Richard Schiff



Richard Schiff (b. 1955) is a character actor who won an Emmy Award for his regular role as White House communications director Toby Ziegler on The West Wing. In 1998, he played Dr. Gene Reiss in the Creature Shop-effects film Dr. Dolittle.

Schiff's professional demeanor and dry delivery has led to frequent appearances as lawyers (in Hoffa, Se7en, Loved, and What's the Worst That Could Happen), showbiz producers or directors (The Bodyguard, Grace of My Heart, Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight, and Jerry Wexler in Ray), or bureacrats (as disapproving child service's representatives in I Am Sam and Martian Child and a weak-willed parole official in City Hall, with Fran Brill). Other film credits include The Lost World: Jurassic Park (as engineer Eddie Carr), Ghost in the Machine, Malcolm X, and Civic Duty. TV work includes three appearances as an FBI agent on Roswell and guest spots on Murphy Brown, NYPD Blue, Ally McBeal, Becker, Murder One, and Burn Notice.