Lawrence Pressman

Lawrence Pressman, born David Milton Pressman on July 10, 1939, is an American actor whose career has spanned stage, film, and television across more than five decades.

Pressman made his Broadway debut in Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory, a credit that earned him the Theatre World Award in 1964. He subsequently appeared on Broadway in The Man in the Glass Booth, directed by Harold Pinter, a production he also performed in London's West End. His Broadway work further included the original production of Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam. His stage activity during this period extended beyond Broadway: in 1968 he played Berowne in Michael Kahn's production of Love's Labour's Lost at the American Shakespeare Festival.

His stage career continued well beyond his Broadway years. In 1987 he originated the lead role in Lee Blessing's A Walk in the Woods at La Jolla Playhouse, directed by Des McAnuff. In 1998 he portrayed James Tyrone in Marshall Mason's staging of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Later regional credits include The Paris Letter at Center Theater Group in 2005, Paul Weitz's Show People at Second Stage Theater Off-Broadway in 2006, and Casa Valentina at Pasadena Playhouse in 2016.

Pressman launched his screen career with a role on the soap opera The Edge of Night before appearing in the 1971 film Shaft. That same year he starred in The Hellstrom Chronicle, a documentary feature that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, with Pressman portraying a fictional scientist. Additional film credits include Making It (1971), 9 to 5 (1980), The Hanoi Hilton (1987), Trial and Error (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and American Pie (1999).

On television, Pressman played Bill Denton in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and portrayed H. R. Haldeman in the 1979 CBS miniseries Blind Ambition. He also appeared in the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War. His series regular work includes Doogie Howser, M.D., Ladies' Man, Profiler, and the title role in Mulligan's Stew. Television movies on his résumé include The Gathering, A Fighting Choice, and Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story. His guest appearances span a wide range of series, among them M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Hawaii Five-O, Marcus Welby M.D., Matlock, Law & Order, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, Dawson's Creek, The Drew Carey Show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, NCIS, and Criminal Minds.

Pressman met actress Lanna Saunders, daughter of actor Nicholas Saunders and granddaughter of actor Nicholas Soussanin, while both were studying with Elia Kazan. The two married in 1973 and had one son, David. Saunders died in 2007.