Richard Schiff

Actor, Director, Producer

Birthdate: May 27, 1955

Birthplace: Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Richard was born in Bethesda, Maryland, the middle of three sons of Edward, a real estate lawyer, and Charlotte, a cable TV and publishing executive. His parents divorced when he was 12. He dropped out of high school and switched to night school because he could finish sooner with less work. He studied at the City College of New York (CCNY) in 1973. "In college when I tripped and fell over the drama program at the City College of New York, and went and got into the Professional Acting Training Program by fluke, and Earle Gister, who was, uh, had just come from Carnegie-Melon, and was on his way to the Yale School of Drama stopped for a little pit stop at the City College of New York for three years to run the Davis Center for Performing Arts. I was very lucky that he was there." After not bothering to show up for finals though, he headed to Colorado where he cut firewood and lived a hippie life. He returned to New York in 1975 and started studying acting at CCNY and eventually was accepted into their theater program. He initially disliked acting and studied to be a director. He directed several off-Broadway plays, including "Antigone" with a then just-graduated Angela Bassett in 1983. He also met present wife, Sheila Kelley, during auditions for this play. The two married in 1996. In the mid-1980s, Richard says he conquered his fears and decided to take a stab at acting. He got several TV roles, but he was seen by Steven Spielberg in an episode of the TV drama High Incident (1996). Spielberg then cast him in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) and his career has been on an upward climb ever since that has led to his co-starring role in The West Wing (1999).

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Previous (18)

2020 |
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PG-13
1h 40m
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5.8
Set between the New World (Heaven) and the Old World (Earth) the story follows the life and afterlife of Jonathan Stone and all of those lives around him from his past, present and future.
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2020 |
Clemency
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2020
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1h 52m
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As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
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2018 |
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2018 |
Shock and Awe
Shock and Awe
2018
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A group of journalists of the Knight-Ridder news service covering President George W. Bush's planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the President's claim that Saddam Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction."
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2017 |
Geostorm
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5.3
When the network of satellites designed to control the global climate starts to attack Earth, it's a race against the clock for its creator to uncover the real threat before a worldwide Geostorm wipes out everything and everyone.
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2016 |
American Fableas Jonathan
2015 |
Take Me to the Riveras Don
2014 |
Beach Pillowsas Henry Midwood
2013 |
Man of Steel
Man of Steel
2013
PG-13
2h 23m
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
7.0
An alien child is evacuated from his dying world and sent to Earth to live among humans. His peace is threatened, when other survivors of his home planet invade Earth.
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2012 |
Knife Fightas Dimitris Vargas
2010 |
The Infidelas Lenny Goldberg
2006 |
Civic Dutyas FBI Agent Tom Hilary
1999–2006 • 145 eps |
The West Wingas Toby Ziegler
1997 |
The Lost World: Jurassic Parkas Eddie Carr
1996 |
The Arrivalas Calvin
1995 |
Seven
Seven
1995
R
2h 7m
Crime, Drama, Mystery
8.6
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
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1993 |
Skinneras Eddie
1988 |
Medium Straightas Pat Harding