Stephen Root - Details

STEPHEN ROOT is a classically trained actor who has starred on Broadway, television and film. Recent features include "Bicentennial Man," "Office Space," "Krippendorf's Tribe," "Natural Selection," "Bye, Bye Love," "Crocodile Dundee" and "Dave."

Root made his feature debut as a cold-blooded scientist in George Romero's "Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear," and followed that by playing a police sergeant opposite Demi Moore in "Ghost," and as Gary Murray in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Other feature credits include "Extreme Justice," "RoboCop 3," "V.I. Warshawski," "Black Rain," "Kindergarten Cop," "Guilty by Suspicion" and "Stanley and Iris."

He currently stars as Gene on CBS-TVs "Ladies Man," is a series regular on the Emmy®-winning "King of the Hill," voicing the characters of Hank's next-door neighbor Bill, boss, Mr. Strickland and Topsy, and provides the voices of Donovan in Columbia Tri-Stars "The Big Guy and Rusty the Robot" and as Sheriff in "Star Command." He starred as station manager Jimmy James on the series "News Radio" and was a series regular on "The Golden Years" and "Harts of the West." He starred in the miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon" and had recurring roles on "Civil Wars" and "L.A. Law."

Root received a CableACE Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the telefilm "Road to Galveston," starring Cicely Tyson. His extensive guest-starring credits on series include "Seinfeld," "Chicago Hope," "Cybill, Party of Five, Roseanne," "Murphy Brown, Civil Wars, Northern Exposure, Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Home Improvement."

Born in Sarasota, he majored in acting and broadcasting at the University of Florida, then left before graduating when he won a regional audition for the National Shakespeare Company. After three years of touring the U.S. and Canada with the troupe, Root settled in New York, honing his craft in several off-Broadway shows before landing a role in off-Broadways "Journey's End."

Regional theater performances led to Root's starring Broadway debut in "So Long on Lonely Street." He then starred with Richard Kiley in "All My Sons," which won the 1987 Tony Award for the year's best revival. He has also starred off-Broadway in "The Au Pair Man." His starring role in the national tour of "Driving Miss Daisy" with Julie Harris brought Root to Los Angeles where he launched into his television and film roles.