John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959)is an
American actor, most notable for his roles as
Perry Cox in
Scrubs, Bob Slydell in
Office Space, and
Sergeant Red O'Neill in
Oliver Stone's
Platoon. He has also written and directed for television and film. Apart from acting, McGinley is also an author and a spokesperson for the
National Down Syndrome Society.
Early life
McGinley, who is one of five children, was born in the
Greenwich Village section of
New York City, the son of Patricia, a schoolteacher, and Gerald McGinley, a stockbroker.
[John C. McGinley Biography (1959-)] His paternal great-grandfather was from
Donegal,
Ireland.
[Irish America Magazine] McGinley was raised in
Millburn, 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
Tisch School of the Arts. 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.
At the age of 20, McGinley was a ball spotter at the 1980
U.S. Open. While on the job, he exchanged a few words with professional golfer
Arnold Palmer.
[GOLFONLINE - Shooting Star: John C. McGinley]
Career
McGinley has had a prolific career, primarily as a supporting
character actor. He 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,
[ Johnny C Bio Site retrieved 23 August 2007] which led to an audition for the role of Sergeant Red O'Neill in the
Oscar-winning
Platoon, although his first movie role was
Alan Alda's
Sweet Liberty (1986). That was followed the next year with
Wall Street (1987), and again the next with
Talk Radio (1988). He also was featured in a 1980s
Subaru commercial.
[YouTube - Broadcast Yourself] He appeared in the "Celebrity Challenge" version of
American Gladiators, losing to
Dean Cain. McGinley wrote the script for 1990s
Suffering Bastards,["Suffering Bastards" IMDB page] in which he also co-starred.
He worked continually throughout the 1990s, appearing in films such as
Point Break (1991),
Highlander 2 (1991),
Article 99 (1992),
Wagons East! (1994),
Se7en (1995),
The Rock (1996),
Nothing to Lose (1997) and
Office Space (1999) (McGinley improvised several takes about his character's fondness for
Michael Bolton). In 2007, he had a role as Chuck in the film
Are We Done Yet? He has also had a small role as a
gay highway patrolman in the
Touchstone Pictures film
Wild Hogs.
McGinley has done voiceover 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'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 sitcom 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; he says the gesture means "It's gonna be OK."
[Scrubs DVD special features]
Since the
NFL season of 2007, McGinley has played the "Commish" of the More Taste League commercials for
Miller Lite. He has also 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
Detroit Red Wings'
2008 Stanley Cup Championship.
[McGinley narrates the Wings' Cup journey] In 2009, McGinley started narrating commercials for
ESPN.com.
McGinley wrote a 2005 book
Untalkative Bunny: How to Be Heard Without Saying a Word, for Big Tent Entertainment.
Recently, he was cast in the movie adaptation of the comic book
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, and he plays the role of the classic
Superman villain,
Metallo.
[Superman: The Animated Series DVD news: Announcement for Superman/Batman: Public Enemies | TVShowsonDVD.com]
Personal life
In February 1997, McGinley married Lauren Lambert. Their child, Max, born that year, has
Down syndrome; While shooting
Scrubs, he wears a wristband for a Down Syndrome charity. In December 2001, Lambert and McGinley
divorced. In October 2002, he was chosen as "Dad of the Month" at iParenting.com.
[iParenting.com's Dedicated Dads: John C. McGinley. Retrieved March 21, 2007.] In August 2006, McGinley became engaged to
yoga instructor Nichole Kessler in
Malibu, whom he had dated for two years. The couple were married on April 7, 2007 in a private ceremony at their home.
[Scrubs Star John C. McGinley Gets Married retrieved April 9, 2007] They have one daughter together, Billie Grace, who was born on February 2, 2008.
McGinley owns a stake in one of Billy Gilroy's New York
SoHo bistros along with fellow actor
Willem Dafoe. He is a close friend of
John Cusack with whom he likes to play golf.
[John C. McGinley Interview. Retrieved October 21, 2007.]
In 2006, McGinley served as the national spokesperson for the
National Down Syndrome Society's annual Buddy Walk.
["A Message from the Buddy Walk Spokesman" Retrieved March 21, 2007.]
McGinley appeared on the television show
American Gladiator in 1994, during the Celebrity Challenge.
[[1] Retrieved November 19, 2008.]
McGinley is also an avid fan of the
Detroit Red Wings, and shows this by wearing a Red Wings jersey in several
Scrubs episodes.
McGinley maintains a home in
Malibu, California and is well-known as a member of the "Malibu Mob",
[Chris Chelios' new team: The Malibu Mob | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press] a group of celebrity friends and neighbours including
John Cusack,
Tony Danza,
Detroit Red Wings defenseman
Chris Chelios, big-wave surfer
Laird Hamilton,
beach volleyball pro
Gabrielle Reece, and
tennis player
John McEnroe.
[MSN TV Blog: Paging Dr. Cox: 'Scrubs' Doc John C. McGinley Dishes on His Motor-Mouthed Alter Ego, His Famous Friends and His Elle MacPherson Jones]
Selected filmography
Awards and nominations
