John C. McGinley

John C. McGinley
Years active	1986-Present
Spouse(s)	Lauren Lambert (1997 - 2001) (divorced) 1 child, Nicole Kessler (2007 - present) 1 child

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 Scrubs and Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's Platoon.

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 affinity 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 homosexual 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).

In the NFL season of 2007, McGinley plays the "Commish" of the More Taste League commercials for Miller Lite. He has also done commercials for the Champions Tour which is a professional golf tour for men over the age of 50.

Scrubs

Main article: Perry Cox

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.. 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; the 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 (born 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.

Filmography

• Platoon (1986)
• Wall Street (1987)
• Talk Radio (1988)
• Shakedown (1988)
• Prisoners of Inertia (1989)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
• Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
• Suffering Bastards (1990)
• Point Break (1991)
• Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
• Article 99 (1992)
• Cruel Doubt (1992)
• A Midnight Clear (1992)
• Hear No Evil (1993)
• Watch It (film) (1993)
• On Deadly Ground (1994)
• Surviving the Game (1994)
• Car 54, Where Are You? (1994)
• Wagons East! (1994)
• Se7en (1995)
• The Rock (1996)
• Set It Off (1996)
• flypaper (1997)
• Nothing to Lose (1997)
• The Pentagon Wars (1998)
• Target Earth (1998)
• Office Space (1999)
• Any Given Sunday (1999)
• Three to Tango (1999)
• The Jack Bull (1999)
• Get Carter (2000)
• Summer Catch (2001)
• The Animal (2001)
• Stealing Harvard (2002)
• Highway (2002)
• Identity (2003)
• Puff, Puff, Pass (2006)
• A.W.O.L. (2006)
• Wild Hogs (2007)
• Are We Done Yet? (2007)

Television work

• Clinton and Nadine (1988)
• Frasier (1994)
• The Practice (1997)
• Intensity (1997)
• Clone High (2002, Voice of Doug Prepcourse)
• Justice League Unlimited (2004, Voice of Dr. Ray Palmer/The Atom)
• The Boondocks (2005, Voice of White Shadow)
• Kim Possible (2003, Voice of White Stripe)
• Scrubs (2001-present)

External links

• John C. McGinley at IMDb