Stephen Root

Stephen Root
Root in 2009
Born	(1951-11-17) November 17, 1951 Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Education	Vero Beach High School
Alma mater	University of Florida (AA, BFA)
Occupation(s)	Actor, voice actor
Years active	1988–present
Spouse(s)	Laura Joan Hase ​ ​ (m. 1984; div. 1997)​ Romy Rosemont ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	1

Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor and voice actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, as Milton Waddams in the film Office Space (1999), and as the voices of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill. His other roles have included Captain K'Vada in the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-part episode "Unification" (1991), Mr. Lund in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Gordon Pibb in DodgeBall (2004), Hawthorne Abendsen in seasons 2-4 of the series The Man in the High Castle, Jim Hudson in Get Out (2017), and supporting roles in a variety of HBO series, including Boardwalk Empire and Barry.

Early life

Root was born in Sarasota, Florida, the son of Leona Estelle and Rolland Clair Root, a project superintendent and site manager on major civil engineering projects throughout the United States and Mexico. Root has likened his childhood to that of an "Army brat", as his family frequently relocated while his father finished each construction project. Root graduated from Vero Beach High School in Vero Beach, Florida. He received his AA from the University of Florida and trained in the BFA acting program. The university recognized him as one of its distinguished alumni in 2008. Subsequently he was granted his BFA after completion of his final semester based on the quality and character of his acting career, having left college to pursue Broadway in his final semester.

Career

Among his most recognized television roles are eccentric billionaire Jimmy James on the sitcom NewsRadio and as the voice of divorced, down-and-out Army barber Bill Dauterive and Hank Hill's hedonistic boss Buck Strickland on the Fox animated television series King of the Hill (Root originally auditioned for the role of conspiracy theorist and pest control worker Dale Gribble). He had a recurring role on the final two seasons of The West Wing as Republican campaign consultant Bob Mayer. His most recognizable film roles to date are as the mumbling, quirky Milton Waddams in Office Space, as the mild-mannered gymrat Gordon Pibb in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, as Suds, a drunk sportswriter, in Leatherheads, and as the dimwitted principal in the 2008 Judd Apatow produced comedy Drillbit Taylor.

Root is a favorite of the Coen brothers. He has appeared in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Ladykillers, No Country For Old Men, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Kevin Smith wrote a role in Jersey Girl specifically for Root.

Root reunited with Mike Judge in Idiocracy and has also portrayed NASA flight director Chris Kraft in the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. He took on the biographical role of Richard A. Clarke in The Path to 9/11. He has also had many guest appearances in television programs across several genres. He was Klingon Captain K'Vada in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Unification" in 1991. In 1992, Root appeared on the TV series Night Court as Mr. Willard. In the 1993–1994 television season, Root appeared as a series regular as "R.O." on the Beau Bridges/Lloyd Bridges comedy/western series Harts of the West on CBS.

Root at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International, July 2011

Root guest-starred on Seinfeld, playing the role of a bank manager in the episode "The Invitations," handling Kramer's hello greeting issue. He had a role in Frasier in the episode "Detour" as the father of the family helping Frasier when his car broke down. In the CSI episode "Homebodies" he played the father of a rape victim. In addition, Root had a series regular role on the short-lived CBS series Ladies Man, which starred Sharon Lawrence soon after she left NYPD Blue. He played Raymond, a hunting store owner involved in illegal gun trading, in the 1993 In the Heat of the Night episode "A Love Lost."

Root also has an active career as a voice artist. Aside from his roles in King of the Hill, he has played various characters in animated films such as Ice Age, Finding Nemo, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. In other animated television, series regular roles include: Commander Chode in Tripping the Rift and Homebase in The X's. Additionally, he has provided guest-starring vocal talent in animated television series like Chowder and Teen Titans. He recently lent his voice to Batman: The Brave and the Bold as Woozy Winks and The Penguin.

Root has appeared in HBO's series True Blood as a vampire named Eddie. He also had a multi-episode arc in the second season of Pushing Daisies on ABC, playing the mysterious Dwight Dixon. He appeared as Johnny Forreals, inventor of the word "boo-yah," on an episode of Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program entitled "Cangamangus." He appeared in the 2009 comedy film The Men Who Stare at Goats as Gus Lacey. In 2010, he appeared in a multi-episode arc in season 8 of the Fox television series 24 as a probation officer named Bill Prady and in the FX television series Justified as the eccentric Judge Mike "The Hammer" Reardon. In 2011, he co-starred in Robert Redford's The Conspirator, playing John Lloyd, a key witness in the trial of alleged Lincoln conspirator Mary Surratt. In 2012, he began playing the role of Gaston Means in season 3 of the acclaimed HBO TV series Boardwalk Empire. He also portrays Lynn Boyle, father of Charles Boyle on the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In 2018, Root began starring in the HBO series Barry, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Personal life

Root married his first wife Laura Joan Hase in 1984, together they have a son; Cody Root. The couple divorced in 1997. He later married actress Romy Rosemont, on December 14, 2008. They co-starred together in several television shows such as Fringe and Masters of Sex.

Filmography

Live-action

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Crocodile Dundee II	DEA Agent (Toilet)
	Monkey Shines	Dean Burbage
1989	Black Rain	Berg
1990	Stanley & Iris	Mr. Hershey
	Ghost	Police Sgt.
1991	Guilty by Suspicion	RKO Guard
	V.I. Warshawski	Mickey
	Bed & Breakfast	Randolph
1992	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Gary Murray
1993	Dave	Don Durenberger
	RoboCop 3	Coontz
	Extreme Justice	Max Alvarez
1995	Bye Bye Love	Awakened Neighbor	Uncredited
	Night of the Scarecrow	Uncle Frank/The Sheriff
1998	Krippendorf's Tribe	Gerald Adams
1999	Office Space	Milton Waddams
	Natural Selection	Mr. Crenshaw	a.k.a. The Monster Hunter
	Bicentennial Man	Dennis Mansky – Head of NorthAm Robotics
	Gut Feeling	Kane Cohen
2000	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	Mr. Lund
2002	White Oleander	Michael	Scenes deleted
2003	Grind	Cameron
2004	Raising Genius	Dwight Nestor
	The Ladykillers	Fernand Gudge
	Jersey Girl	Greenie
	DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story	Gordon Pibb
	Surviving Christmas	Dr. Freeman
	Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie	Vince Masters
2005	Just Friends	KC
2006	Gretchen	Herb
	Idiocracy	Judge Hank "The Hangman" BMW
	The Frank Anderson	John Simon
2007	Cook Off!	Morty Van Rookle
	No Country for Old Men	Man who hires Wells
	Have Dreams, Will Travel	Sheriff Brock
	Sunny & Share Love You	Clive Anderson
2008	Mad Money	Glover
	Over Her Dead Body	Sculptor
	Drillbit Taylor	Principal Doppler
	Leatherheads	Suds
2009	Glock	Remington	Short film
	Bob Funk	Steve
	The Soloist	Curt Reynolds
	Imagine That	Fred Franklin
	The Men Who Stare at Goats	Gus Lacey
2010	Son of Mourning	Senator Lewis
	Unthinkable	Charlie
	The Conspirator	Witness
	Everything Must Go	Elliot
2011	Cedar Rapids	Bill Korgstad
	Red State	Sheriff Wynan
	J. Edgar	Arthur Koehler
2012	Big Miracle	Gov. Haskell
	The Company You Keep	Billy Cusimano
2013	Sweet Vengeance	Kingfisher	a.k.a. Sweetwater
	I Know That Voice	Himself	Documentary
	Bad Milo!	Roger
	The Lone Ranger	Habberman
2014	Selma	Al Lingo
	Lennon or McCartney	Himself	Short film
2015	Hello, My Name Is Doris	Todd
	7 Chinese Brothers	George
	Trumbo	Hymie King
2016	Miles	Ron Walton
	Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates	Burt Stangle
	Spectral	Dr. Mindala
2017	Get Out	Jim Hudson
	Infinity Baby	Fenton
	Three Christs	Dr. Rogers
2018	Life of the Party	Michael "Mike" Cook
	The Ballad of Buster Scruggs	Teller	Segment: "Near Algodones"
	On the Basis of Sex	Professor Brown
2019	Seberg	Walt Breckman
	Bombshell	Neil Mullen
2020	Four Good Days	Chris
	Uncle Frank	Daddy Mac
	Happily	Goodman	Post-production
	The Empty Man	Arthur Parsons	Post-production
TBA	Home	Father Browning

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Cross of Fire	Beggs	Television film
1990	Wiseguy	Bishop	Episode: "Dead Right"
	Roseanne	Peter Lundy	Episode: "Fender Bender"
	The Young Riders		Episode: "Bad Company"
	Head of the Class	Mr. Birch	Episode: "My Son the Primate"
1990–1991	Jake and the Fatman	Sgt. Moynihan / Hastings	2 episodes
1990–1992	Night Court	Mr. Willard / Spirit of Death	2 episodes
1990–1994	L.A. Law	Atty. Brandon McCafferty	4 episodes
1991	Davis Rules	Porter	Episode: "Soap"
	Golden Years	Major Moreland	Recurring role
	My Life and Times	Ross	Episode: "Our Wedding"
	Home Improvement	Exterminator	Episode: "Wild Kingdom"
	Sons and Daughters	Stevey	Episode: "Melanie"
	The Torkelsons	Sheriff Bobby Clinton	Episode: "I Fought the Law"
	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Captain K'Vada	2 episodes
1992	A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story	Kevin McDonald	Television film
	Eerie, Indiana	Mr. Chaney	Episode: "Mr. Chaney"
	Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, the Last Chapter	Kevin McDonald	Television film
	Murphy Brown	John Brophy	Episode: "Till Death or Next Thursday Do We Part"
	Civil Wars	Mrs. Caldecott's Lawyer	2 episodes
1993	Northern Exposure	Brother Timothy	Episode: "Revelations"
	The Golden Palace	Mr. Tucker	Episode: "You've Lost That Livin' Feeling"
	Quantum Leap	John Tremaine Jr.	Episode: "Goodbye Norma Jean - April 4, 1960"
	Class of '61		Television film
	Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story	Dr. Kirby	Television film
	Sirens	George Bailey	Episode: "Looks Like Christmas"
	Blossom	Louie	4 episodes
	In the Heat of the Night	Raymond Mercer	Episode: "A Love Lost"
1993–1994	Harts of the West	R.O	Main role
1994	NYPD Blue	IAB Sgt. Fulmer	Episode: "Guns 'n Rosaries"
	Party of Five	Football Coach	Episode: "Good Sports"
	Sweet Justice		Episode: "High School Confidential"
	Diagnosis: Murder	Charlie Lane	Episode: "The Last Laugh: Part 2"
1995	Chicago Hope	Trumpet Playing Mental Patient	Episode: "Love and Hope"
	Cybill	Phil Asher	Episode: "Starting on the Wrong Foot"
	Christy	Clarence Sweetwater	Episode: "To Have and to Hold"
	VR.5	F.A.A. Negotiator	Episode: "Control Freak"
	In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice	Jaan Laaman	Television film
1995–1999	NewsRadio	Jimmy James	Main role
1996	Seinfeld	Mr. Lager	Episode: "The Invitations"
	The Lottery	Graham Dunbar	Television film
	Pandora's Clock	Mark Hastings	Miniseries
	The Road to Galveston	Ed Kirkman	Television film
1998	From the Earth to the Moon	Chris Kraft	Main role
	Profiler	Houston Plant Manager	Episode: "The Root of All Evil"
1999–2001	Ladies Man	Gene	Main role
2001	Me & My Needs		Television film
	The Andy Dick Show	Manager of 98+1 Store	Episode: "Andy Land"
	The Norm Show	Mr. Sweeney	2 episodes
	DAG	Senator Culpepper	Episode: "Smoke"
	Ed	George MacPherson	Episode: "Changes"
2002	Dexter Prep	Charles	Television film
	Malcolm in the Middle	John Pratt	2 episodes
	Just Shoot Me!	Dr. Drake Kelson	Episode: "Blush Gets Some Therapy"
	According to Jim	Al Crannis	Episode: "The Christmas Party"
2002–2004	Grounded for Life	Tony Bustamante	3 episodes
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Michael Kirkwood	Episode: "Homebodies"
2004	Frasier	Harbin	Episode: "Detour"
2005–2006	The West Wing	Bob Mayer	Recurring role
2006	The Path to 9/11	Richard Clarke	Miniseries
2007	Slacker Cats	Tommy	Unknown episodes
2008	Head Case	Pat Jennings	Episode: "Come Together"
	Boston Legal	Ethan Melman	Episode: "Tabloid Nation"
	The Sarah Silverman Program	Johnny Forrealz	Episode: "Kangamangus"
	Pushing Daisies	Dwight Dixon	Recurring role
2008–2009	True Blood	Eddie	4 episodes
2009	Californication	Ricardo Collini	Episode: "Slow Happy Boys"
2010	24	Bill Prady	3 episodes
	The Defenders	Judge Taylor	Episode: "Pilot"
	Louie	Dr. Heppa	Episode: "Dentist/Tarese"
2010–2014	Justified	Judge Mike Reardon	Recurring role
2011	Childrens Hospital	Hank Maestro	Episode: "Party Down"
	Fringe	Raymond	Episode: "And Those We've Left Behind"
	Raising Hope	Cap Collins	Episode: "Sabrina Has Money"
2012	The Good Wife	Judge Murphy Wicks	2 episodes
	Outlaw Country	Frank	Television film
2012–2013	Boardwalk Empire	Gaston Means	Recurring role
2013	The Newsroom	General Stanislao Stomtonovich	2 episodes
	The Arrangement	Avery Boomer	Television film
2014	Fargo	Burt Canton	2 episodes
	The Big Bang Theory	Dan	2 episodes
	Hot in Cleveland	Brian	Episode: "The Bachelors"
2014–2015	Turn: Washington's Spies	Nathaniel Sackett	4 episodes
	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Lynn Boyle	4 episodes
2014–2017	Idiotsitter	Kent Russell	Main role
2016	Workaholics	Carty	Episode: "Gone Catfishing"
	All the Way	J. Edgar Hoover	Television film
	Masters of Sex	Harvey Toplin	Episode: "Topeka"
	Con Man	Pascal	Episode: "New Deal, No Deal"
2016–2019	The Man in the High Castle	Hawthorne Abendsen	Recurring role
2017	Angie Tribeca	Mortimer Begoyle	Episode: "License to Drill"
	Veep	Judge Walsh	Episode: "Judge"
2018–present	Barry	Monroe Fuches	Main role
2020	Perry Mason	Maynard Barnes

Voice roles

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Tripping the Rift	Chode
2002	Ice Age	Frank / Start
	The Country Bears	Zeb
2003	Finding Nemo	Bubbles
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Aardvark Dad
	The Fox and the Hound 2	Talent Scout	Direct-to-video
2008	Tripping the Rift: The Movie	Chode
2009	Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts	Turtle
2010	Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare	Burt
2011	Rango	Doc and Merrimack
	Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz	Uncle Henry / Crows	Direct-to-video
	Batman: Year One	Lt. Branden
2013	Superman: Unbound	Zor-El
2015	Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz	Uncle Henry
	Finding Dory	Bubbles
2016	Looking for the Jackalope	The Jackalope

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Johnny Bravo	Timmy's Dad / Announcer	Episode: "Johnny Real Good"
1997–2010	King of the Hill	Bill Dauterive, Buck Strickland	Main role
1999	Superman: The Animated Series	Revered Amos Howell/Unity	Episode: "Unity"
	The Sissy Duckling	Big Ducky	Television film
	Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot	Dr. Donovan	Unknown episodes
2000	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command	Sheriff / Sentry No. 2	3 episodes
2001	The Legend of Tarzan	Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt	Episode: "Tarzan and the Rough Rider"
2002	The Proud Family	Mr. Andrews	Episode: "I Had a Dream"
	Justice League	Cat Man	2 episodes
	Teamo Supremo	The Angler / Billy Jim Dixon; Fishmonger No. 1	Episode: Angler's Angle
2002–2005	Kim Possible: So the Drama	Cowboy Gambler
	Kim Possible	Various characters	Recurring role
2004	Brandy & Mr. Whiskers	Santa Claus	Episode: "On Whiskers, on Lola, on Cheryl, on Meryl"
2004–2007	Tripping the Rift	Chode	Main role
2005	Teen Titans	Val Yor	Episode: "TROQ"
2005–2006	The X's	Homebase	Main role
2005–2007	American Dad!	Dick / Dentist's Father	Recurring role
2007	Random! Cartoons	Lance	Episode: "Squirly Town"
	WordGirl	Professor Robert Tubing	Episode: "Lady Redundant Woman/A Game of Cat & Mouse"
2008	Chowder	Stilton/Dancer	Episode: "The Apprentice Games"
2010	Glenn Martin, DDS	Hoss Willicker	2 episodes
2010–2011	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin	4 episodes
2011	The Life & Times of Tim	Lou	Episode: "The Caddy's Shack/The Sausage Salesman"
	Thundercats	Drifter / Hattanzo the Swordmaker	Voice; Episode: "The Duelist and the Drifter"
2011–2016	Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness	Master Junjie	Recurring role
2011–2017	Adventure Time	The Royal Tart Toter, Grimby, Martin	Recurring role
2012	Young Justice	Jack Haly	Episode: "Performance"
	The Legend of Korra	Hobo / White Lotus Leader / Phonograph Vendor	2 episodes
2012–2013	Dragons: Riders of Berk	Mildew	Recurring role
	The Cleveland Show	Neighbors Kellogg / Allister Monkarsh	Voice; 2 episodes
2012–2016	Gravity Falls	Bud Gleeful / additional characters	Recurring role
2013	Out There	Mr. Shooty	Episode: "Frosty King"
	Bee and PuppyCat	Farmer	Episode: "Farmer"
2014	Mike Tyson Mysteries	Thomas J. Watson	Episode: "Ultimate Judgment Day"
	Phineas and Ferb	Floyd	2 episodes
	Gravity Falls TV Shorts	Bud Gleeful	Episode: "TV Shorts 1"
2015–2016	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Brian / additional voices	2 episodes
2016	Guardians of the Galaxy	Neeza	Episode: "Jingle Bell Rock"
2017	Niko and the Sword of Light	Diggantus / Exuber-Ant	Episode: "From the Tunnels of Terror to the Den of Doom"
2018	Mr. Pickles	Mr. Montgomery	Episode: "Telemarketers Are the Devil"
	Dallas & Robo	Uncle Danny	Main role
	The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants	Mr. Morty Fyde	Episode: "Captain Underpants and the Squishy Predicament of Stanley Peet's Stinky Pits"
2019	Amphibia	Mayor Toadstool	Recurring role
	Summer Camp Island	Stuart / Additional Voices	Episode: "The Library"
	BoJack Horseman	Jeremiah Whitewhale	Episode: "Feel-Good Story"
	Bless the Harts	Rick Ocean	Episode: "Pig Trouble in Little Greenpoint"
2020	DuckTales	J. W. Guidebook	Episode: "Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!"
	The Midnight Gospel	Bill Tart	Episode: "Vulture With Honor"
	Masters of the Universe: Revelation	Cringer
	Adventure Time: Distant Lands	Mr. M	Episode: "BMO"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Blade Runner	Early Q
2000	Deus Ex	Mechanic	Uncredited
2003	Finding Nemo	Bubbles

Theme parks

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage	Bubbles	Short film

External links

• Stephen Root at IMDb