Oliver Platt is an American actor especially noted for his versatility, as shown in the wide variety of roles he has already portrayed.
The son of Sheila Maynard and Nicholas Platt, Oliver Platt was born on January 12, 1960 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His mother is a clinical social worker who served in Islamabad, while his father served as a US ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia and the Philippines. Due to his parents’ line of work, Oliver Platt spent most of his childhood in Asia. He attended Tuffs University where he majored in drama. After graduating, he worked for three years in a theater in Boston. His early acting career was in off-Broadway and regional theater, appearing onstage with the New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center Theater, and the Manhattan Theater Club.
Platt’s early film appearances include those in Working Girl (1988), Flatliners (1990), The Three Musketeers (1993), A Time to Kill (1996) and Bulworth (1998). In 1999, he co-starred with Stanley Tucci in the comedy film The Impostors, playing a deadbeat actor Maurice. That same year, he played the crocodile enthusiast Hector Cyr in Steve Miner’s horror film Lake Placid, alongside Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda.
In 2000, Platt did his first lead role in American television when he was cast as the New York Ledger Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Wallace Benton in Deadline. Unfortunately, the series’ substandard writing led to its cancellation in 2001. Platt then decided not to appear in any television series, until he read a script for a guest role in The West Wing. With much satisfaction in the material, Platt immediately signed on for the role, which in turn earned him an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of White House Counsel Oliver Babish.
In 2004, Platt once again returned in American television when he played Russell Tupper in the drama series Huff. His outstanding portrayal in the Russell character earned him two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe.
Platt’s other acting projects include The Ice Harvest, Casanova, and the stage production Shining City. He later appeared in several episodes of Queens Supreme, The Bronx is Burning, and the medical series Nip/Tuck. In 2007, he was cast as Jeff in Martian Child, before he signed on to play roles in Wonder Woman, Year One, 2012 and The Prince of Providence in 2008.