William H. Macy

Early life and education Macy was born on March 13, 1950, in Miami, Florida, and grew up in Georgia and Maryland. His father, William Hall Macy Sr. (1922–2007), was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal for flying a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber in World War II; he later ran a construction company in Atlanta, Georgia, and worked for Dun & Bradstreet before taking over a Cumberland, Maryland–based insurance agency when Macy was nine years old. Macy's mother, Lois (née Overstreet; 1920–2001), was a war widow who met Macy's father after her first husband died in 1943. Macy has described her as a "Southern belle".

Macy graduated from Allegany High School in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1968. He attended Bethany College in West Virginia, where he studied veterinary medicine. in New York City. Macy credits Gene Hackman as an inspiration.

Career 1968–1995: Rise to prominence In the fall of 1968, Macy appeared in an Off-Broadway production of Holocaust drama The Cannibals by George Tabori at the American Place Theatre in New York City. After graduating from Goddard, Macy moved to Chicago. He originated roles in a number of plays by collaborator David Mamet, such as American Buffalo and The Water Engine. In 1972, Macy, Mamet, Patricia Cox and fellow Goddard graduate Steven Schachter founded the St. Nicholas Theater Company. In between, he worked as a bartender in Lincoln Park, Chicago and as a carpenter. In 1975, Macy appeared in a local commercial for the Chicagoland Job Mart. He was required to join AFTRA in order to do the commercial, and received his SAG card within a year, which for an elated Macy represented an important moment in his career.

Macy spent time in Los Angeles before moving to New York City in 1980, where he had roles in over fifty Off Broadway and Broadway plays. One of his earliest on-screen roles was as a theater critic congratulating Christopher Reeve in 1980's Somewhere In Time, under the name W.H. Macy, so as not to be confused with the actor Bill Macy. Another memorable early performance was as a turtle named Socrates in the direct-to-video film The Boy Who Loved Trolls (1984).

He had a minor role as a hospital orderly on the sitcom Kate & Allie in the fourth-season episode "General Hospital", and played an assistant district attorney in "Everybody's Favorite Bagman", the first produced episode of Law & Order. In both appearances, he was billed as W. H. Macy. He has appeared in numerous films that Mamet wrote or directed, such as House of Games (1987), Things Change (1988), Homicide (1991), Oleanna (1994) (reprising the role he originated in the play of the same name), Wag the Dog (1997), State and Main (2000) and Spartan (2004).

1996–2010: Fargo and expansion Macy's leading role in Fargo (1996) helped boost his career and recognizability, though at the expense of nearly confining him to a narrow typecast of a worried man down on his luck. Other Macy roles of the 1990s and 2000s included Benny & Joon (1993), The Client (1994), Above Suspicion (1995), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), A Civil Action (1998), Pleasantville (1998), Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho (1998), Happy, Texas (1999), Mystery Men (1999), Magnolia (1999), Panic (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Focus (2001), Welcome to Collinwood (2002), Seabiscuit (2003), The Cooler (2003), Cellular (2004), Sahara (2005), Everyone's Hero (2006) and Bobby (2006).

He had a recurring role on ER (1994–2009) and Sports Night (1999–2000). Both roles earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Macy wrote and starred in Door to Door in 2002, winning an Emmy for writing and acting.

In a November 2003 interview with USA Today, Macy stated that he wanted to star in a big-budget action film "for the money, for the security of a franchise like that. And I love big action-adventure movies. They're way cool." He serves as director-in-residence at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York, where he teaches a technique called Practical Aesthetics. A book describing the technique, A Practical Handbook for the Actor , is dedicated to Macy and Mamet.

In 2007, Macy starred in Wild Hogs, a film about middle-aged men reliving their youthful days by taking to the open road on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles from Cincinnati to the Pacific Coast. Despite being critically panned, with a 14% "rotten" rating from Rotten Tomatoes, it was a financial success, grossing over $168 million. The film also reunited him with his A Civil Action costar, John Travolta. In 2009, Macy completed filming on The Maiden Heist, a comedy that co-starred Morgan Freeman and Christopher Walken.

In June 2008, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Macy and his wife, Felicity Huffman, would each receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the upcoming year. On January 13, 2009, Macy replaced Jeremy Piven in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow on Broadway. Piven suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of the play in December 2008 after he experienced health problems. Norbert Leo Butz covered the role from December 23, 2008, until Macy took over the part. Dirty Girl, which starred Macy along with Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich, Mary Steenburgen and Tim McGraw, premiered September 12, 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival.

2011–present: Shameless and other roles In summer 2010, Macy joined the Showtime pilot Shameless as the protagonist, Frank Gallagher. The project ultimately went to series, and its first season premiered on January 9, 2011. Macy has received high critical acclaim for his performance, eventually getting an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014.

In the 2012 film The Sessions, Macy played a priest who befriends a man with a severe disability who seeks to find personal fulfillment through a sex surrogate. He made his directorial debut with the independent drama Rudderless, which stars Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Huffman, Selena Gomez and Laurence Fishburne. In 2017, he directed The Layover, a road trip comedy starring Alexandra Daddario and Kate Upton.

In 2015, he had a small role as Grandpa in the drama film Room, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film reunited him with his Pleasantville costar, Joan Allen. In 2024, he played Trevathan in the film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Personal life Marriage and family

Macy and actress Felicity Huffman dated on-and-off for 15 years and married on September 6, 1997. They have two daughters.

Beliefs and interests Macy and Huffman appeared at a rally for John Kerry in 2004. Macy is a Lutheran.

Macy plays the ukulele and is an avid woodturner. He has appeared on the cover of Fine Woodworkings special edition, Wood Turning Basics and was featured in an article in the April 2015 issue of American Woodturner (American Association of Woodturners). He is a national ambassador for the United Cerebral Palsy Association. Since shooting the film Wild Hogs, Macy has had a strong interest in riding motorcycles.

Varsity Blues scandal

In March 2019, it was reported that Macy and Huffman had agreed to pay someone $15,000 to take a college entrance exam for their daughter Sophia. Huffman was indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges as part of a wider federal investigation of college admissions bribery. For undisclosed reasons, no charges were filed against Macy. Attorneys uninvolved in the case speculated that Macy may not have been charged because he cooperated with agents or because the government lacked sufficient evidence of his involvement.

On September 13, 2019, a federal judge in Boston sentenced Huffman to fourteen days in federal prison (of which she served 10 days), 250 hours of community service, and a year of supervised release.

Filmography Film

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1982 Another World Frank Fisk Credited as 'W.H. Macy'1985 Hometown Loring Dixwell Episode: "Mary's Yen"; credited as 'W.H. Macy' 1985–88 Spenser: For Hire Efrem Connors 3 episodes; credited as 'W.H. Macy' 1986 Kate & Allie Carl Episode: "General Hospital"; credited as 'W.H. Macy'1987 The Equalizer Dr. Spaulding Episode: "Hand and Glove"; credited as 'W.H. Macy' Alive from Off Center Uncredited Episode: "As Seen on TV" 1989 Tattingers Myron Episode: "Tour of Doody"; credited as 'W.H. Macy'1990 ABC Afterschool Specials Store Clerk Episode: "All That Glitters"1990–92Law & OrderJohn McCormack, Powell2 episodes1992 Civil Wars Donald Patchen Episode: "Denise and De Nuptials"1993 Bakersfield P.D. Russell Karp Episode: "Cable Does Not Pay" L.A. Law Bernard Ruskin Episode: "Rhyme and Punishment" 1994–98, 2009 ER Dr. David Morgenstern Main role; seasons 1–4 & 151995 Mystery Dance Bob Wilson Episode: "Episode #1.1"1998 Superman: The Animated Series The Director (voice) Episode: "Where There's Smoke" 2024The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Himself Episode: "Bitter Pill to Swallow" Accused Raymond Episode: "Lorraine's Story" TBA Hank Durkin Main role

TV films and miniseries

Awards and nominations