Dennis Boutsikaris

Dennis Boutsikaris is an American stage, film, and television actor born on December 21, 1952, in Newark, New Jersey. He grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where he first pursued acting as a student at Governor Livingston High School. He later earned a degree from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and subsequently toured the United States with John Houseman's The Acting Company. His father was a Greek-American Christian and his mother, Jane, was Jewish, with her parents having emigrated from Minsk in the Russian Empire.

Boutsikaris made his Broadway debut in 1979 and continued performing on Broadway through 2009. Among his most notable stage achievements is the distinction of being the first American actor to portray Mozart in Amadeus, appearing opposite Frank Langella. He was also directed by Laurence Olivier in Filumena. Additional Broadway credits include Bent and, in 2009, the revivals of Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, both featuring Laurie Metcalf. The Brighton Beach Memoirs revival opened to wide critical attention before closing after one week, while Broadway Bound never officially opened.

Off-Broadway, Boutsikaris is particularly recognized for originating the role of Jonathan Waxman in Sight Unseen at the Manhattan Theatre Club, a production that later transferred to the Orpheum Theatre. That performance earned him an Obie Award for Outstanding Performance and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Actor. He received his first Obie Award in 1985 for Outstanding Performance in Nest of the Woodgrouse at the New York Shakespeare Festival, directed by Joseph Papp, making him a two-time Obie recipient. He also appeared as Cassius in a production of Julius Caesar at the Delacorte Theatre and took part in the original New York productions of The Boys Next Door, A Picasso, and a revival of That Championship Season. He continued working with Metcalf in The Other Place Off-Broadway. At the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles, Boutsikaris appeared in the world premiere of David Mamet's The Old Neighborhood and in Jane Anderson's The Quality of Life in 2007, alongside Metcalf and Jo Beth Williams. For the latter, he received the Backstage West Garland Award for Best Actor and earned nominations from both the L.A. Critics Drama Circle and the LA Alliance Ovation Awards.

His film work includes leading roles in *batteries not included, The Dream Team, Crocodile Dundee II, Boys on the Side, and In Dreams. He portrayed Paul Wolfowitz in Oliver Stone's W. and co-starred in The Bourne Legacy in 2012, the fourth installment of the Bourne franchise. Additional film credits include Cherry Crush, The Education of Charlie Banks, Calling It Quits, and Money Monster. He received the Best Actor Award at both the Staten Island Film Festival and the Long Island Film Festival for his performance in Calling It Quits.

On television, Boutsikaris held lead roles in the series Stat, The Jackie Thomas Show, and Misery Loves Company, and accumulated recurring roles on 100 Centre Street, Trinity, ER, Law & Order, and Shameless. He is perhaps best known to television audiences for portraying lawyer Rich Schweikart in Better Call Saul, a role he held from 2015 to 2022. He also appeared in recurring capacities on Quantico as Henry Roarke beginning in 2017 and on CBS's Salvation as Malcolm Croft, a professor and mentor character, during 2017 and 2018. His television movie credits number more than twenty and include Chasing the Dragon, And Then There Was One, and Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story, in which he portrayed Woody Allen alongside Patsy Kensit. His performance in Chasing the Dragon earned a Cable ACE nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1995.

Beyond his acting work, Boutsikaris has narrated more than 200 audiobooks, earning eight Audie Awards and two Best Voices of the Year Awards from AudioFile Magazine. Amazon voted him Best Narrator of the Year for his recording of The Gene. He was formerly married to actress Deborah Hedwall.