William H. Macy

William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Drama Critics' Circle Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.

Macy rose to prominence for his collaborations with playwright David Mamet, before building a film career on appearances in small, independent films, earning two Independent Spirit Award nominations. His breakthrough film role was Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo (1996), which brought him critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Macy's subsequent mainstream film roles include Boogie Nights (1997), Air Force One (1997), Magnolia (1999), Mystery Men (1999), Jurassic Park III (2001), Bobby (2006), Thank You for Smoking (2005), Room (2015), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), and The Running Man (2025). He starred as Dr. David Morgenstern on the television series ER (1994–98, 2009). From 2011 to 2021, he starred as Frank Gallagher on Shameless.

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. A "wretched student" by his own admission, he transferred to Goddard College in rural Vermont, where he studied under playwright David Mamet, and graduated in 1972. He studied theater at HB Studio 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 (ISBN 0-394-74412-8), 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 Woodworking's 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. Macy lives near and is the spokesperson for Woody Creek Distillers in Basalt, Colorado, which sells a signature whiskey bearing Macy's name.

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

• † — Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

• † — Denotes television productions that have not yet been released

• 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'
• 1987 — 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"
• 1990–92 — Law & Order — John McCormack, Powell — 2 episodes
• 1992 — Civil Wars — Donald Patchen — Episode: "Denise and De Nuptials"
• 1993 — Bakersfield P.D. — Russell Karp — Episode: "Cable Does Not Pay"
• 1993 — L.A. Law — Bernard Ruskin — Episode: "Rhyme and Punishment"
• 1994–98, 2009 — ER — Dr. David Morgenstern — Main role; seasons 1–4 & 15
• 1995 — Mystery Dance — Bob Wilson — Episode: "Episode #1.1"
• 1998 — Superman: The Animated Series — The Director (voice) — Episode: "Where There's Smoke"
• 1998 — The Lionhearts — Leo Lionheart (voice) — Recurring role
• 1998 — King of the Hill — Dr. Rubin (voice) — Episode: "Pregnant Paws"
• 1998 — Hercules — Jorgen Svenson, Sven Jorgenson (voices) — Episode: "Hercules and the Twilight of the Gods"
• 1999 — Frasier — Ralph — Episode: "Good Samaritan"
• 1999 — The Wild Thornberrys — Skoot (voice) — Episode: "On the Right Track"
• 1999–2000 — Batman Beyond — Aaron Herbst, Karros (voices) — 2 episodes
• 1999–2000 — Sports Night — Sam Donovan — 6 episodes
• 2001 — Nature — Narrator — Episode: "Polar Bear Invasion"
• 2006 — The Simpsons — Himself (voice) — Episode: "Homer's Paternity Coot"
• 2006–07 — Curious George — Narrator (voice) — Main role
• 2007 — The Unit — President of the United States — Episode: "The Broom Cupboard"
• 2011–21 — Shameless — Frank Gallagher — Main role; directed 3 episodes / wrote 1 episode showrunner from seasons 5–8 & 11
• 2011 — Versailles — Bill — 3 episodes
• 2022 — The Dropout — Richard Fuisz — 5 episodes
• 2023 — The Conners — Smitty Cusamano — Episode: "Two More Years and a Stolen Rose"
• 2024 — The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills — Himself — Episode: "Bitter Pill to Swallow"
• 2024 — Accused — Raymond — Episode: "Lorraine's Story"
• TBA — The Land † — Hank Durkin — Main role

TV films and miniseries

• 1978 — The Awakening Land — Will Beagle — Credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1983 — The Cradle Will Fall — Ben Duffy — Credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1983 — Sitcom — Chip Gooseberry — Credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1984 — The Boy Who Loved Trolls — Socrates the Turtle (voice) — Credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1984 — The Dining Room — Various roles — Credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1985 — Joanna — Napoleon Flipper — Credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1988 — The Murder of Mary Phagan — Randy — Credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1988 — Lip Service — Farmer — Also director; credited as 'W.H. Macy'
• 1992 — In the Line of Duty: Siege at Marion — Ray Daniels
• 1992 — A Private Matter — Psychiatrist
• 1992 — The Water Engine — Charles Lang
• 1992 — A Murderous Affair: The Carolyn Warmus Story — Sean Hammel
• 1992 — The Heart of Justice — Booth
• 1994 — Texan — Doctor
• 1995 — In the Shadow of Evil — Dr. Frank Teague
• 1996 — Andersonville — Col. Chandler
• 1996 — The Writing on the Wall — Petrocelli
• 1998 — The Con — Bobby Sommerdinger — Also writer
• 1999 — A Slight Case of Murder — Terry Thorpe — Also writer
• 1999 — The Night of the Headless Horseman — Ichabod Crane
• 2002 — Door to Door — Bill Porter — Also writer
• 2002 — It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie — Glenn
• 2003 — Out of Order — Steven
• 2004 — Reversible Errors — Arthur Raven
• 2004 — The Wool Cap — Charlie Gigot — Also writer and producer
• 2006 — Nightmares and Dreamscapes — Clyde Umney, Sam Landry, George Demmick
• 2008 — Family Man — Todd Becker — Also writer and executive producer

Stage credits

• 1963 — Room Service — Master Theatre, New York City — Off-Broadway debut
• 1968 — The Cannibals — Uncle / Mad Mr. Reich — The American Place Theatre
• 1974 — Squirrels — Edmond — St. Nicholas Theater, Chicago
• 1975 — American Buffalo — Bobby — Goodman Theatre, Chicago
• 1975–76 — American Buffalo — Bobby — St. Nicholas Theater, Chicago
• 1977 — The Water Engine — Charles Lang — St. Nicholas Theater, Chicago
• 1980 — The Man in 605 — Jerry Green — Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York City
• 1980 — Twelfth Night — Sebastian — Circle Theatre, New York City
• 1981 — The Beaver Coat — Dr. Fleischer — Circle Theatre, New York City
• 1981 — The Front Page — Hildy Johnson — Goodman Theatre
• 1981–82 — The Dining Room — 3rd Actor — Playwrights Horizon, New York City
• 1981–82 — The Dining Room — 3rd Actor — Astor Place Theatre, New York City
• 1983 — Baby with the Bathwater — John — Playwrights Horizon, New York City
• 1985–86 — Prairie du Chien — Gin Player — Lincoln Center Theater, New York City
• 1986 — The Nice and the Nasty — Junius Upsey — Playwrights Horizon, New York City
• 1986–87 — Bodies, Rest and Motion — Nick — Lincoln Center Theater, New York City
• 1988 — Boys' Life — —N/a — Lincoln Center Theater, New York City — Director
• 1988–89 — Our Town — Howie Newsome — Lyceum Theatre, New York City — Broadway debut
• 1989 — Bobby Gould in Hell — The Interrogator — Lincoln Center Theater, New York City
• 1990 — Squirrels — —N/a — Annenberg Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia — Director
• 1990 — Three Sisters — —N/a — Atlantic Theater, New York City — Director
• 1991 — Three Sisters — —N/a — Annenberg Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia — Director
• 1991 — Three Sisters — —N/a — Linda Gross Theater, New York City — Director
• 1991 — Life During Wartime — Heinrich — New York City Center, New York City
• 1991 — Mr. Gogol and Mr. Preen — Mr. Preen — Lincoln Center Theater, New York City
• 1992–94 — Oleanna — John — Orpheum Theatre, New York City
• 1997 — The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite — —N/a — Atlantic Theater, New York City — Director
• 2000 — American Buffalo — Teach — Atlantic Theater, New York City
• 2008–09 — Speed-the-Plow — Bobby Gould — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City
• 2020 — The Christopher Boy's Communion — Hollis — Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles