Richard Schiff

Infobox Actor
caption = Richard Schiff, July 2007


imagesize = 200px
birthdate = birth date and age|1955|05|27
birthplace = Bethesda, Maryland
birthname =
spouse =
emmyawards = Supporting Actor - Drama Series
2000 "The West Wing"
sagawards = Best Ensemble - Drama Series
2000 "The West Wing"
2001 "The West Wing"

Richard Schiff (born May 27, 1955) is an Emmy Award-winning American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on the NBC television drama "The West Wing", a role for which received an Emmy Award. Schiff also made his directorial debut with "The West Wing", directing an episode entitled "Talking Points."

Biography

Personal life

Schiff, the second of three sons, was born in Bethesda, Maryland, the son of Charlotte, a television and publishing executive, and Edward Schiff, a real estate lawyer. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/41/Richard-Schiff.html Richard Schiff Biography (1955-) ] ] His parents divorced when he was twelve. He dropped out of high school, but later obtained an equivalency diploma. He studied briefly at The City College of New York (CCNY) in 1973, but lacked interest and skipped final exams. He moved to Colorado where he found employment cutting firewood. Returning to New York in 1975 he began to study acting at CCNY and was eventually accepted into their theater program.

Schiff met his wife Sheila Kelley during auditions for "Antigone" in 1993; they married in 1996 and have a son named Gus and a daughter named Ruby. [imdb name|0771493]

He is a lifelong member of the Democratic Party. He is supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 US Presidential Election.

Career

Schiff was reluctant to act and initially studied directing. He directed several off-Broadway plays, including "Antigone" in 1983 with a just-graduated Angela Bassett. In the mid-1980s (according to Schiff), he overcame his reluctance and decided to try his hand at acting. This resulted in several TV roles. He was seen by Steven Spielberg in an episode of the TV drama "High Incident" and Spielberg subsequently cast him in "" (1997), His career began an upward climb that led to his co-starring role as White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler on Aaron Sorkin's award winning television series "The West Wing." Schiff became known for his introverted and intense approach to his craft as well as his low-key delivery style, often employing a quiet, gruff tone that earned him the nickname “The Hoarse Whisperer” among many West Wing fans.

In 1996 Schiff guest starred on the popular TV series "ER", and appeared in NYPD Blue the following year. Schiff played a doctor alongside Eddie Murphy in the 1998 "Dr. Dolittle" remake. He also played Col./Brig. Gen. Robert Laurel Smith in the 1998 HBO TV movie "The Pentagon Wars", based on the real-life development of the US Army's Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. That same year, Schiff also appeared in the movie blockbuster "Deep Impact", in which he played Don Beiderman. Schiff also appeared in one episode of "Becker" during the series first season. In 2001, he acted in the movie What's the Worst That Could Happen?.

In 2004, Schiff appeared in the film "Ray" as Ray Charles's producer, Jerry Wexler. For the role he shaved off his trademark beard. After working on "The West Wing" for six seasons, Schiff chose to exit the series in its seventh. (2005–2006), and was contracted to appear in half of the season's episodes. However, when NBC chose to end the series, Schiff continued his appearances until the end of the show's run in May 2006, though he did not appear in the series finale. That same year he starred along with Peter Krause in the thriller "Civic Duty" 2006.

Schiff had a memorable cameo appearance as himself in the second season finale of "Entourage" . The scene has Schiff at lunch with his agent Ari Gold, where he declares a desire to act in action movies. In early 2006, Schiff returned to his stage roots, starring in the premiere run of "Underneath the Lintel", a one-act, single-character play by Glen Berger, at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In February 2007, he appeared in the West End production of "Underneath the Lintel" in the Duchess Theatre in London, England, and also appeared on BBC Radio Five Live and talked at length to Simon Mayo about his experiences acting in "The West Wing" and his new West End production. In 2007, he appeared in the season finale of "Burn Notice", . A radio version of "Underneath the Lintel", performed by Richard Schiff, was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 5 January 2008. In 2008 Schiff co-starred in "Last Chance Harvey" with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson and "Another Harvest Moon" with Ernest Borgnine and will appear in the Season finale of "Eli Stone."

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0771493|name=Richard Schiff
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/fivelive_aod.shtml?fivelive/richard_schiff BBC Radio Five Live]
* [http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=118183&title=richard-schiff June 2001 appearance on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"]