John C. McGinley

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John C. McGinley
John C. McGinley as Dr. Perry Cox
Born	August 3, 1959 (age 47) New York City, New York
Spouse(s)	Lauren Lambert (1997 - 2001) (divorced) 1 child Nichole Kessler (2007 - present)
Notable roles	Sgt. "Red" O'Neill in Platoon Dr. Perry Cox on Scrubs

John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for his cynical, wacky, sometimes sinister character portrayals.

1 Biography
2 Selected filmography
3 Selected television work
4 Footnotes
5 External links

McGinley, one of five children, was born in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, New York to Patricia and Gerald McGinley. His paternal great-grandfather was from Donegal, Ireland.^[1] McGinley was raised in Millburn, New Jersey, and attended Millburn High School. He studied acting at Syracuse University, and later at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Upon completing his education, McGinley did a variety of different work, including on- and off-Broadway productions, and a two year stint on the soap opera Another World.

McGinley, also known as Johnny C. and sometimes credited as John McGinley, has had a prolific career, primarily as a supporting character actor. He came to fame in Oliver Stone's Platoon in 1986, and went on to work on four other Stone productions. While working as John Turturro's understudy in John Patrick Shanley's 1984 production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea he was noticed by a casting scout, which led to an audition for the role of Sergeant Red O'Neill in the Oscar-winning Platoon, although his first movie role was Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty (1986). He also was featured in a 1980's subaru commercial.

That was followed the next year with Wall Street (1987), and again the next with Talk Radio (1988). McGinley showcased his screenwriting talents with 1990's "Suffering Bastards", in which he also co-starred. He worked continually throughout the 1990s, appearing in films such as David Fincher's Se7en (1995), The Rock and Mike Judge's Office Space (1999) where he, as Bob the business consultant, improvised several takes about his character's affinity for Michael Bolton. Less notable was McGinley's role in the widely criticized Highlander II: The Quickening (1991); John also had a role in the comedic movie Wagons East!(1994).

McGinley received critical acclaim for his starring role in Dean Koontz's suspense drama, Intensity (1997). The two-part miniseries became Fox's highest-rated miniseries. He joined forces with Koontz and Fox once more for Sole Survivor in 2000. In 2001, McGinley began his acclaimed work as a regular on the NBC sitcom Scrubs as the acerbic Dr. Perry Cox. His characterisation of Cox has been largely complimented by critics. His most notable work came in the second season episode, "His Story" - this episode saw the first narration to be done by anyone other than Zach Braff, instead narrated by McGinley. His acting has also been critically acclaimed in the episode "My Screw Up", which was nominated for an Emmy award. He originally took the role to be closer to his son Max, who was born in 1997 with Down syndrome. McGinley has said that there are three things over the course of the series that he improvises: his constant usage of girls names for J.D. He says that he does that with all his real friends; the whistle that you will hear him doing often. He says "It's a bad habit"; his habit of touching his nose throughout the series. He says that it is a tribute to Robert Redford from the movie The Sting and it means "It's gonna be ok".^[2]

McGinley has done some voiceover work on animated television series, including the superhero The Atom on several episodes of Justice League Unlimited and a guest appearance as "The White Shadow," the secret government agent overseeing Huey Freeman on The Boondocks. He is featured in the movie Wild Hogs as a Highway Patrol Officer with a questionable lifestyle choice.

In February 1997, McGinley married Lauren Lambert and they have a child named Max. Max was born in 1997 and has Down's syndrome. In December 2001, Lambert and McGinley divorced.

In August 2006 he became engaged to yoga instructor Nicole Kessler in Malibu, whom he had dated for two years. He met Nicole on the beach while he and his son Max were there with their 2 chocolate labs. While playing, the dogs had wandered about 25 yards away to play with 2 other dogs down the beach, John set his son down to play in the sand while he ran and fetched the dogs. When he came back Max was having the time of his life with "The Most Beautiful Blonde" he had ever seen. On April 7, 2007, he and Nicole Kessler married. ^[3]^[4]

Also he owns a stake in one of Billy Gilroy's New York SoHo bistros along with fellow actor Willem Dafoe. His co-workers call him "Johnny C".

In 2006, McGinley served as the national spokesperson for the National Down Syndrome Society's annual Buddy Walk^[5] and wears a "Buddy Walk" bracelet on Scrubs.

McGinley was chosen as "Dad of the Month" at iParenting.com in October 2002.^[6]