Born October 10th, 1959 in Madison, Wisconsin, Bradley Whitford studied acting at Wesleyan University and Juilliard in New York. Whitford’s first guest starring appearance on TV was on The Equalizer in 1985. The next year, he was cast in Dead as a Doorman and the NBC TV movie C.A.T. Squad.
Whitford had a busy year in 1987, appearing in supporting roles in the TV movie The Betty Ford Story (starring Gena Rowlands), Adventures in Babysitting (with Elisabeth Shue) and Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise.
After taking a few years off to do theater, Whitford came back in 1990 to small and supporting roles in Vital Signs starring Adrian Pasdar; Presumed Innocent starring Harrison Ford; Young Guns II starring Kiefer Sutherland, Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen; and Awakenings starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.
In 1992, Whitford played Al Pacino’s brother-in-law in Scent of a Woman. 1993 would have Whitford in demand with his roles in RoboCop 3, My Life (starring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman), A Perfect World with Kevin Costner, Philadelphia (starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington), The Silent Alarm, and the TV series Black Tie Affair.
In 1994, Whitford had a double dose of Tommy Lee Jones when he co-starred in two of his films, Cobb and The Client, which also starred Susan Sarandon. In 1995, he appeared in the silly Billy Madison with Adam Sandler and Brigitte Wilson and then appeared in 1996’s My Fellow Americans starring James Garner, Jack Lemmon and Dan Aykroyd. 1997 was another busy year for Whitford, as he appeared in the made-for-TV movie In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory, Masterminds starring Patrick Stewart, Cloned (with Elizabeth Perkins), Red Corner starring Richard Gere, The Spittin’ Image alongside his wife, Jane Kaczmarek, and The People.
The short-lived TV series The Secret Lives of Men, which co-starred Peter Gallagher, followed in 1998. In 1999, he had a supporting role in The Muse with Albert Brooks, Sharon Stone and Andie MacDowell. That same year, Whitford was cast as presidential deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman in The West Wing, a show that also featured Martin Sheen, John Spencer, Alison Janney, Rob Lowe and Richard Schiff. The West Wing has been nominated for numerous awards including nominations for Whitford. He won the Emmy in 2001 and has been nominated twice after as well.
Bradley Whitford is married to actress Jane Kaczmarek. They have 3 children.