John Michael Higgins

John Michael Higgins, born February 12, 1963, in Boston, Massachusetts, is an American actor, comedian, and game show host. His father served as a naval officer, and the family relocated frequently, living across sixteen military bases during Higgins's childhood. While his father was stationed in Washington, D.C., Higgins began performing at venues including the Folger Theatre, Arena Stage, and Round House Theatre. He went on to study literature at Amherst College, where he was a member of the a cappella group the Zumbyes, graduating in 1985. After completing his degree, he moved to New York to pursue a career in acting and theatre.

In the early 1980s, prior to his move to New York, Higgins worked as a theatre instructor with Street 70, a Rockville, Maryland theatre production company now known as Round House Theatre, where he also taught voice and improvisation. His Broadway career includes a 1991 appearance in La Bête. Off-Broadway, he originated the title role in Paul Rudnick's Jeffrey in 1993, and in 2000 appeared at Second Stage Theatre in Edward Albee's Tiny Alice. In 2003, he played the title role in A. R. Gurney's Big Bill at Lincoln Center Theater in New York. The following year, he portrayed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in the American premiere of David Hare's Stuff Happens at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

Higgins became closely associated with director Christopher Guest through a series of mockumentary films. Among his contributions to the 2003 film A Mighty Wind was arranging the dense vocal harmonies performed by the nine-part New Main Street Singers, departing from the writers' original concept of having the group sing in unison. He also appeared in Pitch Perfect and its sequels alongside Elizabeth Banks, with their characters serving as announcers across all three films, as well as in Fun with Dick and Jane and The Break-Up, for which he also wrote vocal arrangements. On television, he portrayed David Letterman in the HBO film The Late Shift.

His television credits span multiple decades and genres. He appeared in recurring roles on Ally McBeal, Brother's Keeper, Boston Legal, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, and portrayed Elaine's boyfriend Kurt in Season 8 of Seinfeld. He played attorney Wayne Jarvis in five episodes of Arrested Development, for which he received an Online Film and Television Association nomination for best guest actor in a comedy series. In 2011, he was cast opposite Fran Drescher in the TV Land sitcom Happily Divorced, playing Peter Lovett, Fran's gay ex-husband, a character based on Drescher's real-life ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson. From 2017 to 2018, he starred as Chuck Pierce on the NBC comedy series Great News. He played Principal Toddman in the 2020 Peacock comedy series Saved by the Bell, and in 2017 was cast as Tod Crawford in Tween Fest, a role that earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.

Higgins has an extensive voice acting career. He voiced Iknik Blackstone Varrick in The Legend of Korra beginning in 2012, a role for which he won the Behind the Voice Actor Award for best vocal performance in a supporting role in a television series in the action/drama category in 2014, as well as the award for best vocal ensemble in a television series in the same category that year. Additional voice credits include Judge Mentok in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, 2401 Penitent Tangent in Halo 2, Riddler in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Mini-Max in Big Hero 6: The Series, Warren Stone in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, Mayor Anchovy in Baby Shark's Big Show from 2023 to 2024, and the recurring character Doug Wheeler on Bob's Burgers since 2012.

In 2018, Higgins became the host of the game show America Says on Game Show Network, a role that earned him a 2019 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host. The show ran through 2022 before going on hiatus, and on March 2, 2026, the network renewed it for a sixth season set to premiere in April, with Higgins returning as host. From 2023 to 2024, he also hosted a new iteration of the game show Split Second on Game Show Network, additionally serving as executive producer.

Higgins married actress and writer Margaret Welsh on February 1, 2003. The two met while performing together in a Connecticut production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. They have two children, a daughter and a son.