Ron Livingston

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Ron Livingston
SXSW-2024-alih-OB7A0752-Office Space Ron Livingston crop.jpg
Livingston in 2024
Born
Ronald Joseph Livingston

(1967-06-05) June 5, 1967 (age 57)
Alma mater Yale University
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present
Spouse
(m. 2009)

Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) [1] is an American actor. He is best known for playing Peter Gibbons in Office Space (1999) and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). Livingston's other roles include the films Swingers (1996), Adaptation (2002), The Conjuring (2013), James White (2015), Tully (2018); and the television series Loudermilk (2017–2020), and Boardwalk Empire (2013).

Contents

Early life and education

Livingston was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Kurt Livingston, an aerospace electronics engineer, and Linda (née Rinas), a Lutheran pastor. [2] [3] [4] He has two brothers and one sister. His younger brother, John, is also an actor. Both his sister, Jennifer Livingston, and brother-in-law, Mike Thompson, were TV news personalities at WKBT-DT in La Crosse, Wisconsin. [5]

Livingston attended Yale University, where he sang with The Whiffenpoofs and graduated in 1989, together with Anderson Cooper. [6] [7]

Livingston first acted at Theatre Cedar Rapids after being introduced to the group during a school job shadowing. [8] Livingston moved to Chicago and became involved in the local theatre scene.[ citation needed ]

Career

20th century

Livingston's first film role was in 1992, in Dolly Parton's Straight Talk . He then moved to Los Angeles, where he was cast in supporting roles in Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade and The Low Life. In 1996, Livingston a role in Swingers , his first major role.

In 1999, he starred as the male lead, Peter Gibbons, in the comedy cult classic Office Space , which co-starred Jennifer Aniston and was written and directed by Mike Judge.

21st century

He has also appeared in HBO's miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) as Captain Lewis Nixon III opposite Donnie Wahlberg and Damian Lewis. Livingston widened his variety of roles when he played a Hollywood agent in Adaptation (2002), a weaselly Ivy League upstart opposite Alec Baldwin's casino boss in The Cooler (2003) and teachers in Winter Solstice and Pretty Persuasion (both in 2005). He also appeared as sardonic writer Jack Berger, Carrie's short-term boyfriend in the fifth and sixth seasons of Sex and the City . He guest starred in the episode "TB or Not TB" of House . In 2006, he starred as FBI negotiator Matt Flannery in the Fox series Standoff , co-starring Rosemarie DeWitt, and he was an advertising spokesman for Sprint Nextel.

In summer 2007, Livingston appeared on the off-Broadway stage in the world premiere of Neil LaBute's In a Dark Dark House , produced by MCC Theater , with Frederick Weller and Louisa Krause. The show ran May–July at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City. In November 2007, the indie film Holly told the story of a Vietnamese girl trafficked into the sex trade in Cambodia. Livingston starred as Patrick, a shady card shark who becomes determined to save Holly from her ill-destined fate.

In 2009, he portrayed flight engineer Maddux Donner in the series Defying Gravity , which was cancelled after its first season. [9]

In 2010, Livingston co-starred in the Jay Roach comedy Dinner for Schmucks . [10] On February 26, 2013, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that he would be joining the cast of HBO's Boardwalk Empire for the fourth season. [11]

In 2013, Livingston co-starred in the indie comedy Drinking Buddies alongside Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick. Drinking Buddies received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 82% based on 97 reviews. [12]

Livingston starred in the Peter Farrelly–produced comedy television series Loudermilk on the Audience network. Livingston played the title role of Sam Loudermilk, a former music critic and recovering alcoholic who works as a substance abuse counsellor and support group leader, and who regularly doles out clever but acid-tongued critiques to his clients, his friends, and random people he encounters. The show premiered in October 2017 and was renewed in April 2018 for a second season that premiered in October 2018. In December 2018, Audience renewed the series for a third season. [13] After Audience ceased operations, the third season premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2020–21. [14] [15]

Livingston also appears in the ABC drama A Million Little Things as Jon Dixon, whose suicide causes his group of friends to evaluate their own lives. [16]

Personal life

Livingston and his Standoff co-star Rosemarie DeWitt began a relationship after meeting on the show. [17] After dating for three years, they married on November 2, 2009, in San Francisco. [18] He was previously engaged to actress Lisa Sheridan. [19]

In May 2013, Livingston and DeWitt announced they had adopted an infant girl born the previous month. [20] In December 2016, the couple announced they had adopted another child, a girl, who was born the previous year. [21] [22]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992 Straight Talk Soldier
1994 Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade HimselfShort film
1995 The Low Life Chad
1996 Swingers Rob
1997 Campfire Tales Rick / RV DriverSegments: "The Honeymoon" and "The Campfire"
The Small HoursSteve
1999 Dill Scallion Ron Statlin
Office Space Peter
The Big Brass Ring Sheldon Buckle
Two Ninas Marty Sachs
Body Shots Trent
2000 Beat Allen Ginsberg
A Rumour of Angels Uncle Charlie
2002 Buying the Cow Tyler Carter Bellows
Adaptation Marty Bowen
2003PiratesHimselfShort
The Cooler Larry Sokolov
44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out Donnie AndersonTelevision movie
2004 Little Black Book Derek
2005 Winter Solstice Mr. Bricker
Pretty Persuasion Mr. Anderson
The Life CoachRon
2006Life HappensBen DreamantowskiShort film
Relative Strangers Richard Clayton
Holly Patrick
2007 Music Within Richard Pimentel
2008American CrudeJohnny
The SpleenectomyDr. BannisterShort film
2009 The Time Traveler's Wife Gomez
2010 Dinner for Schmucks Caldwell
Going the Distance Will Broderick
2011LeaveDr. Lieberman
10 Years Paul
2012 Queens of Country Rance McCoy
The Odd Life of Timothy Green Franklin Crudstaff
Game Change Mark WallaceTelevision movie
2013 Touchy Feely Adrian
Drinking Buddies Chris
The Pretty One Charles
The Conjuring Roger PerronNominated – Fright Meter Award for Best Supporting Actor
The SidekickCaptain WonderShort film
Parkland James Hosty
2014 Fort Bliss Richard
We Hate Paul ReverePaul RevereTelevision movie
2015 James White Ben
Addicted to Fresno Edwin
Vacation Ethan
Digging for Fire Bob
2016 The 5th Wave Oliver Sullivan
Shangri-La Suite Elvis
2017 Shimmer Lake Kyle Walker
Lucky Bobby Lawrence
Welcome to AmericaHimselfShort
2018 Tully Drew / husband
The Long Dumb Road Francois
The Professor Henry
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot Flag Pin
2020 Holly Slept Over Peter
2021 The Tender Bar Future JR Voice
The Same Storm Jim Lamson / Ben's Dad
2022 The Estate James
2023 The Flash Henry Allen
Sitting in Bars with Cake Fred
The Featherweight Bob Kaplan
Key
Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1995 JAG Corporal David AndersonEpisode: "Scimitar"
1996 Townies Kurt Pettiglio2 episodes
1997 Timecop Eliot Ness Episode: "Public Enemy"
Players JordanEpisode: "Con Law"
1998 That's Life Mitch6 episodes
2000 Then Came You MaxEpisode: "Then Came Cousin Aidan"
2001 Band of Brothers Lewis Nixon Miniseries; 10 episodes
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2001–2002 The Practice A.D.A. Alan Lowe8 episodes
2002–2003 Sex and the City Jack Berger 8 episodes
2005–2007 American Dad! Bob MemariVoice, 3 episodes
2005 House Dr. Sebastian CharlesEpisode: "TB or Not TB"
2006 Family Guy Video Store ClerkVoice, episode: "Stewie B. Goode"
Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King Howard FornoyEpisode: "The End of the Whole Mess"
2006–2007 Standoff Matt Flannery18 episodes
2009 Defying Gravity Maddux Donner1 season
WWII in HD Charles ScheffelVoice, 5 episodes
2011IssuesThe Nothing
2013 Boardwalk Empire Roy Phillips6 episodes
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2015 Adventure Time Morty RogersVoice, episode: "Chips & Ice Cream"
Saints & Strangers John Carver Miniseries, 2 episodes
2016–2021 Search Party Keith12 episodes
2017 Dice Sydney Stein2 episodes
Kings of ConLyle1 episode
2017–2020 Loudermilk Sam Loudermilklead role, 3 seasons
2018–2023 A Million Little Things Jonathan Dixonrecurring role
2018 The Romanoffs Alex MyersEpisode: "Bright and High Circle"
2021 Creepshow Mac KamenVoice, episode: "The Things in Oakwood's Past"
2022–2023 Pantheon Dr. Peter WaxmanVoice, 16 episodes

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References

  1. "Today in History". The Boston Globe. The Associated Press. June 5, 2012. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  2. "Iowa briefs (third item)". Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque). Associated Press. September 11, 2001. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013. [Ron] Livingston, 34, grew up in Marion where his parents, Kurt and Linda Livingston, still live. His route to Hollywood went from Marion High School to Yale, where he studied English and theater.
  3. "'Practice' makes perfect : Ron Livingston joins top-rated ABC law team". The Washington Times. September 25, 2001. Retrieved October 25, 2013 via Newsbank.(subscription required)
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  16. Andreeva, Nellie (July 27, 2018). "A Million Little Things' New ABC Drama Series Recasts Role". Deadline. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
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  22. Johnson, Zach (December 15, 2016). "Rosemarie DeWitt and Ron Livingston Adopt Daughter Esperanza Mae". E! News . Retrieved January 10, 2017.