Gary Cole
Biography
Gary Cole is an American actor who came up through the Chicago stage and joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, then broke through on television as Jack Killian in Midnight Caller. Raised in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, he worked steadily in series, animation and film. He played Sheriff Lucas Buck in American Gothic, the vice president Bob Russell on The West Wing, and Kent Davison in Veep, which brought him an Emmy nomination and a SAG ensemble award shared with the cast. His best known film parts are Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and the boss Bill Lumbergh in Office Space (1999). Among his other films are One Hour Photo (2002), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Pineapple Express (2008) and In the Line of Fire (1993). He voices Harvey Birdman, Principal Shepherd on Family Guy and Dr. James Possible in Kim Possible.
70years old
Turns 71 on September 20in 342 days
- Born Park Ridge
- Star sign: VirgoThe sign runs August 23 to September 22
- Also credited as Gary Michael Cole
Movie Career
- Films
- 50
- Career span
- 29 years1993 to 2022
Genres
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Early training
Cole studied theater at Illinois State University, where he was a classmate of fellow future actors Laurie Metcalf and John Malkovich.
First role
Cole started acting professionally in Chicago in 1983, and in 1985 he became a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble.
Beyond film
Cole returned to the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in mid-2026 for Mia Chung's play Catch As Catch Can, playing the dual roles of Roberta Lavecchia and Robbie Lavecchia.
Gary Cole movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby2006 Action, Comedy, Sportas Reese Bobby
IMDb rating 6.6217K votes
Most often with
Mike Judge directed two of these films, Sam Raimi two and Betty Thomas two. Twelve actors appear in three of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Kevin Michael Richardson's page
Rob Paulsen's page
Stephen Root's page
John DiMaggio's page
Phil LaMarr's page
Carlos Alazraqui's page
All films by Mike Judge
All films by Sam Raimi
All films by Betty Thomas
Also three films together6 more actors
- Brian GeorgeBatman: Under the Red Hood (2010), Kim Possible: So the Drama (2005) and Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (2003)
- Jean SmartKim Possible: So the Drama (2005), Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (2003) and The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
- Christine TaylorDodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), A Very Brady Sequel (1996) and The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
- Shelley LongThe Brady Bunch in the White House (2002), A Very Brady Sequel (1996) and The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
- Christy Carlson RomanoKim Possible: So the Drama (2005), Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (2003) and Cadet Kelly (2002)
- David HermanBeavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (2022), The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022) and Office Space (1999)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Gary Cole's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$1.5 billion
25 of the 50 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 50 films: 25 worldwide figure; 4 us gross only; 12 never in cinemas; 9 figure not found.
- 25Worldwide figure
- 4US gross only
- 12Never in cinemas
- 9Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 76% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$184M12.2% of the total
- 2$177M11.7% of the total
- 3$168M11.1% of the total
- 4$163M10.8% of the total
- 5$161M10.7% of the total
- 6$102M6.7% of the total
- 7$100M6.6% of the total
- 8$94M6.2% of the total
$363 millionfrom the other 17 films with a worldwide figure, 24% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.