Dylan Baker

Dylan Baker
Baker in 2007
Born	(1959-10-07) October 7, 1959 Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Education	College of William and Mary Southern Methodist University (BFA) Yale University (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Becky Ann Baker ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	1

Dylan Baker (born October 7, 1959) is an American actor. He gained recognition for his roles in films such as Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Happiness (1998), Thirteen Days (2000), Road to Perdition (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Trick 'r Treat (2007), Revolutionary Road (2008), Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), and Selma (2014). On television he has had prominent roles in series such as Murder One (1995–1996), The Good Wife (2010–2015), Damages (2011), The Americans (2016), and Homeland (2018). For The Good Wife he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Baker was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in the original production of La Bête in 1991. He made his directorial debut with the film 23 Blast in 2013.

Early life and education

Baker was born in Syracuse, New York and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia. He began his acting career as a teenager in regional theater productions. He attended Holy Cross Regional Catholic School, went on to attend Darlington School, and graduated from the Georgetown Preparatory School in 1976.

Baker attended the College of William and Mary in Virginia and later graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1980. He then received a Master's in Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama, where he studied alongside Chris Noth and Patricia Clarkson.

Career

Baker's Broadway theatre credits include Eastern Standard, La Bête (for which he received a Tony Award nomination), Mauritius, and God of Carnage. He won an Obie Award in 1986 for his performance in the off-Broadway play Not About Heroes. The next year, he made his motion picture debut in the feature film Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987).

Baker's first recurring TV role was on Steven Bochco's highly acclaimed Murder One (1995). Since then, he has appeared in such TV series as Northern Exposure, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The West Wing, and the short-lived sitcom The Pitts.

He garnered major critical attention with his performance as a tormented pedophile in Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998). In 2000, he portrayed Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in Thirteen Days, a historical drama about the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also held a small role in Requiem for a Dream, where he played a doctor who sees Jared Leto's character with a severely infected, rotting arm. In 2002 he portrayed Alexander Rance, an accountant for the Chicago Outfit, in Road to Perdition. He played Dr. Curt Connors in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).

During the short-lived 2007 series Drive, Baker played the role of John Trimble, a father with a terminal illness. In 2009, Baker played William Cross in NBC's Kings, in which his wife Becky Ann Baker played Jessie Shepherd, the mother of protagonist David Shepherd. Baker also guest starred in an episode of Monk, playing a theater critic in "Mr. Monk and the Critic". Baker guest starred in the November 2010 House episode "A Pox on Our House". Baker guest starred in the season four finale of Burn Notice as Raines, an old spy friend of Michael's. He reprised the role in the season five premiere, and also permitted his likeness to be used in the Burn Notice graphic novel "A New Day". In 2010, Baker played Hollis B. Chenery in Secretariat.

Baker played Pashto-speaking CIA agent Jerry Boorman in season 4 of the TV series Damages. He guest-starred in "Upper West Side Story" (2012), an episode of the TV series White Collar. He had a recurring role as the father of Katharine McPhee's character Karen Cartwright on the NBC TV series Smash. He appeared in the USA Network miniseries Political Animals (2012). For his performance as Colin Sweeney on The Good Wife, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

Baker performed with Helen Mirren on Broadway in The Audience, a play that depicted meetings between Queen Elizabeth II and important historical figures. Baker played former Prime Minister John Major. The play opened on March 8, 2015.

Baker portrays corrupt DEA Agent Bill Peterson in the seventh season on The Mentalist.

In 2016, Baker had a memorable recurring role as deep-cover KGB agent William Crandall, a morally conflicted biological weapons expert, on Season 4 of FX series The Americans.

In September 2017, it was announced that Baker would be joining the cast of the Showtime drama Homeland for the show's 7th season, as Sen. Sam Paley, a 'maverick' who is leading an excessive investigation of the administration of new President Elizabeth Keane.

He starred in the 2020 series Hunters, in which his wife had a supporting role.

Audiobooks

Baker is a prolific narrator of audiobooks, from fiction (The Grapes of Wrath, The Corrections) to biographies (Steve Jobs) to Argo.

He received the 2002 Audie Award for Abridged Fiction for his reading of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. He has also recorded Franzen's 2015 novel Purity.

Personal life

In 1990, Baker married actress Becky Gelke, now known professionally as Becky Ann Baker. They have a daughter and reside in New York City.

On September 1, 2015, Baker tried to save the life of his neighbor, Broadway and movie actress and dancer Vivien Eng, when her apartment caught fire in the New York City high-rise where they both lived. Unfortunately, he was driven back by smoke and fire. Firefighters eventually got the seriously injured woman out of the apartment and rushed her to the hospital, where she died two days later.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Ishtar	Aghast Nightclub Patron	Uncredited
	Planes, Trains and Automobiles	Owen
1988	The Wizard of Loneliness	Duffy Kahler
1990	The Long Walk Home	Tunker Thompson
1991	Delirious	Blake Hedison
1992	Passed Away	Unsworth
	Love Potion No. 9	Prince Geoffrey
1993	Life with Mikey	Mr. Burns
1994	Radioland Murders	Detective Jasper
	Disclosure	Philip Blackburn
1995	The Stars Fell on Henrietta	Alex Wilde
1996	True Blue	Michael Suarez, S.J.
1998	Happiness	Bill Maplewood
	Celebrity	Priest At Catholic Retreat
1999	Simply Irresistible	Jonathan Bendel
	Random Hearts	Richard Judd
	Oxygen	FBI Agent Jackson Lantham
2000	Committed	Carl's Editor
	Requiem for a Dream	Southern Doctor
	The Cell	Henry West
	Thirteen Days	Robert McNamara
2001	The Tailor of Panama	General Dusenbaker
	Along Came a Spider	Ollie McArthur
2002	Road to Perdition	Alexander Rance
	A Gentleman's Game	Mr. Price
	Changing Lanes	Finch
2003	Head of State	Martin Geller
	How to Deal	Steve Beckwith
	Rick	'Buck'
2004	Spider-Man 2	Dr. Curt Connors
	Kinsey	Alan Gregg
2005	Hide and Seek	Sheriff Hafferty
2006	The Matador	Mr. Lovell
	Stealing Martin Lane	Parker Banks
	Fido	Bill Robinson
	Let's Go to Prison	Warden
2007	When a Man Falls	Bill
	Spider-Man 3	Dr. Curt Connors
	The Hunting Party	CIA Operative
	Across the Universe	Mr. Carrigan – Lucy's Father
	The Stone Angel	Marvin Shipley
	Trick 'r Treat	Principal Steven Wilkins
2008	Diminished Capacity	'Mad Dog' McClure
	Revolutionary Road	Jack Ordway
2009	Under New Management	Legal Aid Lawyer
2010	Secretariat	Hollis Chenery
2011	About Sunny	Max
2012	2 Days in New York	Ron
2013	23 Blast	Larry Freeman	Director
	Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues	Freddy Shapp
2014	The Humbling	Dr. Farr
	Selma	J. Edgar Hoover
2015	Actor Seeks Role	Dr. Freidman	Short film
	Applesauce	Stevie Bricks
	Nightfire	Olivetti	Short film
	The Benefactor	Bobby
2016	Catfight	Dr. Jones
	Miss Sloane	Jon O'Neill
2017	The Misogynists	Cameron
2018	Elizabeth Harvest	Logan
2019	Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile	David Yokum
2022	I'm Charlie Walker	Mr. Bennett
2023	LaRoy, Texas	Harry
	Dream Scenario	Richard

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	A Case of Deadly Force	Kevin O'Donnell	Television movie
1988	The Murder of Mary Phagan	The Governor's Assistant	2 episodes
	Miami Vice	Lt. Edward Jerell	Episode: "Honor Among Thieves?"
	Spenser: For Hire	Sam Reynolds	Episode: "Substantial Justice"
	American Playhouse	George 'Jig' Cook	Episode: "Journey Into Genius"
1990	Judgment	Father Delambre	Television movie
1991	Law & Order	Sean Hyland	Episode: "His Hour Upon the Stage"
1993	Return to Lonesome Dove	Nigel Winston, Cattleman's Alliance	3 episodes
	Northern Exposure	Jeffy O'Connell	Episode: "Grosse Pointe, 48230"
	Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage	Curtis Pinger	Television movie
1995–96	Murder One	Det. Arthur Polson	18 episodes
1997	Feds	Jack Gaffney	Episode: "Smoking Gun"
1998	Law & Order	Aaron Downing	Episode: "Flight"
	Oz	Schillinger's Defense Attorney	Episode: "Great Men"
2000	Strangers with Candy	Minister Arsenew	Episode: "Is Freedom Free?"
2001	Big Apple	Inspector Bob Cooper	2 episodes
	The Practice	Sen. Keith Ellison	2 episodes
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Father Powell	Episode: "Alter Boys"
2002	The Laramie Project	Rulon Stacey	Television movie
	Benjamin Franklin	Benjamin Franklin	3 episodes
2003	The Pitts	Bob Pitt	7 episodes
	The West Wing	Attorney General Alan Fisk	Episode: "Abu el Banat"
	The Elizabeth Smart Story	Ed Smart	Television movie
2004–06, 2022–23	Law & Order	Sanford Rems	5 episodes
2004	Third Watch	Councilman Daniels	Episode: "Broken"
	Life as We Know It	Roland Conner	2 episodes
2005	Without a Trace	Brian Stone	Episode: "Manhunt"
2006	The Book of Daniel	Roger Paxton	6 episodes
2007	Drive	John Trimble	6 episodes
2009	Kings	William Cross	12 episodes
	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Henry Muller	Episode: "Major Case"
	Monk	John Hannigan	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Critic"
	Ugly Betty	Bennett Wallis	3 episodes
2010–15	The Good Wife	Colin Sweeney	8 episodes
2010	House	Dr. Dave Broda	Episode: "A Pox on Our House"
2010–11	Burn Notice	Raines	2 episodes
2011	Damages	Jerry Boorman	10 episodes
2012	White Collar	Andy Woods	Episode: "Upper West Side Story"
	Political Animals	Fred Collier	5 episodes
2012–13	Smash	Roger Cartwright	3 episodes
2013	Zero Hour	FBI Chief Terrence Fisk	3 episodes
2013–14	Chicago Fire	Dr. David Arata	2 episodes
2014	Turks & Caicos	Gary Bethwaite	Television movie
	Chicago P.D.	Dr. David Arata	Episode: "8:30 PM"
2015	The Mentalist	Bill Peterson	2 episodes
2016	The Americans	William Crandall	8 episodes
	Confirmation	Orrin Hatch	Television movie
2016–20	Blindspot	FBI Director Pellington	6 episodes
2017	Difficult People	Tourist	Episode: "Criminal Minds"
	Little Women	Robert March	3 episodes
2017–18	The Good Fight	Colin Sweeney	2 episodes
	I'm Dying Up Here	Johnny Carson	5 episodes
2018	Elementary	Armand Venetto	Episode: "The Adventure of the Ersatz Sobekneferu"
	Homeland	Senator Sam Paley	8 episodes
2020–23	Hunters	Biff Simpson	11 episodes
2020	Social Distance	Neil Currier	Episode: "Humane Animal Trap"
2021	Evil	Father Kay	2 episodes
	The Hot Zone: Anthrax	Ed Copak	6 episodes
2022	The Resort	Carl	4 episodes
	Inside Man	Casey	4 episodes
	Would I Lie to You? (US)	Himself	Episode: "Singing Waitress"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
1989	Eastern Standard	Stephen Wheeler	John Golden Theatre, Broadway
1991	La Bête	Prince Conty	Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway
2007	Mauritius	Phillip	Biltmore Theatre, Broadway
2008	November	Archer Brown	Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
2009	God of Carnage	Alan (replacement)	Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway
2015	The Audience	John Major	Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway
2016	The Front Page	McCue	Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway
2018	Bernhardt/Hamlet	Constant Coquelin	American Airlines Theatre, Broadway
2024	Corruption	Tom Crone / Glenn Mulcaire	Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, Lincoln Center

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Project	Result	Ref.
1991	Tony Award	Best Featured Actor in a Play	La Bête	Nominated
1998	Gotham Award	Breakthrough Actor	Happiness	Won
	Independent Spirit Award	Best Male Lead		Nominated
	National Board of Review	Best Cast		Won
	New York Film Critics Circle Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2008	Palm Springs International Film Festival	Best Cast	Revolutionary Road	Won
2010	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	The Good Wife	Nominated
2012				Nominated
2014				Nominated
2012	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series	Damages	Nominated
2013	Critics' Choice Movie Award	Best Acting Ensemble	Selma	Nominated
	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Cast		Nominated
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Nominated

External links

• Dylan Baker at IMDb
• Dylan Baker at AllMovie
• Dylan Baker at the Internet Off-Broadway Database