William H Macy

Born: 13 March 1950
Where: Miami, Florida

Macy's specialisation in offbeat roles that require a degree of vulnerability have led to appearances in a rich array of first-rate movies.

He studied under David Mamet at Goddard College in Vermont, and was a founding member of the St. Nicholas Theatre in Chicago with Mamet and writer Steven Schachter.

Macy, who originally paid the bills from work as a voice over artist, decided to use his middle initial so he wouldn't be confused with 1970's comedian, Bill Macy.

When he first moved to Los Angeles in the late '80s to pursue a film career, he mostly played villains.

He made his feature debut in Mamet's well regarded House of Games and reteamed with the director for the equally impressive Homicide.

However, it was his role on hit TV series ER in 1994 that earned him critical acclaim as a serious actor.

Macy's real big screen breakthrough came when he landed the 1996 Oscar nominated role as a smarmy car salesman who arranges the kidnapping of his wife in the Coen brothers' quirky Fargo.

1997 marked his action-adventure debut as a presidential adviser supporting Harrison Ford in Air Force One, but also saw him deliver a touching performance in Boogie Nights.

Next came Gary Ross's fantasy drama Pleasantville, the action comedy Mystery Men, Paul Thomas Anderson's epic Magnolia and Mamet's State and Main.

He stole a featured role in the competent Jurassic Park III and played a hapless burglar in the excellent Welcome To Collinwood.

Macy also contributed a quirky DJ to lift the mood of the otherwise ponderous racehorse epic Seabiscuit.

Recent work includes lead in The Cooler, about the "unluckiest man in Las Vegas" and a duplicitous government spook in Mamet's Spartan.