Timothy Busfield

Timothy Busfield

Timothy "Timmy B" Busfield (born June 12, 1957, in Lansing, Michigan), is an American actor and director best known for his Emmy-winning role as Eliot Weston on the television series thirtysomething and his recurring role as Danny Concannon on the television series The West Wing.

Biography

The son of university professors, Busfield as a boy frequently visited the Michigan State University drama department, where his father taught. His mother taught literature and enjoyed the company of writers. Busfield said he remembers coming home from school and finding his mother and English novelist Graham Greene sharing a drink at the kitchen table.

Busfield studied drama at East Tennessee State University and appeared with Actors Theatre of Louisville before traveling to New York and roles with Circle Repertory Company.

A baseball lover and amateur athlete, Busfield has moonlighted as a semi-pro pitcher.

He is the brother-in-law of fellow West Wing actor Joshua Malina.

TV and film

In 1984 Busfield landed his first major film part, as Arnold Poindexter in Revenge of the Nerds. He reprised the role in the sequel to that movie, Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise.

Busfield's first television series was Trapper John, M.D., in which he played the physician son of the title character. Immediately prior to being cast on the 1980s series thirtysomething, he was still often playing teenagers and young adults, and the producers of the show asked him to grow his beard so he'd look old enough for the role. He would win an Emmy Award for this controversial role. Later he was cast in the lead of other series, although none have lasted very long. Produced by Steven Spielberg, The Byrds of Paradise with Arlo Guthrie may be the most memorable for its setting in Hawaii and its offbeat characters.

In 1994, Busfield starred in the film Little Big League. Other film appearances include Sneakers, Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner and First Kid with comedian Sinbad.

Busfield went to London in 1993 to make the television film Wall Of Silence, in which he played Ephraim Lipshitz, a Mossad agent infiltrating a community of Hasidic Jews.

Recurring television roles include White House correspondent Danny Concannon on The West Wing; and the title character's incorrigible brother on the sitcom Ed, a show on which he was a co-executive producer and supervising producer.

Busfield also dabbles in directing television and has directed multiple episodes of thirtysomething, Without a Trace (on which he appeared as a divorce lawyer, in a wheelchair, for Jack Malone), and the Sorkin/Schlamme predecessor to The West Wing, Sports Night.

Beginning in September 2006, Busfield was a regular on the short lived Sorkin/Schlamme series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, where he played Cal Shanley, the fictional show's director. He also directed 6 episodes. After Studio 60, he continued to direct episodes of Las Vegas.

Television directing credits

• thirtysomething (1987  – 1991)
• Sports Night (1998  – 2000)
• Ed (2000  – 2004,)
• Without a Trace (2002  – )
• Las Vegas (2003-2004; 2007-)
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006  – 2007)
• Damages (2007)
• Lipstick Jungle (2008)

Stage and theater

Busfield remains a stage actor and director whose Broadway credits include A Few Good Men. With elder brother, Buck Busfield, he is co-founder of the B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California, where he has appeared in and directed numerous contemporary works. The Busfield brothers also established Fantasy Theatre, a touring troupe that plays to children.

Busfield writes children's plays for the Fantasy troupe.