Ray Wise

Career Television

In the late 1960s and 70s, Wise played attorney Jamie Rollins in the soap opera Love of Life for seven years and nearly 950 episodes. In 1987, Wise played Tom Gunther, Catherine Chandler's boyfriend, in the pilot episode of the TV series Beauty and the Beast. Wise is best known for his role as Laura Palmer's father Leland in Twin Peaks. In addition to Twin Peaks, Wise has played several roles in science fiction. He made an appearance as Liko in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Who Watches the Watchers", later playing Arturis in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Hope and Fear".

He appeared in the Season 7 episode "The Flame" of Diagnosis: Murder. He was featured in three episodes of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as Grill Vogel, the presenter of a fictitious instructional video series called "Business Hugs".

In 1995, Wise was reunited with Twin Peaks castmate Sherilyn Fenn in the NBC telemovie Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story. He also starred as the Devil on the TV series Reaper. Wise has appeared on a number of political-themed television series and films. He briefly appeared on The West Wing as California governor Gabriel "Gabe" Tillman, and played Vice President Hal Gardner on 24 in 2006. In August 2006, Wise made a guest appearance in the series Bones as the primary suspect of the first episode of the second season ("The Titan on the Tracks"), and in the pilot episode of Burn Notice. In Season 8, episode 13 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2007), Wise guest starred as the head of a company testing pesticides on little children. Wise has also guest starred in two episodes of The Closer, as lawyer Tom Blanchard. He starred in Charmed as the upper level demon Ludlow, who runs a school for the Source Of All Evil in the episode "Lost and Bound". He had a small role in one episode of the sixth season of Dawson's Creek, playing Roger Stepateck. Wise starred in the 2009 SyFy original movie Infestation. He played the lead as Avery in a psychological thriller, Iodine, in 2009. He was a guest star on Psych and in 2010, in a special episode of Psych titled "Dual Spires", he joined his fellow Twin Peaks alumni Dana Ashbrook, Robyn Lively, Lenny Von Dohlen, Sheryl Lee, Catherine E. Coulson, and Sherilyn Fenn in a spoof of Twin Peaks.

Wise appeared in several episodes of Mad Men as Ken Cosgrove's father-in-law Ed Baxter, the CEO of Corning, Inc. He appeared in "Chinese Wall" (Season 4, Episode 11), "At the Codfish Ball" (Season 5, Episode 7), "Commissions and Fees" (Season 5, Episode 12), "To Have and to Hold" (Season 6, Episode 4) and "Severance" (Season 7, Episode 8).

In 2010, Wise guest-starred as fictitious sports agent Bobby Fox alongside a special guest appearance from real life ex-Yankees manager Joe Torre on the TV series Castle, in the Season 2 episode "Suicide Squeeze". He also guest starred on Dollhouse as Howard, a higher-up in the Dollhouse organization. He stars in Kyle Rankin's post-apocalyptic horror thriller film Nuclear Family. Wise was announced the lead of the Mike Mendez thriller film Ov3rk!ll.

Wise appeared in Season 4 of Chuck and in the FX television show Wilfred as a popular TV personality. He was cast in the part of Robin Scherbatsky's father on How I Met Your Mother in December 2010 (after Eric Braeden declined to reprise his role in a cameo appearance), and ultimately appeared in 6 episodes of the series in total. Ray made a cameo appearance as a modeling agent in episode four of season 2 of Workaholics.

Wise made an appearance in 2012 in the TV series Rizzoli & Isles (Season 3, Episode 7, "Crazy for You") in drag as a cross-dressing judge. That same year, Ray played John Nelson, A disturbed ex-mortician obsessed with trying to help his wife Linda in the Criminal Minds Season 8 episode "God Complex".

Wise prominently appeared in the music video "Wishes" for the group Beach House. It was directed by Eric Wareheim and features Wise performing in a surreal football halftime show.

Wise appeared as Andy Rooney parody Skip Reming on Newsreaders. In January 2014, he was hired to play the character of Ian Ward on the long running soap The Young and the Restless. He returned to Y&R in September 2015. He played the mayor in the first season of Deadbeat. Since 2014, he has appeared in multiple series on ABC. He had a recurring role as Marvin in the first two seasons of Fresh Off the Boat before being promoted to series regular for seasons three through six. He also appeared in the first two seasons of Agent Carter as comic book character Hugh Jones.

In 2016, Wise appeared in the Netflix series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. He portrayed Jack Smith, an old friend of Richard Gilmore, who becomes the boyfriend or companion of widow Emily Gilmore.

In 2017, he appeared as a guest in the TV series Fargo, as Paul Marrane, a kitten-handler and metaphysical punisher, in the episodes "The Law of Non-Contradiction" and "Who Rules the Land of Denial?".

Film He played the character of Dr. Alec Holland in the 1982 film Swamp Thing, directed by Wes Craven and based upon the comic book series of the same name. Dr. Holland is the man who becomes the titular character after his lab is destroyed and he is left for dead. The actual Swamp Thing character was played by Dick Durock.

In 1985, Wise was cast as Sol Gann, father to Natty Gann in the Disney film The Journey of Natty Gann, directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan, and then appeared as henchman Leon C. Nash in RoboCop (1987). He also had roles in Season of Fear (1989), The Rift (1990), Bob Roberts (1992), Grey Knight (1993) and Rising Sun (1993).

He then played the roles of entrepreneur/millionaire Dalton Voss in The Chase (1994), Dr. Stripler in Powder (1995), Sheriff Blaidek in Evasive Action (1998), and Bart's father Harrison in The Battle of Shaker Heights (2003). The same year he played Jack Taggart in the horror film Jeepers Creepers 2, and portrayed father and husband Frank Harrington in the horror film Dead End.

In 2005, he appeared as newscaster and commentator Don Hollenbeck in Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney. In 2007 he appeared in The Flock as Robert Still. In 2008 he had a role in the horror remake One Missed Call. In the year 2011, Wise played the role of United States Secretary of State in X-Men: First Class. He appeared in Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie as Dr. Doone Struts, the leader of the Shrim Healing Center. He appeared in Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End as Franks. He played Major Braxton Tanner in the movie Big Ass Spider! (2013). He was in Brother's Keeper (2013) and was in Suburban Gothic (2014).

In 2014 Wise appeared in the documentary horror film Digging Up the Marrow under the direction of Adam Green. In 2016, Wise starred as attorney Peter Kane in the film God's Not Dead 2, who represents the ACLU in its fight to have the protagonist, Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart), convicted of proselytizing in a public school.

In 2024, Wise starred in the short proof-of-concept film The Wolf in the Well under the direction of Adam Zanzie. Wise played Roland Carmel, a troubled novelist whose daughter, Teresina (Brittani O'Connell), is abducted by an undead wolf; Roland then forces filmmaker Marcello Liscio (Adam Zanzie) to descend into a stone well to rescue Teresina. The film premiered in December 2024 at the Arkadin Cinema in St. Louis, Missouri. Later, it received an Honorable Mention for "Best Nocturnal Film" at the Night of Shorts festival in Milan, Italy, and it was shown at the 2025 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.

Presidential work Wise is noted for repeatedly portraying higher elected officers of the US, having played the president (in Red Alert 2) and Vice President Hal Gardner on 24.

Voice work As a voice actor, Wise played Perry White in the movie Superman: Doomsday. He also plays Commissioner Gordon in the animated film adaptation of The Killing Joke. He also played various Gotham characters in the first series of the podcast Batman: The Audio Adventures.

Video games He is also known for portraying Michael Dugan, President of the United States, in the full-motion video cutscenes for the computer real-time strategy game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and its expansion, Yuri's Revenge.

Web series In 2014, Wise starred in an original Chipotle web series titled Farmed and Dangerous; he played Buck Marshall in the satirical black comedy-type situation comedy. In 2018, Wise made a guest appearance in the second volume of Hyper RPG's horror anthology RPG, 10 Candles, explaining to the party the mysteries of the town of Kolob. He reprised that role in 2019 for the opening credits of 'Kollok 1991', another RPG series by Hyper RPG.

Personal life Wise has been married to film producer Kass McClaskey since 1978. They have two children together: a son, Gannon McClaskey Wise, born in 1985, who is an actor and writer; and a daughter, Kyna Wise, born in 1987, who is also an actress and a singer. From 1974 until 1977, Wise was married to actress Juliet Burr.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1969 Dare the Devil David Keller 1982 Swamp Thing Dr. Alec Holland Cat People Soap Opera Man 1985 The Journey of Natty Gann Sol Gann 1987 RoboCop Leon Nash 1989 Season of Fear Fred Drummond Race for Glory Jack Davis 1990The Rift Robbins 1992 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me Leland PalmerBob Roberts Chet MacGregor 1993 Ghost Brigade Col. George Thalman Direct-to-videoRising Sun Senator John Morton 1994 The Chase Dalton Voss Body Shot Dwight Frye The Crew Charles Pierce 1995Powder Dr. Aaron Stripler 1998 Evasive Action Sheriff Wes Blaidek 1999 Pennyweight Mr. Pennyweight Short film 2000 Closing the Deal Ford Williams 2001 Almost Salinas Jack Tynan Two Can Play That Game Bill Parker 2002 Landspeed Brian Sanger Scream at the Sound of the Beep Brother Jake 2003 Dead End Frank Harrington Jeepers Creepers 2 Jack Taggart Sr.The Battle of Shaker Heights Harrison 2005 Sharkskin 6 Sam The Rain Makers Harris Good Night, and Good Luck Don Hollenbeck Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Cyxork 7 Kommander 88 2006 The Substance of Things Hoped For Dr. Lessing Peaceful Warrior Doctor Hayden 2007 The Election Peter Short film The Flock Bobby Stiles Hellholes Professor Klume Short film Superman: Doomsday Perry White VoiceDirect-to-DVD 2008 Reservations Mitch One Missed Call Ted Summers AM1200 Harry Jones Short film AmericanEast Agent Stevens 2009 Pandemic General Matthews Infestation Ethan Stuntmen Jack Strongbow Iodine Avery Love at First Hiccup Roger 2010 Darnell Dawkins: Mouth Guitar Legend Wade Dawkins 2011 Black Velvet Black Velvet X-Men: First Class Secretary of State Chillerama Dr. Weems Segment: "Wadzilla" Rosewood Lane Det. Danny Briggs 2012 Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Dr. Doone Struts Excision Principal Campbell The Aggression Scale Bellavance Crazy Eyes Zach's Father FDR: American Badass! Douglas MacArthur The Butterfly Room Nick Atlas Shrugged: Part II Head of State Thompson Brother White Pastor Johnny Kingman Posey Dr. Shap Short film 2013 Wrong Cops Captain Andy Inventing Adam J.B. Big Ass Spider! Major Braxton C. Tanner Revelation Road: Beginning of the End Frank Lionhead Jimmy Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire Frank Out West Phillip Alcott Brother's Keeper Herbert Leemaster No God, No Master A. Mitchell Palmer 2014 Away from Here Paul Suburban Gothic Donald Land of Leopold Deece Warren Digging Up the Marrow William Dekker Dead Still Wenton Davis Guardian Angel Attorney Kaufman Reflections Grandpa Short film 2015 Jurassic City Warden Lewis The Lazarus Effect Mr. Wallace Night of the Living Deb Frank Waverly Taking Flight Nono VoiceShort film The Breakup Girl Bob Baker The Specialist The Specialist Short film Unnatural Victor Clobirch 2016 Halloweed Judge Pilmington God's Not Dead 2 Peter Kane The Bronx Bull Father Joseph Batman: The Killing Joke Commissioner Gordon Voice Star Trek: Captain Pike Admiral Joshua Pike 2017 Shattered Forest Burnett 2019 Tone-Deaf Michael Chain of Death Michael Unholy 'Mole The Devil Short film To Your Last Death Cyrus DeKalb Voice Big Fan Begins Ticket Man Short film 2020 Beast Mode Trammel Steadfast 2021 King Knight Merlin2023 Poolman Van Patterson The Blue Rose Mr. Vallens 2024 God's Not Dead: In God We Trust Pete Kane The Wolf in the WellRoland CarmelShort film 2025 The Napa Boys Officer Toland

Television Year Title Role Notes 1970–1976 Love of Life Jamie Rawlins #2 1978 Charlie's Angels Evan Wilcox Episode: "Winning Is for Losers" Barnaby Jones Malcolm Elliot Episode: "Stages of Fear" Tartuffe Damis Television film 1981 Lou Grant Bart Franklin Episode: "Strike" Madame X Bellman UncreditedTelevision film 1982 Dallas Blair Sullivan 8 episodes 1982–1983 Days of Our Lives Hal Rummley 1983 The Mississippi Cole Episode: "Joey" 1984 T. J. Hooker Harrison Mackenzie Episode: "Hot Property" Blue Thunder J.D. Kraft Episode: "Payload" Emerald Point N.A.S. Travis 2 episodes Hart to Hart Dick Braddon Episode: "Larsen's Last Jump" Trapper John, M.D. Dr. Henry Speiner Episode: "Aunt Mildred Is Watching" Riptide Les Carter Episode: "Beat the Box" Remington Steele Schwimmer Episode: "A Pocketful of Steele" 1985 The A-Team Phillip Chadway Episode: "Lease with an Option to Die" 1986 Scarecrow and Mrs. King Frank Duran Episode: "The Pharaoh's Engineer" Airwolf Victor Resnick Episode: "Hawke's Run" Stingray Dr. John Whitaker Episode: "Ether" The Colbys Spiro Koralis 5 episodes Hunter Alex Parker Episode: "Crime of Passion" Condor Christopher Proctor Television film 1987 Beauty and the Beast Tom Episode: "Once Upon a Time" Private Eye Senator McNeill Episode: "Blue Movie" 1988 Knots Landing The Dealer 5 episodes L.A. Law Walter Platt 2 episodes The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story Phil Maresca Television film 1989 Moonlighting Murderer Episode: "Eine Kleine Nacht Murder" Star Trek: The Next Generation Liko Episode: "Who Watches the Watchers" Jake and the Fatman Harry McGinn Episode: "Dancing in the Dark" 1990–1991 Twin Peaks Leland Palmer 18 episodes 1992 Swamp Thing Guthrie Episode: "Never Alone" 1993 The Secrets of Lake Success Henry Fleming 3 episodes 1993–1994 Second Chances Judge Jim Stinson 6 episodes 1994 Walker, Texas Ranger Garrett Carlson Episode: "Stolen Lullaby" The Larry Sanders Show Lloyd Simon Episode: "You're Having My Baby" 1995 Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story Mike Todd Television film Dream On Maddox March Episode: "Significant Author" Courthouse Congressman Laderman Episode: "One Flew Over the Courthouse" 1996–1997 Savannah Edward Burton 34 episodes 1998 The Wonderful World of Disney Randolph Pratt Episode: "The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon" Star Trek: Voyager Arturis Episode: "Hope and Fear" 1997–1998 Sleepwalkers McCaig 2 episodes 1998 Beverly Hills, 90210 Daniel Hunter 2 episodes Vengeance Unlimited Jack Schiller Episode: "Cruel and Unusual" Sports Night Evans Episode: "Mary Pat Shelby" 1999 Diagnosis: Murder John Parkinson Episode: "The Flame" 2000 Profiler James Perrone Episode: "Quid Pro Quo" Popular Barton Episode: "What Makes Sammy Run" 2000–2001 Resurrection Blvd. Jack Mornay 12 episodes 2001 V.I.P. Judge Kreiger Episode: "Bodyguards" RoboCop: Prime Directives Leon C. Nash (archive footage, uncredited) Episode: "Resurrection" Judging Amy Atty. Rhodes Episode: "The Last Word" Dead Last Robert Cahill Episode: "Jane's Exit" 2002 Charmed Ludlow Episode: "Lost and Bound" She Spies Ambassador Blaine Episode: "Daddy's Girl" Presidio Med Episode: "Milagros" 2003 Dawson's Creek Roger Stepavich Episode: "All the Right Moves" 2004 JAG Congressman Marvin Bolton Episode: "Retrial" 2005 The West Wing Governor Tillman D-CA Episode: "La Palabra" 2006 24 Vice President Hal Gardner 6 episodes CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Ernest Chase Episode: "Rashomama" The Closer Tom Blanchard2 episodes Bones Rick Turco Episode: "The Titan on the Tracks" 2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Roger Hanley Episode: "Loophole" Shark Lloyd Holcomb Episode: "Starlet Fever" Six Degrees Henry Crane Episode: "Sedgewick's" Burn Notice Mr. Pyne Episode: "Pilot" 2007–2009 Reaper The Devil 31 episodes 2008 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Grill Vogel 2 episodes 2009 Numb3rs Mitch Langford Episode: "Guilt Trip" Drop Dead Diva Frank Dodd Episode: "What If?" Dollhouse Howard Lipman Episode: "The Left Hand" 2009–20102014 Psych Father Peter Westley / Judge Horace Leland 3 episodes 2010 Castle Bobby Fox Episode: "Suicide Squeeze" Suitemates Hans Ahnnansoahnn 2 episodes The Good Guys Buddy Episode: "Common Enemies" 2010–2015 Mad Men Ed Baxter 5 episodes 2011 Hawaii Five-0 Morris Brown Episode: "Powa Maka Moana" Mr. Sunshine Macaulay Episode: "Heather's Sister" Chuck Riley 3 episodes Wilfred Colt St. Cloud Episode: "Identity" Workaholics Kyle Walsh Episode: "Model Kombat" Easy to Assemble Hendrik 3 episodes 90210 Dean Thomas Episode: "It's the Great Masquerade, Naomi Clark" 2011–2014 How I Met Your Mother Robin Scherbatsky Sr. 6 episodes2012Battleground D-Day / Tak's Father2 episodes NCIS Wayne Tobett Episode: "Secrets" Holliston Landlord Episode: "Camera Rental: Part 1" The Mentalist Dennis Victor Episode: "Red Rover, Red Rover" Rizzoli & Isles Judge Eugene Allen Episode: "Crazy for You" Criminal Minds John Nelson Episode: "God Complex" 2013 Body of Proof Michael Davis Episode: "Mob Mentality" Perception Martin Sullivan Episode: "Toxic" Twisted Tales Mongo the Magnificent Episode: "Mongo's Magik Mirror" High School USA! Seymour Barren / Cassandra's Dad Voices3 episodes 2013–2014 Kroll Show Network Executive / Wendy's Father 3 episodes 2013–2015 Newsreaders Skip Reming 19 episodes 2014 Farmed and Dangerous Buck Marshall 4 episodes Deadbeat Mayor Meyer Episode: "Sixty Feet Under" Infomercials Frank Pierre Episode: "Frank Pierre Presents: Pierre Resort & Casino" Hit the Floor Officiant Episode: "Winner Takes All" 2014–2016,2024–2026 The Young and the Restless Ian Ward 98 episodes 2015–2016 Agent Carter Hugh Jones 4 episodes 2015–2020 Fresh Off the Boat Marvin 73 episodes 2016 Relationship Status Grace's Dad Episode: "The Catch" All the Way Senator Everett Dirksen Television film Comedy Bang! Bang! Psychologist / Dr. Frankenstein 2 episodes Adam Ruins Everything Netflix Executive Episode: "Adam Ruins Hollywood" Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Jack Smith 3 episodes Hitting The Breaks Theodore 'Teddy' Montclair 2 episodes 2017 Fargo Paul Marrane 2 episodes Idiotsitter Himself Episode: "Rush, Rush" Twin Peaks: The Return Leland Palmer 2 episodes Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories The Duke Episode: "The Duke" 2017–2018 Neo Yokio Old Man Voice2 episodes 2019 Hot Streets Plunch Runch VoiceEpisode: "The Moon Masters" Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Enoch Episode: "Chapter Sixteen: Blackwood" 2021 All Rise Richard Walker Episode: "Georgia" LaunchpadHeadmaster GustafsonEpisode: "Dinner Is Served" PhysicalSheila's FatherEpisode: "Let's Not and Say We Did" Home EconomicsFrankEpisode: "49ers Foam Finger, $7" Psych 3: This Is GusFather Peter WestleyTelevision film

Video game Year Title Role 2000 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 President Michael Dugan 2001 Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge President Michael Dugan

Web series Year Title Role Notes 2018 10 Candles Kolob Council Member Episode: "The Town: Finale" 2019 Kollok 1991 Video narrator Intro sequence

Audio Year Title Role Notes 2021 Batman: The Audio Adventures Announcer Podcast