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). From 2011 to 2021, he starred as Frank Gallagher on the television series Shameless. He played Dr. David Morgenstern on ER (1994–2009).
Early life
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.
Career
After graduating from Goddard, Macy originated roles in a number of plays by collaborator David Mamet, such as American Buffalo and The Water Engine. While in Chicago in his twenties, he did a TV commercial. 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).
thumb|upright|Macy at the [[Peabody Awards|62nd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2003]]
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).
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.
thumb|upright|Macy in 2010
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.
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
thumb|right|Huffman and Macy at a ceremony where each received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 7, 2012]]
Macy and actress Felicity Huffman dated on-and-off for 15 years and married on September 6, 1997. They have two daughters.
Macy and Huffman appeared at a rally for John Kerry in 2004.
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.
Macy is a Lutheran.
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.
Stage appearances
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
!Venue
! Notes
!Ref.
|-
|1963
|Room Service
|
|Master Theatre, Off-Broadway
|
|
|-
|1968
|The Cannibals
|Uncle / Mad Mr. Reich
|The American Place Theatre, Off-Broadway
|
|
|-
|Twelfth Night
|Sebastian
| rowspan=2|Circle Theatre, Broadway
|
|
|-
| Hit Me
| Policeman
|
|-
| Ghosts of Mississippi
| Charlie Crisco
|
|-
| rowspan=4|1997
| Colin Fitz Lives!
| Mr. O'Day, Colin Fitz
|
|-
| Air Force One
| Major Caldwell
|
|-
| Boogie Nights
| Little Bill Thompson
|
|-
| Wag the Dog
| CIA Agent Charles Young
|
|-
| rowspan=5|1998
| Jerry and Tom
| Karl
|
|-
| Pleasantville
| George Parker
|
|-
| Psycho
| Detective Milton Arbogast
|
|-
| The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue
| Justin (voice)
|
|-
| A Civil Action
| James Gordon
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1999
| Happy, Texas
| Sheriff Chappy Dent
|
|-
| Mystery Men
| The Shoveler
|
|-
| Magnolia
| Quiz Kid Donnie Smith
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2000
| Panic
| Alex
|
|-
| State and Main
| Walt Price
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2001
| Jurassic Park III
| Paul Kirby
|
|-
| Focus
| Lawrence "Larry" Newman
|
|-
|2002
| Welcome to Collinwood
| Riley
|
|-
| rowspan=4|2003
| The Cooler
| Bernie Lootz
|
|-
| Stealing Sinatra
| John Irwin
|
|-
| Easy Riders, Raging Bulls
| Narrator (voice)
| Documentary
|-
| Seabiscuit
| Tick Tock McGlaughlin
|
|-
| rowspan=3|2004
| Spartan
| Stoddard
|
|-
| In Enemy Hands
| Chief of Boat Nathan Travers
|
|-
| Cellular
| Sgt. Bob Mooney
|
|-
| rowspan=3|2005
| Sahara
| Admiral James Sandecker
|
|-
| Edmond
| Edmond Burke
|
|-
| Thank You for Smoking
| Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre
|
|-
| rowspan=5|2006
| Doogal
| Brian the Snail (voice)
|
| Ted Summerhayes
|
|-
| Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
| Trevathan
|
|-
| rowspan=4|2025
| Train Dreams
| Arn Peeples
|
|-
| Soul on Fire
| Jack Buck
|
|-
| The Running Man
| Molie Jernigan
|
|-
| Frontier Crucible
| Major O'Rourke
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2026
| Brian
|
|
|-
| Speed Demon
| Father Novak
| Post-production
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1978
| The Awakening Land
| Will Beagle
| Miniseries; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| 1982
| Another World
| Frank Fisk
| Credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| rowspan=2|1983
| The Cradle Will Fall
| Ben Duffy
| rowspan=2|Television film, credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| Sitcom
| Chip Gooseberry
|-
| rowspan=2|1984
| The Boy Who Loved Trolls
| Socrates the Turtle
| Voice, television film; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| The Dining Room
| Arthur, Charlie, Architect, Billy, Nick, Fred, Tony, Standish
| Television film, credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| rowspan=2|1985
| Joanna
| Napoleon Flipper
| Short film; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| Hometown
| Loring Dixwell
| Episode: "Mary's Yen"; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| 1985–1988
| Spenser: For Hire
| Efrem Connors
| 3 episodes; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| 1986
| Kate & Allie
| Carl
| Episode: "General Hospital"; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| rowspan=2|1987
| The Equalizer
| Dr. Spaulding
| Episode: "Hand and Glove"; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| Alive from Off Center
| Uncredited
| Episode: "As Seen on TV"
|-
| rowspan=2|1988
| The Murder of Mary Phagan
| Randy
| Miniseries; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| Lip Service
| Farmer
| Television film; also director; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
| 1989
| Tattingers
| Myron
| Episode: "Tour of Doody"; credited as W.H. Macy
|-
|1990
| ABC Afterschool Specials
| Store Clerk
| Episode: "All That Glitters"
|-
|1990–1992
|Law & Order
|John McCormack, Powell
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan=6|1992
| In the Line of Duty: Siege at Marion
| Ray Daniels
| Television film
|-
| Civil Wars
| Donald Patchen
| Episode: "Denise and De Nuptials"
|-
| A Private Matter
| Psychiatrist
| rowspan=4|Television film
|-
| The Water Engine
| Charles Lang
|-
| A Murderous Affair: The Carolyn Warmus Story
| Sean Hammel
|-
| The Heart of Justice
| Booth
|-
|rowspan=2|1993
| Bakersfield P.D.
| Russell Karp
| Episode: "Cable Does Not Pay"
|-
| L.A. Law
| Bernard Ruskin
| Episode: "Rhyme and Punishment"
|-
| 1994–2009
| ER
| Dr. David Morgenstern
| Main role
|-
|1994
| Texan
| Doctor
| Short
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| In the Shadow of Evil
| Dr. Frank Teague
| Television film
|-
| Mystery Dance
| Bob Wilson
| Episode: "Episode #1.1"
|-
| rowspan=2|1996
| Andersonville
| Col. Chandler
| Miniseries
|-
| The Writing on the Wall
| Petrocelli
| Television film
|-
| rowspan=5|1998
| Superman: The Animated Series
| The Director (voice)
| Episode: "Where There's Smoke"
|-
| rowspan=2|2024
|The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
| Himself
| Episode: "Bitter Pill to Swallow"
|-
|Accused
| Raymond
| Episode: "Lorraine's Story"
|-
|TBA
|The Land
|Hank Durkin
|Main role
|}
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- William H. Macy at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- William H. Macy at AboutTheArtists