Michael Patrick Thornton is an American actor and theater director. He recently played the character of Dr. Gabriel Fife in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

drama series ''

Private Practice Private practice may refer to: * Private sector practice ** Practice of law * ''Private Practice'' (TV series), an American medical drama * ''Private Practice'' (album), released in 1978 by Dr. Feelgood {{disambig pt:Private Practice ...

''. He's also known for his performances on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

including as Lennox in the

Sam Gold Sam Gold is an American theater director and actor. He has directed both musicals and plays, on Broadway and Off-Broadway. He won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for '' Fun Home''. Early life Gold was raised in Westchester a ...

revival of ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' (2022), and Dr. Rank in the

Jamie Lloyd Jamie Lloyd is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of the ''Halloween'' franchise. Introduced in '' Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers'' as the series' new protagonist after Jamie Lee Curtis declined to return as Laurie ...

revival of ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

'' (2023).

Early life and education

Thornton is a native of Jefferson Park, a neighborhood on

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

's northwest side. He is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf, The Second City Conservatory, and The Second City Directing Program.

Career

Thornton is artistic director and co-founder of The Gift Theatre. He has acted in productions including Richard III at Steppenwolf, where he became the first actor to act onstage while wearing a robotic exoskeleton. He has also portrayed

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hat ...

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

at The Gift Theatre and in Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 50th anniversary production of ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 Metatheatre, metatheatrical Three act structure, three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Cor ...

''. Thornton received a Jeff Nomination for his performance in The Gift's premiere of ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker's Suicide, Incorporated. Thornton also directs at The Gift, including the world premiere of David Rabe's Good For Otto, War of the Worlds, the Chicago Premiere of Will Eno's Oh, The Humanity (and other exclamations). As a writer, his plays have been workshopped in New York through Young Playwrights, Inc. and in Chicago through Second City. He is the theater's artistic director. Thornton has appeared in episodes of television's Elementary (CBS) The Exorcist (FOX), Private Practice, The Chicago Code, Ron Howard's The Dilemma, and the independent feature film The View From Tall.

Selected filmography

Feature films

Television

Theater

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Michael Patrick American male television actors American theatre directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people