John Slattery

John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Roger Sterling in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2007–15), for which he was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, along with winning two Critics' Choice Television Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

He is also known for his film roles including for his portrayal of Ben Bradlee, Jr., in the Best Picture-winning film Spotlight (2015), and the role of Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man 2 (2010), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). He has also acted in Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Reservation Road (2007), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), The Adjustment Bureau (2011), Churchill (2017), Confess, Fletch (2022), and Nuremberg (2025). Slattery made his directorial film debut with God's Pocket (2014).

Slattery's lead television roles include Homefront (1991–1993), Maggie (1998–1999), Jack & Bobby (2004–2005), and neXt (2020). He has also had recurring roles in shows such as Desperate Housewives (2004–2007), 30 Rock (2010), Arrested Development (2013), Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015), Veep (2016), Modern Love (2019), Mrs. America (2020), and The Good Fight (2022).

Early life and education Slattery was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Joan , a retired accountant, and John "Jack" Slattery, a leather merchant. He is one of six children. As a young boy, he dreamed of being a baseball player.

Slattery is of Irish descent and was raised Catholic. He attended high school at Saint Sebastian's School in Newton, Massachusetts (since relocated to Needham, Massachusetts), and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Catholic University of America in 1984.

Career

Apart from his role on Mad Men, Slattery has had roles such as union organizer Al Kahn on Homefront; Senator Walter Mondale in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon; as political adviser Tommy Flannigan in the HBO series K Street; guest appearances as Will Truman's brother Sam on Will & Grace; as Michael Cassidy, Amy's estranged husband, on Judging Amy; politician Bill Kelley on Sex and the City; principal Dennis Martino on Ed; and college president Peter Benedict on Jack and Bobby. In March 2007, he began a series of appearances on Desperate Housewives portraying Victor Lang, Gabrielle Solis's (Eva Longoria) second husband, until his character's death in Season 4. In December 2009, Slattery appeared on The Colbert Report in a faux commercial advertising gold.

Slattery played Paul Moore, boyfriend of Katherine Watson (portrayed by Julia Roberts) in the film Mona Lisa Smile, and he portrayed Howie in David Lindsay-Abaire's play, Rabbit Hole. He had a small part as a teacher in the film Sleepers. He also appeared as a government promoter in the Clint Eastwood feature Flags of our Fathers and as CIA official Henry Cravely in Charlie Wilson's War. He was cast as Bert Miller, father of the leading female character, in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and in The Adjustment Bureau played Richardson, a mid-level agent in the mysterious paranormal agency called the Bureau. Slattery narrates the audiobook versions of Don DeLillo's 2007 novel Falling Man, Stephen King's 2008 psychological horror novel Duma Key, and Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms.

In 2013, Slattery directed his first feature film, God's Pocket (2014), which he co-wrote with Alex Metcalf. The film, based on a 1983 novel of the same name by Pete Dexter, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by IFC Films.

In 2015, Slattery portrayed journalist Ben Bradlee Jr. in the Academy Award-winning, Golden Globe-nominated drama film Spotlight, and also appeared in the Netflix comedy series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, for which he earned a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series.

In 2025, Slattery portrayed Burton C. Andrus, the commandant of the prison housing Nazi war criminals being held for the post-World War II Nuremberg war crimes trials in the movie Nuremberg.

Personal life Slattery married actress Talia Balsam in 1998 (who also played his screen wife, Mona, in Mad Men). They have one son together. They live in SoHo, Manhattan.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 City Hall Detective George Eraser FBI Agent Corman Sleepers Rob Carlson 1997 My Brother's War Devlin Red Meat Stefan 1998 Harvest Sheriff Johnson The Naked Man Ferris Where's Marlowe? Kevin Murphy 2000 Traffic ADA Dan Collier 2001 Sam the Man Maxwell Slade 2002 Bad Company Roland Yates 2003 The Station Agent David Mona Lisa Smile Paul Moore 2004 Noise Detective Rutherford Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights Bert Miller 2006 The Situation Colonel Carrick Flags of Our Fathers Bud Gerber 2007 Underdog Mayor Reservation Road Steve Cutter Charlie Wilson's War CIA Director Henry Cravely 2010 Iron Man 2 Howard Stark 2011 The Adjustment Bureau Richardson Return Bud 2012 In Our Nature Gil 2013 Bluebird Richard 2014 God's Pocket Directorial debut; also co-writer 2015 Ted 2 Shep Wild Ant-Man Howard Stark Cameo Spotlight Ben Bradlee Jr. 2016 Captain America: Civil War Howard Stark 2017 Churchill Dwight D. Eisenhower 2019 Avengers: Endgame Howard Stark 2022 Confess, Fletch Frank Jaffe 2023 Maggie Moore(s) Director 2024 Unfrosted Roger Sterling 2025 Nuremberg Col. Burton C. Andrus 2026 Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass Himself Completed

Television Year Title Role Notes 1988 Dirty Dozen: The Series Pvt. Dylan Leeds 7 episodes 1989 Father Dowling Mysteries Doug Episode: "The Man Who Came to Dinner Mystery" 1991 Under Cover Graham Parker 13 episodes Under Cover Television movie Before the Storm China Beach Dr. Bob Episode: "Hello Goodbye" 1991–93 Homefront Al Kahn Main role, 38 episodes 1995 A Woman of Independent Means Dwight Miniseries; uncredited Ned and Stacey Sam Episode: "Threesome" 1996 Lily Dale Will Kidder Television movie 1997 Feds Michael Mancini Episode: "Smoking Gun" 1998 From the Earth to the Moon Walter Mondale Episode: "Apollo One" Party of Five Jay Mott 2 episodes Becker Peter Episode: "Man Plans, God Laughs" 1998–99 Maggie Dr. Richard Meyers Main role, 11 episodes 1998 Law & Order Arlen Levitt Episode: "Tabloid" 1999 Will & Grace Sam Truman 2 episodes 1999–2000 Judging Amy Michael Cassidy 3 episodes 2000 Sex and the City Bill Kelley 2 episodes Law & Order Dr. Richard Shipman Episode: "Stiff" 2001–02 Ed Dennis Martino Recurring role, 17 episodes 2002 A Death in the Family Jay Follett Television movie 2003 K Street Tommy Flannegan 10 episodes 2004 The Brooke Ellison Story Ed Ellison Television movie 2004–05 Jack & Bobby Peter Benedict Main role, 21 episodes 2007 Desperate Housewives Victor Lang Recurring role, 14 episodes 2007–15 Mad Men Roger Sterling Main role, 85 episodes Also directed 5 episodes 2009 The Colbert Report John Slattery Episode: "Alicia Keys" 2010 30 Rock Steven Austin Episode: "Brooklyn Without Limits" 2011 The Simpsons Robert Marlowe (voice) Episode: "The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants" 2011–12 The Cleveland Show Mayor Larry Box (voice) 4 episodes 2013 Arrested Development Dr. Norman 2 episodes 2015 Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp Claude Dumet 6 episodes The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Sandwich Man Episode: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon Documentary Now! William H. Sebastian Episode: "Kunuk Uncovered" 2016 Veep Charlie Baird 6 episodes 2016–2017 Love Director; 3 episodes 2018 The Romanoffs Daniel Reese 2 episodes 2019 Modern Love Dennis 2020 Mrs. America Fred Schlafly Miniseries; 7 episodes neXt Paul LeBlanc Main role 2021 Girls5eva Himself Episode: "Alf Musik" Santa Inc. Larson (voice) 3 episodes 2022 The Good Fight Dr. Lyle Bettencourt 9 episodes 2023 What We Do in the Shadows Himself Episode: Urgent Care What If...? Howard Stark (voice) Episode: "What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?"2025 Harley Quinn Floronic Man / Jason Woodrue (voice) 2 episodes The Last Frontier Senior CIA Official Recurring role 2025–present The Rainmaker Leo F. Drummond Main role 2026 Vladimir John8 episodes

Theater Year Title Role Venue Ref. 1989 The Lisbon Traviata Paul Off-Broadway 1990 Mi Vida Loca Paco 1992 The Extra Man Daniel 1993 Laughter on the 23rd Floor Kenny Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway 1995 Night and Her Stars Charles Van Doren The American Place Theatre, Off-Broadway 1997 Three Days of Rain Walker/Ned New York City Center, Off-Broadway 2000 Betrayal Robert American Airlines Theatre, Broadway 2006 Rabbit Hole Howie Biltmore Theatre, Broadway 2016 The Front Page Hildy Johnson Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway

Video game Year Title Voice role Notes 2012 Dishonored Admiral Havelock

Music videos Year Title Artist(s) Role Ref. 2010 Conversation 16 The National Secret Service Agent

Awards and nominations