Bradley Whitford [Actor]

By: Editor | March 10, 2011 | Ten by Ten

Bradley Whitford has worked in the movie and television industry for more than 25 years. After graduating with a fine arts degree from The Juilliard School in New York, he actively pursued his passion for acting, working on both Hollywood productions and Broadway shows. He is best known for his Emmy Award-winning turns as Josh Lyman on NBC’s political drama The West Wing, as well as his role as villain Eric Gordon in Billy Madison (1995) opposite Adam Sandler. He also appeared on NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and currently stars as Dan Stark in the FOX police comedy series The Good Guys. His liberal political beliefs got him appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher, The Majority Report and The Al Franken Show. Whitford’s latest movie, The Cabin in the Woods, a 3-D horror film, will be released in January.

Name one person you most admire, past or present, and why?
Mary Hill. She lives in my hometown, Madison, Wis. She’s a single mother, abandoned when she was pregnant with her ninth child. She provided a warm and loving home for her family with no resources except her own capacity for hard work and her huge heart. She is 90 now and spends her time volunteering at a senior center. And she’s happy. And she’s funny. They don’t have awards shows for that.

How would you define happiness?
Being grateful for what you have. Not wanting more.

How would you define the role of art in modern society?
To add a dash of wisdom and humanity to the Information Age, to teach us how to be human.

What is the best career advice you’ve ever received, and who gave it to you?
“If there is anything that doesn’t have to go on, it’s the show.” — Louis Zorich.

What artist (musician, poet, painter, etc.) has had the greatest impact on your life and how?
Elia Kazan. Despite the controversy surrounding his decision to testify during the McCarthy hearings, his influence on everything I love about American stage and film is staggering. There is no James Dean without Kazan. No Tennessee Williams. No Arthur Miller. No Marlon Brando (and therefore, no Robert DeNiro, no Tony Kushner, no August Wilson, no Sean Penn, etc. …) He had the wisdom and strength to harness the unwieldy explosion of American method acting and put it in the service of great storytelling. He created a uniquely American aesthetic that was at once muscular and delicate. He knew how to nurture a script. He was fearless and experimental. And also, he was a great writer in his own right. His autobiography A Life is essential reading for anyone interested in show business.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Shoes. I am the Imelda Marcos of redundant, comfortable shoes. There are a lot of terrible things in this world, but we are living in a renaissance of shoe comfort. If the shoes aren’t right, I can’t act a lick.

How would you like to be remembered?
As a good father … who always wanted another take.

Favorite all-time …


Song: “Here Comes the Sun”

Movie: three-way tie — Dr. Zhivago, The Godfather Part II, A Streetcar Named Desire

Painting: A Flower by Mary Louisa Whitford

Book: nonfiction — Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Television by Neal Postman; fiction — Freedom by Jonathan Franzen; poetry — The Wellspring by Sharon Olds
TV
Show: All in the Family

How would you define love?
Unconditional, rigorous kindness and forgiveness.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?
Public financing for elections. Until that happens, our democracy is corrupt.
Also, I would love it if women had tails. It would be fascinating to see what they did with them.

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