Stephen Root Biography

Stephen Root was born in Sarasota, California and spent 15 years honing his acting skills in theater before eventually making the switch to television and film.

He received a BA in 1972 from the University of Florida, where he majored in acting and broadcasting. Originally intending to be a journalist, Stephen discovered his love for acting after attending a directing class. He began acting in New York, both off-Broadway and on Broadway.

He did not make his screen debut until the 1980s. The first film he featured in was Monkey Shines (1988), which would lead to an extensive career, both on television and in movies.

Some of his most notable TV roles include playing billionaire Jimmy James on the '90s sitcom NewsRadio and Army barber Bill Dauterive on the animated series King of the Hill. He had a recurring role as Republican campaign consultant Bob Mayer on The West Wing and made guest appearances on such shows as Seinfeld, Frasier and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

As far as film roles, Stephen has expressed his desire to maintain a comedy/drama mix in order to avoid being typecast. His wide range of acting credits span from the bumbling, good-natured gym-goer Gordon Pibb in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) to the malicious, blind art dealer Jim Hudson in the Oscar-winning film Get Out (2017).

Other roles include Milton in Office Space (1999), the blind Radio Station Man in O Brother, Where Art Thou?(2000) and Al Lingo in Selma(2014).

In 2018, Stephen played Melissa McCarthy’s father, Mike, in the comedy Life of the Party (2018) and Professor Brown in the biopic On the Basis of Sex by starring Felicity Jones.

More recently, he played Daddy Mac in the Amazon Studios film Uncle Frank (2020), starring Paul Bettany.

From 1984 to 1997, Stephen was married to Laura Joan Hase, the mother of his two children. In December 2008, he married actress Romy Rosemont.