"Acting is about covering up traces of who you are and just being the character. I think it's easier to accept people in roles if you don't know a lot about them."
Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954 in Dallas, Texas) is an American actor.
He started his acting career in 1978 at the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota, performing for two seasons in productions of Hamlet and The Pretenders before making his New York debut in the play Crimes of the Heart, for which he ultimately won the Theatre World Award. His first film role was in Dragonslayer and eventually came to prominence in television series like Chicago Hope and Ally McBeal. Beyond that, his career has seamlessly spanned a wide variety of roles from horror to drama to comedy.
Filmography with TV Tropes pages:
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Film roles
- Dragonslayer (1981) as Galen
- Sophie's Choice (1982) as Stingo
- Ghostbusters II (1989) as Dr. Janos Poha
- Housesitter (1992) as Marty
- Addams Family Values (1993) as Gary Granger
- The Radioland Murders (1994) as Son Writer
- Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) as Renfield
- Bean (1997) as David Langley
- Baby Geniuses (1999) as Dan
- Battleship (2012) as Secretary of Defense
Television roles
- Faerie Tale Theatre (1 episode, 1984) as Martin
- By Dawn's Early Light (TV movie, 1990) as Sedgwick
- The Powers That Be (21 episodes, 1992–93) as Bradley Grist
- Cheers (1 episode, 1993) as Mario
- Tales from the Crypt (1 episode, 1994) as Austin Haggard
- Chicago Hope (31 episodes, 1994–98) as Alan Birch
- Ally McBeal (103 episodes, 1997–2002) as John Cage
- The Lyon's Den (1 episode, 2003) as Daryl Nicks
- NUMB3RS (94 episodes, 2005–10) as Dr. Larry Fleinhardt
- Boston Legal (1 episode, 2006) as Dr. Sydney Field
- 24 (24 episodes, 2007) as Tom Lennox
- Grey's Anatomy (7 episodes, 2010–11) as Dr. Robert Stark
- Fairly Legal (1 episode, 2011) as Judge Smollet
- Game Change (TV movie, 2012) as Rick Davis
- Necessary Roughness (3 episodes, 2013) as Dr. Albert Gunner
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2 episodes, 2013–15) as Prof. Elliot Randolph
- The Mindy Project (1 episode, 2014) as Rabbi Adler
- CSI: Cyber (13 episodes, 2015) as Simon Sifter
- Veep (9 episodes, 2016–19) as Jeff Kane
- The Big Bang Theory (1 episode, 2018) as Dr. Robert Wolcott
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (1 episode, 2019) as Ishmael
- All Rise (9 episodes, 2020–21) as Judge Albert Campbell
Voice acting roles
- The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue (1998) as Narrator
- Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999) as Fido
- The Angry Beavers (1 episode, 1999) as Kid Friendly
- The Wild Thornberrys (1 episode, 2000) as Raju/Monkey
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2 episodes, 2000) as Major
- Recess: School's Out (2001) as Fenwick
- Balto II: Wolf Quest (2001) as Muru
- CatDog (1 episode, 2003) as Runt
- Justice League (2 episodes, 2005) as Chronos/David Clinton
- Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005) as Troopmaster
- Danny Phantom (3 episodes, 2003–06) as Sidney Poindexter
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (13 episodes, 2003–07) as X the Eliminator/Various
- The Batman (3 episodes, 2004–08) as Dr. Kirk Langstrom
- All Grown Up! (1 episode, 2007) as Armadillo Dave
- ChalkZone (1 episode, 2008) as Gore
- The Spectacular Spider Man (12 episodes, 2008–09) as Dr. Otto Octavius/Master Planner
- Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (2 episodes, 2010) as Oliver/Forever Knight #1/Mr. Webb
- G.I. Joe: Renegades (1 episode, 2011) as Firefly
- Batman: Arkham City (2011) as Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter
- Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
- Batman: Arkham Knight (2015)
- Young Justice (2010) (3 episodes, 2011–12) as Professor Ivo/Amazo/MONQI
- Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright (2013) as Dewey Ottoman
- Doc McStuffins (1 episode, 2013) as Egghead
- Star Wars Rebels (2 episodes, 2014) as Tseebo
- American Dad! (3 episodes, 2014–16) as Angel/Old Man Hanson/Santa's Elf
- Tangled: The Series (12 episodes, 2017–20) as Nigel the Advisor
Director
- Ally McBeal (3 episodes, 1998–99)
- Boston Public (1 episode, 2002)
This actor provides examples of:
- Large Ham: If you were expecting subtle then you’ve found the wrong guy. MacNicol eats scenery like a squirrel eats nuts.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: Started out as a dramatic actor, but was mostly cast in comic roles after Ghostbusters II.
- Old Shame: For some reason, he does not list Dragonslayer on his CV.
- Star-Derailing Role: His career fell victim to the unfortunate project that was Baby Geniuses, along with most of the rest of the cast.
