John C. McGinley

John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter, most notable for his roles as Perry Cox in NBC's comedy Scrubs and Sergeant Red O'Neil in Oliver Stone's Platoon. He has appeared in a total of six films directed by Oliver Stone.

Biography

Early life

McGinley, one of five children, was born in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, the son of Patricia, a schoolteacher, and Gerald McGinley, a stockbroker. His paternal great-grandfather was from Donegal, Ireland. McGinley was raised in Millburn, New Jersey, and attended Millburn High School, where he played wide receiver for the school's football team. He studied acting at Syracuse University, and later at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Upon completing his education, McGinley did a variety of different work, including Off Broadway and Broadway productions, and a two-year stint on the soap opera Another World.

At the age of 20, McGinley was a ball spotter at the 1980 U.S. Open. While on the job, he exchanged a few words with professional golfer Arnold Palmer.

On the first hole, Arnold Palmer pulled his drive into a bunker and had a nasty fried-egg lie. When he got there, I asked, "What ball are you playing, Arnie?" He just glared at me and said, "A 'Palmer,' jackass!"

Career

McGinley (also known as Johnny C. and sometimes credited as John McGinley), has had a prolific career, primarily as a supporting character actor. While working as John Turturro's understudy in John Patrick Shanley's 1984 production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea he was noticed by a casting scout, which led to an audition for the role of Sergeant Red O'Neill in the Oscar-winning Platoon, although his first movie role was Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty (1986). That was followed the next year with Wall Street (1987), and again the next with Talk Radio (1988). He also was featured in a 1980s Subaru commercial. He appeared in the "Celebrity Challenge" version of American Gladiators, losing to Dean Cain. McGinley wrote the script for 1990s Suffering Bastards, in which he also co-starred.

He worked continually throughout the 1990s, appearing in films such as Point Break (1991), Article 99 (1992), Wagons East! (1994), Se7en (1995), The Rock (1996), Nothing to Lose (1997) and Office Space (1999) (McGinley improvised several takes about his character's fondness for Michael Bolton). Most recently, he had a role as Chuck in the film Are We Done Yet? He has also had a small role as a gay highway patrolman in the Touchstone Pictures film Wild Hogs.

McGinley has done voiceover work on animated television series, including the superhero The Atom on several episodes of Justice League Unlimited, a guest appearance as "The White Shadow," the secret government agent overseeing Huey Freeman on The Boondocks, as well as the lead character in the Sony PSP video game Dead Head Fred.

McGinley received critical acclaim for his performance as a serial killer in Dean Koontz's suspense drama, Intensity (1997). It became Fox's highest-rated miniseries. He worked with Koontz and Fox once more in Sole Survivor (2000).

Since the NFL season of 2007, McGinley has played the "Commish" of the More Taste League commercials for Miller Light. He has also done commercials for the Champions Tour, a professional golf tour for men over the age of 50. In 2008, McGinley was the narrator of the documentary of the Detroit Red Wings' 2008 Stanley Cup Championship.

McGinley has also written the book Untalkative Bunny: How to Be Heard Without Saying a Word, released (2005) and published by Big Tent Entertainment.

Scrubs

In 2001, McGinley began work as a regular on the NBC sitcom Scrubs as the acerbic Dr. Perry Cox. Throughout the series Dr. Cox acts as an unwilling mentor to the protagonist J.D. (Zach Braff). McGinley has said that there are three things over the course of the series that he improvises: his constant usage of girls' names for JD, which he does with all his real friends; his whistle, which he describes as "a bad habit"; and his habit of touching his nose, a tribute to Paul Newman's character in The Sting; he says the gesture means "It's gonna be OK.

Personal life

In February 1997, McGinley married Lauren Lambert. Their child Max, born that year, has Down syndrome. In December 2001, Lambert and McGinley divorced. In August 2006, McGinley became engaged to yoga instructor Nichole Kessler in Malibu, whom he had dated for two years. The couple were married on April 7, 2007 in a private ceremony at their home. They have one daughter together, Billie Grace, who was born on February 2, 2008. In October 2002, he was chosen as "Dad of the Month" at iParenting.com.

He owns a stake in one of Billy Gilroy's New York SoHo bistros along with fellow actor Willem Dafoe. He is a close friend of John Cusack.

In 2006, McGinley served as the national spokesperson for the National Down Syndrome Society's annual Buddy Walk.

Malibu Mob

McGinley maintains a home in Malibu, California and is well-known as a member of the Malibu Mob, a group of celebrity friends and neighbors including John Cusack, Tony Danza, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios, big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, beach volleyball pro Gabrielle Reece, and tennis player John McEnroe.

Filmography

Television work

Clinton and Nadine (1988)
Frasier as a plumber in the episode "Seat of Power" (1994)
The Practice (1997)
Intensity (1997)
Scrubs (2001-present)
Clone High (2002, Voice of Doug Prepcourse)
Justice League Unlimited (2004, Voice of Dr. Ray Palmer/The Atom and Phil O'Banion)
The Boondocks (2005, Voice of White Shadow)
Kim Possible (2003, Voice of White Stripe)