Not to be confused with Gary Coleman.

Gary Cole
Cole in January 2009
Born	Gary Michael Cole September 20, 1956 (1956-09-20) (age 53) Park Ridge, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Teddi Siddall (1992–present)

Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for numerous roles, including the television series Entourage, Fatal Vision, The West Wing, Desperate Housewives, Midnight Caller, I'll Be Home for Christmas (film), Kim Possible, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Wanted and Crusade, and the films The Brady Bunch Movie, Office Space, From the Earth to the Moon, Kiss the Sky, Dodgeball, Talladega Nights, I Spy and Pineapple Express. He has also appeared in television movies such as Those She Left Behind. He also had a small cameo appearance in To Live and Die in L.A., has appeared as George Armstrong Custer in the TV movie Son of the Morning Star, and has guest starred on the TV shows Family Guy and Monk.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Cole was born and raised in Park Ridge, Illinois, to a school-administrator father and a director-of-finance mother,^[1] and attended Rolling Meadows High School, where his first dramatic appearance was as Snoopy in a high school production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He later attended Illinois State University, where he majored in theater alongside actors Laurie Metcalf and John Malkovich.

[edit] Career

Cole began his professional career as a stage actor in Chicago, where he joined the ensemble of the famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. He also appeared in several off-Broadway productions in New York City. In addition to his film and television credits listed above, he has done voice work on several animated series (Family Guy; Kim Possible; Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law) and had a recurring role on the drama The West Wing as Vice President Bob Russell. He also starred as Captain Matthew Gideon on the short-lived Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade, and had notable guest appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Arrested Development. He also played Joe Maxwell on DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie) Cadet Kelly and appeared as real-life astronaut Edgar Mitchell in HBO's recreation of Project Apollo, From the Earth to the Moon.

In 1999, Cole starred in the comedy film Office Space where he portrayed the obnoxious, demanding supervisor Bill Lumbergh. When asked about the oft-quoted character, he stated that:

Another memorable role was as Mike Brady in the 1995 movie spoof The Brady Bunch Movie, the 1997 sequel A Very Brady Sequel, and the 2002 TV movie "The Brady Bunch in the White House" with Shelley Long playing Carol.

He starred as Lt. Conrad Rose on the TNT series Wanted, is the voice of the title character on the Adult Swim series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and starred as Sheriff Lucas Buck on the one season 1995 show, American Gothic. Most recently, he was featured in Talladega Nights and Forever Strong. He has recently appeared in the film American Pastime in which he plays a minor league baseball player who is assigned as a guard at the Topaz Internment Camp during World War II.

He played Katherine Mayfair's ex-husband Wayne on Desperate Housewives^[3] and has more recently played drug lord Ted Jones in Pineapple Express co-starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. He also appeared in an episode from the third season of the USA Network series Psych as S.W.A.T. commander Cameron Luntz.

In 2008, he appeared on Chuck as Sarah's dad during November sweeps. He also appeared in the fifth season of HBO's Entourage playing Ari Gold's old pal Andrew Klein for a 3-episode story arc prior to joining the regular cast in the sixth season.

[edit] Family

Cole married actress Teddi Siddall on March 8, 1992.^[4] His only child, a daughter named Mary, has autism; Cole is active in autism-related charities.^[5][6]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Films

[edit] Television

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Gary Cole at the Internet Movie Database
• Gary Cole at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• The Gary Cole Archives
• The Onion A.V. Club Random Roles article with Gary Cole