Jack Gilpin

Jack Gilpin, born John Mitchell Gilpin on May 31, 1951, in Boyce, Virginia, is an American actor whose career has spanned stage, film, and television. He is the son of Lucy Trumbull (Mitchell) and Kenneth Newcomer Gilpin, a businessman. His family background includes several historically notable figures: his paternal great-grandfather was politician and general Lawrence Tyson, his maternal grandfather was World War I hero and aviation pioneer General William "Billy" Mitchell, and his first cousin is Drew Gilpin Faust, who served as president of Harvard University from 2007 to 2018.

Gilpin received his secondary education at Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1969, before earning his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1973. He subsequently trained as an actor at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.

His Broadway career extended from 1978 to 2002 and included appearances in The Elephant Man, Getting and Spending, Beyond Therapy, and Players. On screen, Gilpin held a recurring role on the television series Kate & Allie and appeared as a guest performer across all three of the original Law & Order franchise series: Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. His film credits include Heartburn, Something Wild, She-Devil, Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, Quiz Show, Reversal of Fortune, Barcelona, and The Notorious Bettie Page. In 2008, he appeared in the film 21 as Bob Phillips, a character who interviews student candidates for a fictional scholarship to Harvard Medical School and whose scenes open and close the film.

Gilpin is married to actress Ann McDonough, and the couple has three children, including actress Betty Gilpin. Outside of his performing career, he was ordained as a priest of the Episcopal Church on December 15, 2012, having previously served as a licensed lay preacher at Christ Church in Roxbury, Connecticut. He subsequently became the priest in charge of St. John's Episcopal Church in New Milford, Connecticut, where he had arrived as a deacon two months before his ordination.