Anthony Charles Edwards (born July 19, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Dr.

Mark Greene Mark Greene, M.D. is a fictional character from the American medical drama series '' ER,'' portrayed by actor Anthony Edwards. He first appears in the series' pilot episode, and subsequently appeared as one of the principal characters until t ...

on the first eight seasons of '' ER'', for which he received a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

award and six

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

, and was nominated for four consecutive

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

. He has appeared in various films and television series, including ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an ...

'', ''

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pa ...

'', '' Gotcha!'', '' Miracle Mile'', ''

Revenge of the Nerds ''Revenge of the Nerds'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Ted McGinley, and Bernie Casey. The film's plot chronicles a group of nerds at the fictional Adams College tryi ...

'', ''

Planes Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * ''Planes' ...

'', ''

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...

'' and '' Designated Survivor''.

Early life

Edwards was born in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...

, the son of Erika Kem Edwards Plack (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Weber), an artist/landscape painter, and Peter Edwards, an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

to whom he was one of five children His maternal grandfather was designer

Kem Weber Karl Emanuel Martin "Kem" Weber (1889–1963) was an American furniture and industrial designer, architect, art director, and teacher who created several iconic designs of the 'Streamline' style. Early career Born in Berlin, Germany, Weber ...

. He is partly of German and Irish descent. He graduated from San Marcos High School in 1980. Edwards was encouraged by his parents to attend college before pursuing his interest in acting, which grew from the area's theater community. He received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in England and studied theatre at

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

; but by the age of nineteen was being offered enough acting work to enable him to leave college.

Career

Television and film

It was Edwards' role as LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw alongside

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

in the 1986 film ''

'' that brought his first widespread public acknowledgment. His character, who died in an aviation accident, was among the most prominent and popular in the film. Scenes with him and his film family (played by Meg Ryan and Aaron and Adam Weis) were later reprised as flashbacks in the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Edwards' best-known role is as Dr.

on the long-running TV series '' ER'', from the series premiere in 1994 to the end of the eighth season in 2002. The series also afforded Edwards his first opportunity to direct. Edwards' desire to pursue directing led to his request to be written out of the series. He reportedly earned $35 million for three seasons on ''ER'', which made him one of television's highest-paid actors. Edwards received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for ''ER''. He won a Golden Globe Award For Best Performance by an Actor-In a TV Series after being nominated four times and he has two Screen Actor's Guild Awards. In 2008, Edwards returned to ''ER'' to reprise his role as Dr. Greene (in flashback scenes, where he treats the dying son of character

Catherine Banfield Catherine "Cate" Banfield is a fictional character in the American medical drama '' ER'', portrayed by Angela Bassett. She is an attending physician with a mysterious past with County General. Bassett's addition into the main cast opening credits w ...

) for one episode during its 15th and final season. Following ER, he took some time to raise his children, appreciating the privilege that his ''ER'' salary provided. In 2010, Edwards appeared in the movie ''

Motherhood ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

'', which set a record for the biggest bomb in British cinema history by garnering £88 on 11 tickets on opening weekend. ''Motherhood'' did not fare much better in the United States, earning $93,388 in three weeks of release. At the time, he said he took the role because "it seemed like a very organic and real thing. It really kind of reminded me of what the dynamic in a family is like." Edwards reunited with

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

, another actor from Top Gun, when he voiced one of the fighter jets in the Disneytoon Studios film ''

''. In 2018, Edwards was cast in the recurring role in the third season of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

's '' Designated Survivor'' as Mars Harper, the President's Chief of Staff. In 2022, Edwards was cast as Alan Reed in Netflix’s docu-series '' Inventing Anna''.

Honors and awards

Edwards received four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for ''ER'' and won as an executive producer on Outstanding Television Movie winner ''

Temple Grandin Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Gra ...

''. He earned a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Television Series (1995); and won six

for: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (1996 and 1998), and Best Ensemble Cast (1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999). He won the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Drama in 1998). Edwards also won a Daytime Emmy for the production of the underground rock documentary ''N.Y.H.C.'' (1999) and the telepic adaptation of

Kimberly Willis Holt Kimberly Willis Holt is an American writer of children's literature. She is best known for the novel ''When Zachary Beaver Came to Town'', which won the 1999 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature.coming of age novel ''

My Louisiana Sky ''My Louisiana Sky'' is a 1998 novel by Kimberly Willis Holt. Plot summary The novel is set in 1957, in the small town of Saitter, Louisiana, where 12-year-old Tiger Ann Parker lives with her mentally challenged parents. She tries to get the popu ...

'' (2001), and earned the Carnegie Medal Award for ''My Louisiana Sky'' (2003)."Anthony Edwards Biography"
Film.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.

Theater

After a long career in television, Edwards made his Broadway debut as his ''second act'' in 2018 in the revival of '' Children of a Lesser God'' at Studio 54. In 2015 he appeared in Classic Stage Company's ''A Month in the Country'' but his stage acting career began when he was growing up in Santa Barbara. On May 13, 2022, Edwards made his unexpected Broadway musical debut when he appeared as Dr. Walker in the Broadway production of '' Girl from the North Country'' due to COVID-19 cases impacting the cast. The show also stars his wife, Mare Winningham.

Personal life

Edwards was married to Jeanine Lobell, with whom he had one son and three daughters, from 1994–2015. At the end of 2021, Edwards and long-time friend and fellow actor

Mare Winningham A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

eloped. On November 10, 2017, Edwards wrote an essay on ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...

'', in which he stated that screenwriter/producer Gary Goddard befriended and then sexually assaulted him and several of his friends "for years" beginning when they were 12 years old. Edwards has been a licensed private pilot since 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

Producer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Anthony 1962 births Living people American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Santa Barbara, California USC School of Dramatic Arts alumni Daytime Emmy Award winners Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male voice actors Television producers from California Film producers from California American television directors Primetime Emmy Award winners