James Timothy Daly (born March 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Joe Hackett on the
NBC sitcom ''
Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...
'' and his voice role as
Clark Kent/Superman in ''
Superman: The Animated Series'', as well as his recurring role as the drug-addicted screenwriter
J.T. Dolan on ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'' (for which he was nominated for an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
). He starred as
Pete Wilder on the
ABC medical drama ''
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 ...
'' from 2007 to 2012. From 2014 until 2019, he portrayed Henry McCord, husband of the
Secretary of State, on the CBS drama ''
Madam Secretary''.
Early life

Daly was born March 1, 1956, at
Mount Sinai Hospital in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
, the only son and youngest of four children of actor
James Daly (1918–1978) and actress Mary Hope Daly (; 1921–2009). He is of
Irish descent, his ancestors being from
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
and
Kerry. He is the younger brother of actress
Tyne Daly
Ellen Tyne Daly (; born February 21, 1946) is an American actress. She has won six Emmy Awards for her television work, a Tony Award and is a 2011 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee.
Daly began her career on stage in summer stock in New York ...
. He has two other sisters, Mary Glynn (wife of
Mark Snow) and Pegeen Michael. Daly attended
The Putney School
The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-edu ...
, where he started to study acting.
Daly began his professional career while a student at
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...
's
Bennington College, where he studied
Theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
and
Literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...
, acted in
summer stock, and earned a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree. He graduated from college in 1979, and returned to New York to continue studying acting and singing.
Career
Daly debuted on stage when he was seven years old in ''Jenny Kissed Me'' by
Jean Kerr, together with his parents and two sisters. He appeared for the first time on TV when he was 10 years old in an American Playhouse adaptation of ''
An Enemy of the People
''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, followed his previous play, '' Ghosts'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response inc ...
'' by
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...
, which starred his father
James Daly. He dreamed about a sports or music career and also considered becoming a doctor or a lawyer, but finally decided to become an actor. Daly started his professional acting career when he appeared in a 1978 adaptation of
Peter Shaffer's play ''
Equus
Equus may refer to:
* ''Equus'' (genus), a genus of animals including horses, donkeys and zebras
* ''Equus'' (play), a play by Peter Shaffer
* ''Equus'' (film), a film adaptation of the Peter Shaffer play
* Equus (comics), a comic book characte ...
''.
His first leading film role was in the film ''
Diner'', directed by
Barry Levinson
Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); '' The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987) ...
, in which he shared screen time with actors including
Kevin Bacon and
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.
During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles ...
. Starring roles soon followed in
Alan Rudolph's feature, ''
Made in Heaven'', the
American Playhouse production of ''The Rise & Rise of Daniel Rocket'', and the
CBS dramatic series, ''
Almost Grown'' created by
David Chase
David Henry Chase (born August 22, 1945) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and produced the HBO drama ''The Sopranos'' which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for such shows as '' The Rockford Fil ...
.
In theatre he has starred in the Broadway production of ''
Coastal Disturbances'' by playwright
Tina Howe opposite
Annette Bening and received a 1987
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre s ...
for his performance. He has also starred in ''Oliver, Oliver'' at the Manhattan Theatre Club, ''Mass Appeal'' by Bill C. Davis and ''Bus Stop'' by
William Inge at
Trinity Repertory Company, ''
The Glass Menagerie'' by
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
at the Santa Fe Festival Theatre, ''A Knife in the Heart'' and ''A Study in Scarlet'' at the Williamstown Playhouse, and ''Paris Bound'' at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. During this time, Daly also starred in the CBS television miniseries ''
I'll Take Manhattan'' as Toby Amberville.
Daly describes himself as being highly self-critical in regard to his career. In an interview with New Zealand
'ZM' radio personality
Polly Gillespie, Daly was quoted as saying, "I think part of it (his self-critical nature) is passed down to me from my parents who are actors. The theatre was our temple... When you entered you were expected to live up to the example of this glorious place."
1990s
''Wings'' is an American sitcom that ran on
NBC from April 19, 1990, to May 14, 1997. It starred Daly and
Steven Weber as brothers Joe and Brian Hackett. The show was set at the fictional Tom Nevers Field, a small airport in
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuset ...
, where the Hackett brothers operated the one-plane airline, Sandpiper Air.
In 1993, he gave a much-respected performance as
David Koresh
David Koresh (; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Davidian Sev ...
in ''
In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco'' (TV), though the film itself was controversial because it was already in production while the
Waco standoff was still on-going.
Daly also became noted for voicing
Clark Kent/Superman in ''
Superman: The Animated Series'' during this time.
In 1997, he and J. Todd Harris formed Daly-Harris Productions, through which he produced such movies as: ''
Execution of Justice'' (1999) (TV), ''
Urbania'' (2000) and ''Tick Tock'' (2000). In 1998, Daly appeared in several episodes of the
Emmy award-winning,
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
-produced
HBO mini-series ''
From the Earth to the Moon
''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil W ...
'' playing astronaut
Jim Lovell, whom Hanks himself had portrayed in the film ''
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted af ...
''.
2000s
During the 2000–2001 television season, Daly starred as Dr. Richard Kimble in
a remake of the classic television series ''
The Fugitive''. The series lasted only one season.
In 2002, Daly guest-starred as himself in the TV series ''
Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
'' in the episode "
Mr. Monk and the Airplane", briefly reuniting him with his ''Wings'' castmate
Tony Shalhoub
Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; born October 9, 1953), is an American actor. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination.
He played Adrian Monk in the USA ...
. In 2006, Daly returned to Broadway when he appeared on stage opposite
David Schwimmer and
Željko Ivanek
Željko Ivanek (né Šimić-Ivanek; ; ; born August 15, 1957) is an American actor, known for his role as Ray Fiske on ''Damages'', for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. Ivanek is also known for his role of Ed Danvers on '' Homicide: Life on th ...
in the Broadway revival of ''
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial
''The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial'' is a two-act play, of the courtroom drama type, that was dramatized for the stage by Herman Wouk, which he adapted from his own 1951 novel, ''The Caine Mutiny''.
Wouk's novel covered a long stretch of time ab ...
''. Daly made several appearances on ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'' as
J.T. Dolan, an AA buddy of
Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series ''The Sopranos''. He is Tony Soprano's protégé and a member of the DiMeo crime family, rising from associate to captain over the course of th ...
(
Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...
). Daly received a 2007
Emmy nomination for his work on the series. He appeared on the midseason
ABC crime series ''
Eyes
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and c ...
'', which got good reviews but was canceled after only five episodes. In 2006, Daly played the role of
Nick Cavanaugh
''The Nine'' is an American serial drama television series that aired on ABC from October 4, 2006 to August 8, 2007, for one season. The series was created by Hank Steinberg and produced by Warner Bros. Television.
Plot
Nine people, mostly ...
on the new
ABC drama ''
The Nine''. From 2007 to 2012, Daly played a love interest for
Kate Walsh's character on the TV 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 ...
''.
As a voice-actor, Daly portrayed superhero
Superman and his alter ego
Clark Kent
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
in ''
Superman: The Animated Series'' (1996–2000), but was unable to return as Superman (thus being replaced by
Christopher McDonald in ''
Batman Beyond
''Batman Beyond'' (known as ''Batman of the Future'' outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaborati ...
'' and
George Newbern in ''
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
'' and ''
Justice League Unlimited
''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 United States, American superhero fiction, superhero List of animated television series, animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. ...
''), as he was under contract to star in a remake of the 1960s TV drama ''
The Fugitive''. He reprised his role as Superman in the video game ''
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips'' and the direct-to-video releases ''
Superman: Brainiac Attacks'', ''
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'', ''
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse'' and ''
Justice League: Doom''. Daly reprised his role as Superman in an animated remake of the trailer for the 2013 film ''
Man of Steel'' by the
Hub Network to celebrate the release of the film and to promote the network's upcoming marathon of Superman episodes.
Daly heads Red House Entertainment. Movies produced through the company include ''Edge of America'', which won a
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
and a
Humanitas Prize, and Daly's directing debut, the independent film ''
Bereft''. Daly also created Wandering Bark Productions, based at Paramount Pictures, a company designed to develop and produce a variety of film, television and theater projects. The company's producing credits include the Los Angeles premiere of
Vincent J. Cardinal's play ''A Colorado Catechism'', starring Daly. The play received favorable reviews and earned Daly the Drama-Logue Award for Best Actor. Daly co-produced a documentary, ''
PoliWood'', about the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The documentary, directed by
Barry Levinson
Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); '' The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987) ...
had its premiere at the 2009
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...
.
In 2014, Daly guest starred in recurring roles on ''
The Mindy Project'' and ''
Hot in Cleveland
''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White.
The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's ...
''. From mid-2014 until 2019, he played Henry McCord, the husband of the title character on the TV series ''
Madam Secretary''.
In 2015, Daly reprised his role as Superman for ''
Justice League: Battle for Metropolis'', an interactive dark ride found at seven different
Six Flags
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any amu ...
theme parks across the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
.
Non-profit work
Daly is an activist in various
liberal political and social causes.
In the beginning of 2007, Daly became a member of The
Creative Coalition (TCC), a nonprofit, (
501(c)(3)) liberal, politically active group formed of members of the American film entertainment industry; since 2008, Daly has served as President of the Creative Coalition. As a member of TCC Daly has joined the National Task Force on Children's Safety, a program co-founded by The
Creative Coalition and Safety4Kids, "the first children's media brand focused solely on safety and health." According to the program website: "The Task Force is the first critical step in creating a national dialogue on safety and media literacy and determining next steps to ensure that the issues are prioritized in the minds of parents, educators and legislators." "The Task Force is dedicated to awareness, education and lasting change by impacting national policy on safety education and media literacy." In August 2007, Daly became one of the three chairs for the organization's activity at the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions. Along with actress
Kerry Washington
Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...
and writer/director Sue Kramer, Daly was responsible for leading "TCC's Convention efforts designed to bring issues of importance to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign." In November 2007, Daly interviewed Senator John Edwards, one of the Democratic presidential candidates.
In June 2008, Daly, together with
Chandra Wilson, was named the 2008 ambassador for Lee National Denim Day – a fundraiser for breast cancer, benefiting the Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In August 2008, Daly was named co-president of the Creative Coalition, a liberal group that works on issues such as health care reform and arts funding.
Personal life
Daly married actress
Amy Van Nostrand in 1982. They have two children, including
Sam
Sam, SAM or variants may refer to:
Places
* Sam, Benin
* Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Iran
* Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place
People and fictional ...
. In
''Madam Secretary'', his son played the ex-fiancé of main character Daisy Grant and his daughter played the niece of his character Henry McCord. She graduated from
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Col ...
in 2011 and was a
Fulbright scholar to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. In 2010, Daly and Van Nostrand divorced. He has been dating his ''Madam Secretary'' co-star
Téa Leoni since December 2014.
In 2012, Daly climbed
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
. That same year, he and his sister Tyne endorsed the re-election campaign of Democratic U.S. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
.
Daly was in the Virgin America first-class lounge during the
2013 Los Angeles International Airport shooting
On November 1, 2013, a terrorist attack occurred at around 9:20 a.m. PDT in Terminal 3 of the Los Angeles International Airport. Twenty-three-year old Paul Anthony Ciancia opened fire with a rifle, killing a Transportation Security Adminis ...
.
In January 2017, Daly broke both legs in a ski accident while on vacation in Sundance.
Filmography
Film
Television
Producer credits
Theatre
Broadway
Off-Broadway
Other stage credits
Radio
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Tim
1956 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American film producers
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
Bennington College alumni
Male actors from New York City
Television producers from New York City
The Putney School alumni
Waldorf school alumni