Dennis Cockrum

Dennis Cockrum is an American actor who holds an M.A. in Dramatic Arts from Eastern Michigan University. He has accumulated credits across more than 100 films and television productions and is a member of SAG-AFTRA, the A.E.A., and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Cockrum's screen career began with a character role in John Hughes's 1989 comedy Uncle Buck. His subsequent film work includes Extreme Movie, Rebound, Gangster Squad, in which he portrayed Elmer Jackson, The Glimmer Man, where he played Detective Tom Farrell, Hail, Caesar!, Angels in Stardust, and Downeast. On television, he is best known for playing Terry Milkovich on the American comedy-drama series Shameless and has also appeared in Firefly and The West Wing.

On stage, Cockrum received the Joseph Jefferson Award for his performance in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. He appeared on Broadway in 2007 in Frost/Nixon, the play by British playwright Peter Morgan. His regional stage work includes Dead End by Sidney Kingsley at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, Lincoln Park Zoo by Richard Strand at Geva Theatre, Amadeus by Peter Shaffer, Private Lives by Noël Coward, and Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley at Snowmass Repertory in Colorado. In June 2025, Cockrum starred in Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues by Charles Smith.

In a June 2021 interview, Cockrum noted that he had been a SAG-AFTRA member for forty years. He is the father of actress Stella Cockrum.