Joshua Aaron Charles (born September 15, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for the roles of Dan Rydell on Sports Night; Will Gardner on The Good Wife, which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations; and his early work as Knox Overstreet in Dead Poets Society.
Josh Charles | |
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![]() Charles at Toronto International Film Festival 2014 | |
Born | Joshua Aaron Charles (1971-09-15) September 15, 1971 (age 51) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1988–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
He is the son of Allan Charles, an advertising executive.[1][2][3] He's Jewish on his father's side and has described himself as Jewish.[4][5] He began his career performing comedy at the age of nine. As a teenager, he spent several summers at Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in New York, and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts.
Charles' film debut was in fellow Baltimore native John Waters' Hairspray in 1988. The following year, he starred alongside Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke in the Oscar-winning Dead Poets Society. Subsequent film roles have included Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Threesome, Pie in the Sky, Muppets from Space, S.W.A.T, Four Brothers, After.Life, Crossing the Bridge and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
On television, Charles played sports anchor Dan Rydell in Aaron Sorkin's Emmy Award-winning Sports Night, which ran for two years (1998–2000) on ABC and earned Charles a Screen Actors Guild nomination. In 2008, Charles played the role of Jake in season one of HBO's In Treatment. In 2009, he returned to network television in the CBS drama The Good Wife. For his work on the series, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2014. In 2022, Charles starred in We Own This City, an HBO limited series from David Simon.[6]
In 1986, Charles headlined a production of Jonathan Marc Sherman's Confrontation. In 2004, he appeared on stage in New York in a revival of Neil LaBute's The Distance From Here, which received a Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble Cast. In January 2006, he appeared in the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Well-Appointed Room for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, and followed this with a run at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, portraying the cloned brothers in Caryl Churchill's A Number. In 2007, he appeared in Adam Bock's The Receptionist at the Manhattan Theatre Club. In 2011, Charles was the narrator of the debut episode for NFL Network's A Football Life on New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.[7]
In September 2013, Charles married ballet dancer and author Sophie Flack.[8][9] On December 9, 2014, Flack gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Rocco.[10] On August 23, 2018, Charles revealed on his Instagram that Flack gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Eleonor.[11]
He is a fan of the Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles. In a few films, he donned an Oriole baseball cap.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1990 | Murder in Mississippi | Andrew Goodman | Television movie |
1993 | Cooperstown | Jody | Television movie |
1996 | Norma Jean & Marilyn | Eddie Jordan | Television movie |
1997 | The Underworld | Ehrlich | Television movie |
1998–2000 | Sports Night | Dan Rydell | 45 episodes |
2002 | Our America | Dave Isay | Television movie |
2005 | Stella | Jeremy | Episode: "Meeting Girls" |
2007 | Six Degrees | Ray Jones | 4 episodes |
2008 | In Treatment | Jake | 8 episodes |
2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Sean Kelley | Episode: "Confession" |
2009–2016 | The Good Wife | Will Gardner | 107 episodes, also director (3 episodes) |
2014–2016 | Inside Amy Schumer | Various | 4 episodes |
2015 | Masters of Sex | Dan Logan | 10 episodes |
2015 | Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp | Blake | 6 episodes |
2016–2017 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Duke Snyder | 5 episodes |
2016–2019 | Drunk History | Various | 3 episodes |
2017 | Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later | Blake | 6 episodes |
2017 | Law & Order True Crime | Dr. Jerome Oziel | 7 episodes |
2017 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Forensic Scientist | Episode: "Forensic Science" |
2019 | The Loudest Voice | Casey Close | 3 episodes |
2020 | Away | Matt Logan | 10 episodes |
2021 | Law & Order: Organized Crime | Vince Baldi | Episode: "Forget it, Jake; It's Chinatown" |
2022 | We Own This City | Daniel Hersl | Miniseries, main cast |
Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
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2000 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Sports Night | Nominated |
2000 | Viewers for Quality Television | Best Actor in a Quality Comedy Series | Nominated | |
2010 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The Good Wife | Nominated |
2010 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
2011 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
2011 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
2012 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
2012 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
2014 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
2014 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Nominated | |
2014 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Dramatic Television Actor | Won | |
2014 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
2015 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series | Inside Amy Schumer | Nominated |
Josh Charles is the son of Laura and Allen Charles
her son Allan Charles, founding partner of Trahan Burden Charles ... grandson is actor Josh Charles
Charles’ Jewish father was a prominent Baltimore advertising exec )
Josh Charles ... married longtime girlfriend Sophie Flack on Friday, Sept. 6
People's Choice Awards for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor | |
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General | |
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National libraries | |
Other |