Timothy Busfield

Biography:

Timothy Busfield  is an American actor and director best known for his roles in thirtysomething as Elliot Weston, Field of Dreams as Mark, and The West Wing as Danny Concannon. He won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1991 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for thirtysomething. Busfield is also the founder of Theatre for Children, Inc., a non-profit arts organization, and in 2024, he was inducted into the Sacramento Baseball Hall of Fame as a pitcher.

Born in Lansing, Michigan, Busfield is the son of a drama professor and a Michigan State University Press director. He graduated from East Lansing High School in 1975 and started his acting career at 18 in a children’s theater production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He later studied drama at East Tennessee State University and traveled with the Actors Theater of Louisville to Europe and Israel.

Busfield’s early career included stage work and TV roles, such as being an understudy to Matthew Broderick in Brighton Beach Memoirs (1982) and joining the cast of Reggie (1983). In 1984, he gained recognition with a role in Revenge of the Nerds and later appeared in Trapper John, M.D. until 1986. He then co-founded the Fantasy Theatre, a children’s touring company, and helped establish the B Street Theatre in Sacramento.

In 1987, he was cast as Elliot on thirtysomething, a role that brought him fame. His character’s marital infidelity and conflicts with friends made for a complex portrayal, earning him three Emmy nominations and one win. Busfield also had a passion for baseball, signing as a pitcher with the semi-pro Sacramento Smokeys in 1992, where he played until 2000.

Busfield’s film roles included Field of Dreams (1989), A Few Good Men (1990), and Sneakers (1992). He also made his directorial debut with thirtysomething, directing three episodes. He later appeared in TV shows like The Byrds of Paradise (1993-94) and Champs (1996) and had recurring roles in The West Wing and Sports Night.

In the 2000s, Busfield split his time between acting and directing, working on shows such as Without a Trace and Ed. He also co-produced Lipstick Jungle and directed multiple episodes of shows like Las Vegas and Damages. In 2019, he directed Guest Artist, a film that premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Busfield married actress and director Radha Delamarter in the 1980s, later marrying fashion designer Jennifer Merwin in 1988, with whom he has two children. After their divorce, he married actress Melissa Gilbert in 2013, and the couple lived in Michigan and later New York City.