William H. Macy


William Hall Macy Jr. is an American actor and director. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in action films. Macy has described himself as "sort of a Middle American, WASPy, Lutheran kind of guy... Everyman". Macy has won two Emmy Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Fargo. Since 2011, he has played Frank Gallagher, a main character in the Showtime adaptation of the British television series Shameless. Macy has been married to Felicity Huffman since 1997.

Early life

Macy was born in Miami, Florida, and grew up in Georgia and Maryland. His father, William Hall Macy, Sr., was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal for flying a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber in World War II; he later ran a construction company in Atlanta, Georgia, and worked for Dun & Bradstreet before taking over a Cumberland, Maryland-based insurance agency when Macy was nine years old. His mother, Lois, was a war widow who met Macy's father after her first husband died in 1943; Macy has described her as a "Southern belle".
Macy graduated from Allegany High School in Cumberland, Maryland in 1968, and went on to Bethany College in West Virginia where he studied veterinary medicine. A 'wretched student' by his own admission, he transferred to Goddard College in rural Vermont, where he studied under playwright David Mamet. He studied theatre at HB Studio in New York City.

Career

After graduating from Goddard in 1972, Macy originated roles in a number of plays by collaborator David Mamet, such as American Buffalo and The Water Engine. While in Chicago in his twenties, he did a TV commercial. He was required to join AFTRA in order to do the commercial, and received his SAG card within a year, which for an elated Macy represented an important moment in his career.
Macy spent time in Los Angeles before moving to New York City in 1980, where he had roles in over fifty Off Broadway and Broadway plays. One of his earliest on-screen roles was as a theatre critic congratulating Christopher Reeve in 1980's Somewhere In Time, under the name W.H. Macy. Another memorable early performance was as a turtle named Socrates in the direct-to-video film The Boy Who Loved Trolls. He also had a minor role as a hospital orderly on the sitcom Kate & Allie in the fourth-season episode "General Hospital", and played an assistant district attorney in "Everybody's Favorite Bagman", the first produced episode of Law & Order; in both appearances, he was billed as W. H. Macy. He has appeared in numerous films that Mamet wrote and/or directed, such as House of Games, Things Change, Homicide, Oleanna, Wag the Dog, State and Main and Spartan.
Macy's leading role in Fargo helped boost his career and recognizability, though at the expense of nearly confining him to a narrow typecast of a worried man down on his luck. Other Macy roles of the 1990s and 2000s included Benny & Joon, Above Suspicion, Mr. Holland's Opus, Ghosts of Mississippi, Air Force One, Boogie Nights, A Civil Action, Pleasantville, Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, Happy, Texas, Mystery Men, Magnolia, Jurassic Park III, Focus, Panic, Welcome to Collinwood, Seabiscuit, The Cooler and Sahara.
His work on ER and Sports Night has also been recognized with Emmy nominations.
In a November 2003 interview with USA Today, Macy stated that he wanted to star in a big-budget action movie "for the money, for the security of a franchise like that. And I love big action-adventure movies. They're way cool." He serves as director-in-residence at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York, where he teaches a technique called Practical Aesthetics. A book describing the technique, A Practical Handbook for the Actor, is dedicated to Macy and Mamet.
In 2007, Macy starred in Wild Hogs, a film about middle-aged men reliving their youthful days by taking to the open road on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles from Cincinnati to the Pacific Coast. Despite being critically panned, with a 14% "rotten" rating from Rotten Tomatoes, it was a financial success, grossing over $168 million. The film also reunited him with his A Civil Action costar, John Travolta. In 2009, Macy completed filming on The Maiden Heist, a comedy that co-starred Morgan Freeman and Christopher Walken.
On June 23, 2008, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Macy and his wife, Felicity Huffman, would each receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the upcoming year. On January 13, 2009, Macy replaced Jeremy Piven in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow on Broadway. Piven suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of the play in December 2008 after he experienced health problems; Norbert Leo Butz covered the role from December 23, 2008, until Macy took over the part. Dirty Girl, which starred Macy along with Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich, Mary Steenburgen and Tim McGraw, premiered September 12, 2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In summer 2010, Macy joined the Showtime pilot Shameless as the protagonist, Frank Gallagher. The project ultimately went to series, and its first season premiered on January 9, 2011. Macy has received high critical acclaim for his performance, eventually getting an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014.
In the 2012 film The Sessions, Macy played a priest who helps a man with a severe disability find personal fulfillment through a sex surrogate. He made his directorial debut with the independent drama Rudderless, which stars Billy Crudup, Felicity Huffman, Selena Gomez and Laurence Fishburne. In 2017, he directed The Layover, a road trip comedy starring Alexandra Daddario and Kate Upton.
In 2015, he had a small role as Grandpa in the drama film Room, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film reunited him with his Pleasantville costar, Joan Allen.

Personal life

Macy and actress Felicity Huffman dated on-and-off for 15 years and married on September 6, 1997. They have two daughters, Sophia Grace and Georgia Grace.
Macy and Huffman appeared at a rally for John Kerry in 2004. Macy plays the ukulele and is an avid woodturner. He has appeared on the cover of Fine Woodworkings special edition, Wood Turning Basics and was featured in an article in the April 2015 issue of American Woodturner. He is a national ambassador for the United Cerebral Palsy Association.
Since shooting the film Wild Hogs, Macy has had a strong interest in riding motorcycles.
In March 2019, it was reported that Macy and Huffman had agreed to have Huffman pay $15,000 to have someone take an entrance exam, greatly improving the scores taken on the test in order to have a better chance of her daughter getting into college. Huffman was indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges as part of a wider federal investigation of college admissions bribery. For undisclosed reasons, no charges were filed against Macy. On September 13, 2019, a federal judge in Boston sentenced Huffman to 14 days in a federal prison.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryNominated workResult
1992Independent Spirit AwardsBest Supporting MaleHomicide-
1995Independent Spirit AwardsBest Male LeadOleanna-
1997Academy AwardsBest Supporting ActorFargo-
1997Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActorFargo-
1997Florida Film Critics Circle AwardsBest Supporting ActorFargo-
1997Independent Spirit AwardsBest Male LeadFargo-
1997Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Guest Actor in a Drama SeriesER-
1997Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Motion Picture DramaFargo-
1997Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting RoleFargo-
1998Boston Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Supporting ActorA Civil Action-
1998Boston Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Supporting ActorPleasantville-
1998Boston Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Supporting ActorPsycho-
1998Florida Film Critics Circle AwardsFlorida Film Critics Circle Award for Best CastBoogie Nights-
1998Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureBoogie Nights-
1999American Comedy AwardsFunniest Supporting Actor in a Motion PicturePleasantville-
1999National Board of ReviewBest CastMagnolia-
2000American Comedy AwardsFunniest Supporting Actor in a Motion PictureHappy, Texas-
2000Florida Film Critics Circle AwardsFlorida Film Critics Circle Award for Best CastMagnolia-
2000National Board of ReviewBest CastState and Main-
2000Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy SeriesSports Night-
2000Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a MovieA Slight Case of Murder-
2000Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or a Television FilmA Slight Case of Murder-
2000Satellite AwardsBest Supporting Actor – Motion PictureHappy, Texas-
2000Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureMagnolia-
2001Florida Film Critics Circle AwardsFlorida Film Critics Circle Award for Best CastState and Main-
2001Online Film Critics Society AwardsBest CastState and Main-
2003Golden Globe AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmDoor to Door-
2003Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a MovieDoor to Door-
2003Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic SpecialDoor to Door-
2003Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmDoor to Door-
2003Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieDoor to Door-
2004Golden Globe AwardsBest Supporting Actor – Motion PictureSeabiscuit-
2004Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a MovieStealing Sinatra-
2004Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Motion Picture DramaThe Cooler-
2004Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureSeabiscuit-
2005Golden Globe AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmThe Wool Cap-
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a MovieThe Wool Cap-
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Made for Television MovieThe Wool Cap-
2005Satellite AwardsBest Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television FilmStealing Sinatra-
2005Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieThe Wool Cap-
2006Hollywood Film FestivalBest CastBobby-
2007Broadcast Film Critics Association AwardsBest CastBobby-
2007Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie-
2007Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureBobby-
2007Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieNightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King-
2011Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Actor in a Drama SeriesShameless-
2011Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Television Series DramaShameless-
2012Prism AwardsBest Performance in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2014Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2015Golden Globe AwardBest Actor – Television Series Musical or ComedyShameless-
2015Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2015Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2016Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2016Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2017Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2017Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2018Golden Globe AwardBest Actor – Television Series Musical or ComedyShameless
2018Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-
2018Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy SeriesShameless-