Theodore Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom Married... with Children, Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith, and Derek Bishop on the Apple TV comedy drama series Shrinking. He was a late regular on Happy Days, Dynasty and The Love Boat and is known for playing the villainous role of Stan Gable in the film Revenge of the Nerds and several made-for-television sequels.
Early life McGinley was born and raised in Newport Beach, California. His paternal grandfather was an Irish immigrant. He played on the water polo team at Newport Harbor High School. McGinley attended the University of Southern California, but after pursuing work as a model, dropped out and moved to New York in 1979.
Career After a casting director spotted a picture of him in GQ, McGinley was cast on the comedy series Happy Days as Roger Phillips (nephew of Marion Cunningham), a role he played from 1980 to 1984. During the run of Happy Days, he landed a role in the comedy film Young Doctors in Love (1982).
After Happy Days ended in 1984, McGinley appeared in Revenge of the Nerds where he played Stanley Gable, the head of the jock-run Alpha Beta fraternity and the primary antagonist of the Lambda Lambda Lambda nerd fraternity; he reprised the role in the third and fourth films in the "Nerds" franchise, both produced for television. He went on to appear in regular roles on television series including The Love Boat and Dynasty. He then played the role of Al Bundy's best friend and Marcy Rhoades' husband Jefferson D'Arcy on Married... with Children from 1991 to 1997, describing it as a "great, great gig." He had recurring roles on Aaron Sorkin's television series Sports Night as Dana's boyfriend Gordon, and The West Wing as a television news anchor. From 2003 to 2006, he played Charley Shanowski on Hope & Faith.
Two years later, he was selected for a role in Charlie Lawrence, a situation comedy about a freshman congressman from New Mexico, played by Nathan Lane. McGinley played Graydon Ford, the neighbor of Lane's title character, who was a member of the opposing political party. McGinley was also in the pilot for the 2002 CBS show Life of the Party, playing a senator.
His guest star roles include series such as Fantasy Island (1982), Hotel (1985–87), Perfect Strangers (1988), B.L. Stryker (1989), Evening Shade (1990), Dream On (1991), The John Larroquette Show (1995–96; 1997–98), The Practice (2001), and Justice League (2002).
During and shortly after the run of Married … With Children, McGinley was a part of many films and television films, playing different types of characters. In 1993, he played Mr. Scream in Wayne's World 2. That same year, McGinley affected a Southern accent in his role in the miniseries Wild Justice, which was poorly received by critics. Some of his television film roles were very dark. In 1996, he was the star of Deadly Web, a film that aired on NBC in 1996 and co–starred his wife, Gigi Rice. The film was about a woman who was stalked on the Internet. McGinley played one of his darkest roles in 1998 in the television film Every Mother's Worst Fear. He played Mitch Carson, a sexual predator who lures a teenage girl into his house, where he holds her captive and tortures her.
In 2008, McGinley became a contestant on the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, and was paired with pro dancer Inna Brayer. He was the second contestant to be eliminated in the competition.
"Jumping the Shark" McGinley was called "the patron saint of shark-jumping" by jumptheshark.com founder Jon Hein. This is a reference to the several instances McGinley joined popular television programs in their final years, often to replace a departing regular cast member. Hein explains he is not making any comment "on Ted's fine acting skills" and furthermore notes that "[McGinley] has a great sense of humor about it, too." In one episode of Married... with Children, McGinley himself spoofed this reputation by asking Al Bundy, "Another picture, Captain? I mean, Fonzie? ....Al?" In 2003, McGinley told Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "I've had a lot of fun with it. To be honest with you, it's meant people are still talking about me. It's kind of doing me a favor. And people keep hiring me, so I know that I'm okay, jumping the shark."
In 2011, McGinley again made fun of his "shark-jumping" abilities in "Mitefall!", the final episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In the episode, Bat-Mite (voiced by Paul Reubens) wants the show to be cancelled to usher in a new TV show called Beware the Batman. To that end, he starts replacing aspects of the show, including switching Aquaman's regular voice actor, John DiMaggio, with McGinley. Ambush Bug (voiced by McGinley's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler) helps to reverse the situation, in part by getting McGinley to break character and leave, forcing DiMaggio's voice back into Aquaman.
Personal life McGinley married actress Gigi Rice in 1991 and they have two sons, Beau (born 1994) and Quinn. They reside in Los Angeles.
Filmography Film Year Film Role Notes 1982 Young Doctors in Love Dr. Bucky DeVol 1984 Revenge of the Nerds Stanley Harvey "Stan" Gable 1989 Troop Beverly Hills Himself Physical Evidence Kyle D.E. Roache 1991 Blue Tornado Phillip 1992 Space Case Biff Alternative title: Alien Invasion 1993 Wayne's World 2 Mr. Scream 1998 Follow Your Heart James Allen Bailey Major League: Back to the Minors Leonard Huff Alternative title: Major League III 1999 Dick Roderick The Big Tease Johnny Darjerling 2000 Face the Music Marcus Daybreak Dillon Johansen Alternative title: Rapid Transit 2001 Cahoots Brad Pearl Harbor Army Major 2007 The Storm Awaits Vale Newcastle 2008 Eavesdrop Grant 2000 Privileged Mr. Webber 2010 Christmas with a Capital C Dan Reed Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster Thornton Blake V / Uncle Thorny Voice 2013 Bad Behavior Bruce 2014 Reedemed Paul Tyson 2015 Do You Believe? Matthew Underdog Kids Barry Hershfeld 2016 Expendable Assets Carter 2017 Area of Conflict Carter The Outcasts Principal Whitmore 2018 God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness Thomas Ellsworth A.X.L. George Fontaine
Television Year Title Role Notes 1980–1984 Happy Days Roger Phillips 61 episodes 1982 Fantasy Island Errol Brookfield III Episode: "The Kleptomaniac/Thank God, I'm a Country Girl" 1983 Making of a Male Model Gary Angelo Television film 1983–1987 The Love Boat Photographer Ashley "Ace" Covington Evans 60 episodes 1985–1987 Hotel Kyle Stanton 3 episodes 1986–1987 Dynasty Clay Fallmont 34 episodes 1988 Perfect Strangers Billy Appleton Episode: "My Brother, Myself" 1989 B.L. Stryker Mitch Slade 2 episodes 1989, 1991–1997 Married... with Children Norman Jablonsky Episode: "It's a Bundyful Life" Jefferson D'Arcy 167 episodes 1990 Evening Shade Kyle Hampton Episode: "The Moustache Show" 1991 Baby Talk Craig Palmer Episode: "Baby Love" 1992 Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation Dean Stanley Harvey "Stan" Gable Television film1993 Wild Justice Aubrey Billings Linda Brandon "Jeff" Jeffries 1994 Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love Stanley Harvey "Stan" Gable1995 Dream On Chad Spencer Episode: "Long Distance Runaround" Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead Jeffrey Quint Television film 1995–1996 The John Larroquette Show Karl Reese 4 episodes 1996 Deadly Web Peter Lawrence Television film 1998 Every Mother's Worst Fear Scanman 1998–1999 Sports Night Gordon 8 episodes1999 Work with Me Murray Epstein Episode: "Pilot" Hard Time: Hostage Hotel FBI Agent Hopkins Television film 2000–2001 The West Wing Mark Gottfried 3 episodes 2001 The Practice Michael Hale Episode: "Awakenings" 2002 Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central) Ted Wayne Giblen 1 episode 2002–2003 Justice League Tom Turbine, Burns Voice, 3 episodes2003 Frozen Impact Dan Blanchard Television filmCharlie LawrenceGraydon Ford7 episodes The Proud Family Lance McDougal Voice, episode: "Smackmania 6: Mongo vs. Mama's Boy" 2003–2006 Hope & Faith Dr. Charley Shanowski 73 episodes 2004 NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 Reese Faulkner Television film2007–2008 Family Guy Helicopter Rental Agent / McStroke Receptionist Voice, 2 episodes2007 'Til Death Webby Episode: "Webby's Not Happy" The Note Kingston "King" Danville Television film 2008 Dancing with the Stars Himself (contestant) 2 episodes2009 Psych Randy Labayda Episode: "Six Feet Under the Sea" The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love Kingston "King" Danville Television film 2010 Wizards of Waverly Place Superintendent Clanton Episode: "Western Show" Melissa & Joey Mayor Episode: "In Lennox We Trust" 2011 Breaking In Larry Episode: "White on White on White" Batman: The Brave and the Bold Himself as Aquaman Voice, episode: "Mitefall!" 2012 Notes from the Heart Healer Kingston "King" Danville Television film The Mentalist Ed Hunt Episode: "If It Bleeds, It Leads" Sullivan & Son Eugene Casternakie Episode: "The Bar Birthday" 2013 A Mother's Rage Stan Television film Mad Men Mel Episode: “To Have and to Hold" 2014 Castle Brock Harmon Episode: "Last Action Hero" 2015–2017 Transformers: Robots in Disguise Denny Clay, Ship Captain Voice, 54 episodes 2015 The BridgeCharlie BartonsTelevision film 2016 The Bridge Part 2 No Tomorrow Greg Covington Recurring role 2017 Fatherly Obsession Robert J. Farnsworth Television film 2019 Hawaii Five-0FBI Special Agent Sam CollinsEpisode: "Ho'opio 'ia e ka noho ali'i a ka ua" No Good Nick Sam Recurring role Christmas Reservations Duffy Johnson Television film 2020 MomDr. BerensonEpisode: "Cheddar Cheese and a Squirrel Circus" 2021–2022 Keeping Up with the Joneses Webb Recurring role 2023–present Shrinking Derek Main role 2023 Platonic Johnny Rev Episode: "San Diego" 2024 The Baxters John Baxter Lead role
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