeing Huey Freeman on The Boondocks, voicing The Whammer on the PBS Kids Go! series WordGirl as well as the lead character in the Sony PSP video game Dead Head Fred.

McGinley received critical acclaim for his performance as a serial killer in Dean Koontz's suspense drama Intensity (1997). It became Fox Television's highest-rated miniseries. He worked with Koontz and Fox once more in Sole Survivor (2000).

In 2001, McGinley began work as a regular on the NBC television series Scrubs as the acerbic Dr. Perry Cox. Throughout the series Dr. Cox acts as an unwilling mentor to the protagonist J.D. (Zach Braff). McGinley has said that there are three things over the course of the series that he improvises: his constant usage of girls' names for JD, which he does with all his real friends; his whistle, which he describes as "a bad habit"; and his habit of touching his nose, a tribute to Robert Redford's character in The Sting, and which he says means "It's gonna be OK."

Since the NFL season of 2007, McGinley has played the "Commish" of the More Taste League commercials for Miller Lite. He has done commercials for the Champions Tour, a professional golf tour for men over the age of 50. In 2008, McGinley was the narrator of the documentary of the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship of the Detroit Red Wings. In 2009, McGinley started narrating commercials for ESPN.com.

McGinley wrote a 2005 book titled Untalkative Bunny: How to be Heard Without Saying a Word, which featured the title character from the show Untalkative Bunny on its cover.

In 2008, McGinley was named an Honorary Patron of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin.

In 2009, he was cast in the film adaptation of the comic book Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, voicing Metallo.

In 2012, it was announced that McGinley would be a recurring character on USA Network's Burn Notice as Michael Westen's original CIA trainer, Tom Card. He was first introduced in the second episode of the show's sixth season. In the same year, he appeared in a State Farm insurance commercial as a father wanting his college graduate son to move out.

He began 2013 in the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross as Dave Moss. "It was the best couple of months of my life," he said. In the same year, it was announced that TBS made a series order for the television series Ground Floor, which stars McGinley. The series was canceled in 2015 after two seasons. In October 2014, McGinley hosted The E Street Radio channel on Sirius XM20 radio, discussing his appreciation of Bruce Springsteen's music, and their shared New Jersey roots.

From 2016 to 2018, he starred in the horror comedy television series, Stan Against Evil on IFC. McGinley played a crusty retired sheriff who reluctantly helps his perky replacement fight the demons that have taken over their small town.

Personal life

In February 1997, McGinley married Lauren Lambert. Their son, Max, who has Down syndrome, was born that year. In December 2001, Lambert and McGinley divorced. In October 2002, he was chosen as "Dad of the Month" at now-defunct iParenting.com. In August 2006, McGinley became engaged to yoga instructor Nichole Kessler in Malibu, whom he had dated for two years. The couple married on April 7, 2007, in a private ceremony at their home. They have two daughters.

McGinley owns a stake in one of Billy Gilroy's New York SoHo bistros, along with fellow actor Willem Dafoe.

McGinley serves on the board of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, based in Denver. He is a celebrity Ambassador for the National Down Syndrome Society. In addition, he is a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics and was an integral part in crafting its "R-word: Spread the Word, To End the Word" campaign. McGinley is a vocal supporter for the disabled community, and commented in late 2011 on the experience of raising a teenager with Down syndrome along with two young daughters:

McGinley is a fan of the NHL Detroit Red Wings, and wears a Red Wings jersey (usually Chris Chelios) in several Scrubs episodes. He was the narrator of the 2008 Championship DVD of the Red Wings. He maintains a home in Malibu, California, and is well known as a member of the "Malibu Mob", a group of celebrity friends and neighbors including John Cusack, Tony Danza, former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios, big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, beach volleyball pro Gabrielle Reece, and tennis player John McEnroe. McGinley enjoys going golfing with John Cusack in his free time, and is a member of the Sherwood Lake Club.

During the 9/11 terror attacks on September 11, 2001, McGinley's brother, Mark McGinley, was working on the 62nd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. John said his brother Mark felt his desk shake after the North Tower was hit, which prompted him to get up and exit the building. Mark made his way downstairs about 20 floors, before his Tower was then hit. Mark received a concussion while going down the stairs after the South Tower was hit and, due to the effects of the concussion, Mark was so disoriented that he walked up FDR Drive all the way to East Harlem. John stated that his brother was missing for approximately 12 hours after the Towers were hit.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "John C. McGinley Biography (1959-)".
2. [http://www.irishabroad.com/irishworld/irishamericamag/aprilmay05/features/art&entertainment.asp Irish America Magazine] {{webarchive. link. (July 9, 2008)
3. (2011). "NYU Graduate Acting Alumni".
4. {{YouTube. NtOH6CyMvRc
5. {{IMDb title. 98408. Suffering Bastards
6. ''Scrubs'' DVD special features
7. "Golf Magazine: News, Equipment, Instructions, Courses & Travel". Golf.com.
8. (July 7, 2008). "McGinley narrates the Wings' Cup journey". MLive.com.
9. "Superman: The Animated Series DVD news: Announcement for Superman/Batman: Public Enemies - TVShowsOnDVD.com".
10. Gelman, Vlada. (March 14, 2012). "TVLine Items: Comedy Central Nabs Community, Scrubs Vet Heads to Burn Notice and More!". TVLine.
11. (August 17, 2018). "Interview: John C. McGinley Talks 'Benched', Broadway and the Secret to His Long Career".
12. Andreeva, Nellie. (2015-02-14). "'Ground Floor' Cancelled By TBS After 2 Seasons".
13. iParenting.com's Dedicated Dads: [http://iparenting.com/dad/1002.htm John C. McGinley] {{webarchive. link. (July 26, 2011 . Retrieved March 21, 2007.)
14. (April 9, 2007). "''Scrubs'' Star John C. McGinley Gets Married".
15. (July 9, 2010). "John C. McGinley Welcomes Daughter Kate Aleena". PEOPLE.
16. [http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/05/16/john-c-mcginley-the-tv-squad-interview/ John C. McGinley Interview]. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
17. [http://abilitymagazine.com/John-C-Mcginley.html "John C McGinley Interview with Chet Cooper"] Retrieved April 3, 2012.
18. Freep.com. Detroit Free Press] {{dead link. (May 2012)
19. [http://tvfilter.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DB9D137CC0F754C9!4664.entry MSN TV Blog: Paging Dr. Cox: 'Scrubs' Doc John C. McGinley Dishes on His Motor-Mouthed Alter Ego, His Famous Friends and His Elle MacPherson Jones] {{webarchive. link. (August 6, 2010)
20. Erik Anders Lang. (2018-12-28). "John C McGinley (Dr Cox on Scrubs) Shows Me The Golden Bear's Best".
21. [https://omny.fm/shows/fake-doctors-real-friends-with-zach-and-donald/107-my-super-ego-with-john-c-mcginley John C McGinley interview with Zach and Donald on their Fake Doctors Real Friends Podcast Episode 107: My Super Ego with John C McGinley] Retrieved April 28, 2020.
22. "John C. McGinley (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors.