John C. McGinley

John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor. He plays 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 County Donegal in Ulster, 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, and in 1988 with Talk Radio. 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). In 2007, he had a role as Chuck in the film Are We Done Yet? and a small role as a gay highway patrolman in the film Wild Hogs.

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 SiriusXM20 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 in a private ceremony at their home on April 7, 2007. 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.

On September 11, 2001, McGinley's brother, Mark, was working on the 62nd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. John said his brother 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 + Year Title Role Notes 1986 Sweet Liberty Floyd Platoon Sergeant Red O'Neill 1987 Wall Street Marvin 1988 Talk Radio Stu Shakedown Sean Phillips 1989 Lost Angels Dr. Farmer Born on the Fourth of July Official No. 1 – Democratic Convention, Pushing Wheelchair Fat Man and Little Boy Captain Richard Schoenfield, MD Suffering Bastards Buddy Johnson Also writer 1991 Point Break FBI Director Ben Harp Highlander II: The Quickening David Blake Little Noises Stu 1992 Article 99 Dr. Rudy Bobrick Cruel Doubt Attorney Jim Vos Burgh A Midnight Clear Major Griffin 1993 Mother's Boys Mr. Fogel Hear No Evil Mickey O'Malley Watch It Rick Also producer 1994 On Deadly Ground MacGruder Surviving the Game John Griffin Car 54, Where Are You? Officer Francis Muldoon Wagons East Julian Rogers 1995 Born to Be Wild Max Carr Seven SWAT Leader California Nixon Earl in Training Film 1996 Marine Captain Hendrix Set It Off Detective Strode Mother Carl Johns Danny Cohen 1997 Flypaper Joe Colin Fitz Lives! Colin Fitz Intensity Edgler Foreman Vess Truth or Consequences, N.M. Eddie Grillo Nothing to Lose Davis 'Rig' Lanlow 1998 Target Earth Agent Vincent Naples 1999 Office Space Bob Slydell Any Given Sunday Jack Rose Three to Tango Josh Strauss Woody 2000 Get Carter Con McCarty 2001 Summer Catch Hugh Alexander Uncredited Sergeant Doug Sisk 2002 Stealing Harvard Detective Charles Highway Johnny 'The Fox' Crazy as Hell Parker It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie Himself 2003 Identity George York2005Lil' PimpMan Cub MasterVoice Alien Planet Narrator 2006 Puff, Puff, Pass Jerry Dupree A.W.O.L. Garris Two Tickets to Paradise Mark Won - Method Fest - Festival Directors Award World Trade Center FiremanUncredited 2007 Wild Hogs Gay Highway Patrolman Are We Done Yet? Chuck Mitchell Jr. 2008 American Crude Jim 2009 Life's a Trip Mark Hewson Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Metallo Voice, direct-to-video 2012 Alex Cross Richard Brookwell Watercolor Postcards Merlin 2013 42 Red Barber 2014 Kid Cannabis John Grefard 2016 Get a Job Diller The Belko Experiment Wendell Dukes The Drowning Teddy 2017 Battle of the Sexes Herb The Good Catholic Father Ollie 2018 Benched Don

Television + Year Title Role Notes 1985–1986 Another World Ned Barry 12 episodes 1988 Clinton and Nadine Turner Television film Spenser: For Hire K.C. 1 episode 1993 Wills Television film 1994 Frasier Danny Kriezel Episode: "Seat of Power" 1995 American Gladiators Himself Episode: "Celebrity Challenge" 1997 Attorney Leonard Goode 2 episodes Intensity Edgler Foreman Vess Television film 1998 Colonel J.D. Bock 2000 Sole Survivor Victor Yates 2001 The Nightmare Room Dr. Young Episode: "Four Eyes" 2001–2010, 2026–present Scrubs Dr. Perry Cox Main role (season 1–9); recurring role (season 10)Nominated - TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2002)Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2002) 2002 Clone High Creepy Trucker Voice, episode: "Sleep of Faith: La Rue D'Awakening" 2003 Kim Possible Rudolph Farnsworth / White Stripe Voice, episode: "The Fearless Ferret"Justice LeagueExecutiveVoice, episode: "Wild Cards" Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Richard Damien Voice, 2 episodes Justice League Unlimited The Atom Voice, 3 episodes 2005 Alien Planet Narrator American Dragon: Jake Long Dr. Diente Voice, episode: "The Legend of the Dragon Tooth" 2006–2010 The White Shadow Voice, 2 episodes 2008 Robot Chicken Mahmoud Ahmadinejad / Double Dare Host Voice, episode: "Chirlaxx" 2008–2015 WordGirl The Whammer Voice, 4 episodes 2009 Scrubs: Interns Dr. Perry Cox 1 episode 2011 Dan Vs. Imposter Dan Voice, 2 episodes 2012 Burn Notice Tom Card Recurring role (season 6), 6 episodes 2013–2015 Ground Floor Remington Stewart Mansfield Main role 2016–2018 Stan Against Evil Stanley Miller 2019 Chicago P.D. Brian Kelton Recurring role (season 6), 7 episodes 2019–2022 DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders Grumblegard Voice, recurring role 2021 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Frank O'Sullivan Guest role (season 8), 4 episodes 2023 C*A*U*G*H*T Axel Johannes 4 episodes 2024 Genius Lyndon B. Johnson 2 episodes 2025 Hamster & Gretel Dr. Fry Voice, episode: "Paging Doctor Potatini/Snazzy Pantzz" 2026–presentRooster Walter Mann Main role

Awards and nominations