Eric McCormack (actor)
Eric McCormack is a Canadian-American actor best known for his role as Will Truman on the critically acclaimed sitcom "Will & Grace," which aired from 1998 to 2006. Born on April 18, 1963, in Toronto, Canada, he began his acting career at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and later gained prominence for his work in television, film, and theater. "Will & Grace" is notable for its positive portrayal of gay characters and its impact on Jewish American representation, earning McCormack multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, with a win in 2001.
In addition to his television success, McCormack made his Broadway debut in "The Music Man" and has appeared in various other productions, including a revival of Gore Vidal's "The Best Man." He has also taken on diverse roles in films such as "Textuality" and "Knife Fight," and portrayed a neuroscientist with schizophrenia in the series "Perception." Outside of his career, McCormack is married to Janet Holden, and they have one son. He holds dual citizenship in Canada and the United States and resides in California while maintaining a summer home in Vancouver.
Eric McCormack (actor)
Actor
- Born: April 18, 1963
- Birthplace: Scarborough, Ontario
Contribution: Eric McCormack is an Emmy Award–winning Canadian American actor best known for playing the role of Will Truman on the American sitcom Will & Grace from 1998 to 2006. McCormack has also appeared on Broadway. In 2010 he received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Early Life and Education
Eric James McCormack is the oldest of three children born to Doris and Keith McCormack. He was born on April 18, 1963, in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and attended the Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute and Sir John A. Collegiate High School before studying theater at Ryerson University and the Banff Centre for the Arts (now the Banff Centre). He spent five seasons with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, marking the beginning of his acting career. McCormack also gained fame from his portrayal of Colonel Clay Mosby in the television series Lonesome Dove, which aired from 1994 to 1996.
Will & Grace
McCormack gained recognition for his role as Will Truman in the series Will & Grace. In the sitcom, McCormack portrayed a gay attorney living with his best friend, Grace Adler, in New York. The show ran for eight seasons and received sixteen Emmy Awards and eighty-three nominations. It was credited with being among the first television series to present a positive image of gay characters. Some critics, however, criticized the casting of a straight man to play a gay character, which they believed undermined the show’s potential for challenging homophobia; others felt that the show reinforced gay stereotypes.
Though most noteworthy for its portrayal of gay characters, Will & Grace was also recognized as a landmark in the history of Jewish American characters on television. Debra Messing’s character, Grace, was the first female Jewish character to marry a male Jewish character, played by Harry Connick Jr., on television. In interviews the show’s cast members and writers emphasized the longstanding, though complicated, friendship between Grace and Will as the series’s central pillar.
McCormack was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for Will & Grace in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2005, winning in 2001. He was nominated five times between 2000 and 2004 for a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a television series—comedy or musical. McCormack, along with the rest of the Will & Grace cast, also won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2001 for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.
In 2001 McCormack made his Broadway debut as Harold Hill in The Music Man. In 2009 he had a recurring role on the television show Trust Me. He also appeared on the American sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine from 2009 to 2010. From 2010 on he provided the voice of Lucky in the animated television series Pound Puppies.
McCormack again had the opportunity to broach sensitive subjects with the lead part of neuroscientist Daniel Pierce (who suffered from schizophrenia) on the crime drama Perception (2012–). In April 2013 he received Award of Courage from the Friends of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for his performance as Pierce.
Seeking to display the range of his talent, McCormack took widely disparate parts, not only in television but also on stage and in film. He returned to the theater as Machiavellian senator Joe Cantwell in a 2012 Broadway revival of Gore Vidal’sThe Best Man. During this period he also performed in such diverse films as the romantic comedy Textuality, the political dramedy Knife Fight, and the horror feature Barricade, all released in 2012.
Personal Life
McCormack, a dual American and Canadian citizen since 1999, resides in California and maintains a summer home in Vancouver. He married Janet Holden on August 3, 1997. The couple has one son, Finnigan.
Principal Works
Television
Lonesome Dove, 1994–96
Will & Grace, 1998–2006
Trust Me, 2009
The New Adventures of Old Christine, 2009–10
Pound Puppies, 2010–
Perception, 2012–
Film
Textuality, 2012
Knife Fight, 2012
Barricade, 2012
Stage
The Music Man, 2001
The Best Man, 2012
Bibliography
Bolonik, Kera. “Oy Gay!” Nation 17 Nov. 2003: 16. Print.
Brioux, Bill. “Eric McCormack Looks to Leave Will Behind.” Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers, 5 Sept. 2012. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
Gairola, Rahul. “Watching with Ambivalence.” Rev. of Will & Grace, dir. James Burrows. PopMatters.com. PopMatters Magazine, 2001. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
Kennedy, Mark. “Nice Guy Eric McCormack from ‘Will & Grace’ Taps Into His Sinister Side for Return to Broadway.” Associated Press. Metro, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
Martindale, David. “Eric McCormack Having a Gay Old Time on Will & Grace.” Biography Mar. 2003: 60+. Print.
McCormack, Eric. “Eric McCormack.” Interview by Darren Scott. Gay Times Dec. 2012: 26–27. Print.
McCormack, Eric. “Patricia Sheridan’s Breakfast with . . . Eric McCormack.” Interview by Patricia Sheridan. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing, 9 July 2012. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
Moore, Frazier. “Eric McCormack Returns to Series TV as a Troubled Academic Genius in Crime Drama ‘Perception.’” Canadian Press 6 July 2012: n. pag. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.