Richard Schiff
Richard Schiff has enjoyed a lengthy and acclaimed career in film, television and theater. Raised in New York City, he developed a passion for film and theater at a very early age.
Schiff has received rave reviews for his role as Dr. Aaron Glassman on the ABC hit drama “The Good Doctor,” which stars Freddie Highmore as the incredibly gifted Dr. Shaun Murphy. He was also seen in HBO’s “Ballers” playing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s very successful and demanding boss, Brett Anderson. In addition, he had a recurring role on STARZ’s “Counterpart.”
Schiff began his career in New York, where he founded and served as the artistic director of the Manhattan Repertory Theater and directed off-Broadway productions, including “Antigone,” starring Angela Bassett. During this time, Schiff also completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater at City College of New York (CCNY). He then performed several plays with Tim Robbins’ Actors’ Gang.
He has established a prolific film career. Schiff played a civil rights attorney, opposite Alfre Woodard’s tour-de-force performance in the Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner “Clemency.” He played an influential art collector in “Vandal” and was seen in the dysfunctional family black comedy “After Class.” Additional appearances also include “Shock and Awe,” “Man of Steel,” “The Gambler,” “Kill the Messenger,” “Made in Dagenham” and “The Infidel.” His extensive film credits number more than 60, including “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “I Am Sam,” the Oscar®-nominated biopic “Ray,” “Se7en,” “Hoffa,” “Malcolm X,” “People I Know,” “Forces of Nature,” “City Hall,” “Crazy in Alabama,” “Deep Impact,” “Living Out Loud,” “Doctor Doolittle,” “My Life” and “The Hudsucker Proxy,” among numerous others.
Schiff’s television roles include his much-celebrated portrayal of White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler on “The West Wing,” for which he received the Best Supporting Actor Emmy® Award and garnered a total of three Emmy nominations. He played Don Cheadle’s conniving boss in Showtime’s “House of Lies.” In WGN America’s period drama “Manhattan,” he played the mysterious Mr. Fisher tasked with finding spies who are working in the Manhattan Project. In DirecTV’s crime drama “Rogue,” he played a Machiavellian Power Broker; and in Showtime’s “The Affair,” he played a high-profile New York attorney.
Schiff has maintained a strong presence in theater, appearing on Broadway opposite Al Pacino in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” as well as in the lead role in Eugene O’Neill’s “Hughie” at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He starred in the one-man show “Underneath the Lintel” in London’s West End, after performing the play previously at the George Street Playhouse. He has been the recipient of an Ovation Theater Award and a Drama-Logue Award.
In 2000, Schiff received the prestigious Townsend Harris medal from CCNY for outstanding post-graduate achievement. Past recipients include author Upton Sinclair, actor Edward G. Robinson and Dr. Jonas Salk. In 2004, CCNY granted Schiff the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, along with President Clinton and novelist Walter Mosley.
