Tim Matheson

A child actor who appeared on such classic TV shows as "Leave It to Beaver" and "My Three Sons" (both ABC) and was the original voice of Johnny Quest in Hanna-Barbera's popular animated series "The Adventures of Johnny Quest" (ABC, 1964-65), Tim Matheson made a smooth transition to adult actor, following some terrific teen turns in the excellent comedy features "Divorce American Style" (1967) and "Yours, Mine and Ours" (1968). Typecast as a cowboy during his four years as a contract player at Universal, he acted in NBC's "The Virginian" and "Bonanza" and later starred opposite Kurt Russell in their own short-lived Western series, "The Quest" (NBC, 1976). Matheson raised his feature profile as Sweet, one of the rogue cops of the "Dirty Harry" sequel "Magnum Force" (1973), starring Clint Eastwood, then gained fame for his full-bodied characterization of the fast-talking, womanizing, preppy snob Eric 'Otter' Stratton in John Landis' "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978).

In addition to his supporting turn in "The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again" and a starring role in the bowling flick "Dreamer", Matheson joined a wide array of stars including John Belushi, Treat Williams and Ned Beatty for Steven Spielberg's manic period comedy "1941" (all 1979). He later landed a major supporting role as the pilot romancing an actress in the remake of Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 classic "To Be or Not To Be" (1983), produced by and starring Mel Brooks, and had important roles in the comedies "A Little Sex" (1981), "Fletch" (1985), "Drop Dead Fred" (1991) and "A Very Brady Sequel" (1996, his best feature turn in years). But for the most part, the smart aleck style that served him so well as Otter has been put to better use on the small screen than the large. Though his attempts to achieve series stardom ("Tucker's Witch", CBS 1982-83; "Just In Time", ABC 1988; "Charlie Hoover", Fox 1991) have all been short-lived to date, he has built an impressive resume starring in TV-movies, expanding his repertoire to include bad guys like the wife-batterer of "Shameful Secrets" (ABC, 1993), the child molester in "While Justice Sleeps" (NBC, 1994) and the millionaire control freak in "Sleeping with the Devil" (CBS, 1997).

Matheson started his own production company in 1985 at Burbank Studios and continued his involvement with NATIONAL LAMPOON as the co-owner and chair of the humor magazine from 1989 until 1991. He broke into feature producing with "Blind Fury" (1989), having already executive produced his "Just in Time" series, and made his directing debut with an episode of NBC's "St. Elsewhere" in 1984. Since then, he has helmed a trio of USA Network movies ("Breach of Conduct" 1994, which he also executive produced; "Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead" 1995, "Buried Alive II" 1997, both in which he acted) and Showtime's "In the Company of Spies" (1999), starring Tom Berenger and Ron Silver. As an actor, he turned in good efforts in Showtime's "Rescuers: Stories of Courage-Two Families" opposite Darryl Hannah and in CBS' "Forever Love" (both 1998) with Reba McEntire before returning to episodic TV in the recurring role of US Vice President in NBC's "The West Wing" (1999- ). He also appeared in two 1999 features, Robert Iscove's "She's All That" and Rob Reiner's "The Story of Us".

• Also Credited As:
  Tim Mathieson, Timothy Lewis Matthieson, Timothy Matthieson
• Born:
  December 31, 1947 in Glendale, California
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Director, Producer, Magazine owner

Family

• Daughter: Molly Lewis Matheson. born on August 4, 1986; mother, Megan Matheson
• Daughters: Emma Katherine Matheson. born on February 21, 1988; mother, Megan Matheson
• Son: Cooper Timothy Matheson. born on August 12, 1993; mother, Megan Matheson

Milestones

• 1958 Enrolled in an acting class at age ten
• 1961 Made TV acting debut as Roddy Miller in "Window on Main Street" (CBS), a series starring Robert Young, fresh from "Father Knows Best"
• 1964 Was the original voice of Johnny Quest on Hanna-Barbera's animated "The Adventures of Johnny Quest" (ABC)
• 1967 Feature debut, "Divorce American Style"
• 1968 Appeared with Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson in "Yours, Mine and Ours", an intelligently-scripted, well-made family comedy
• 1973 Played Sweet, one of the rogue cops in "Magnum Force"
• 1976 Starred opposite Kurt Russell in short-lived NBC Western series "The Quest", blown out of the water by the competition ABC's "Charlie's Angels"
• 1978 Breakout feature performance as preppy snob Eric 'Otter' Stratton in "National Lampoon's Animal House", directed by John Landis
• 1979 Reteamed with "Animal House" co-star John Belushi in Steven Spielberg's "1941"
• 1982 Starred opposite Margot Kidder in HBO adaptation of William Inge's play "Bus Stop"
• 1982 Was a series regular on "Tucker's Witch" (CBS), starring opposite Catherine Hicks as husband-and-wife partners in a private-detective agency
• 1983 Portrayed Lieutenant Andre Sobinski in remake of "To Be or Not to Be", starring Mel Brooks, wife Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning
• 1984 Acted the part of Austin in NYC stage production of Sam Shepard's "True West"
• 1984 Directing debut, an episode of NBC's "St. Elsewhere"
• 1985 Hired Chevy Chase to kill him in the feature "Fletch"
• 1985 Set up own production company at Burbank Studios
• 1988 Executive produced and starred in six-part ABC series "Just in Time"
• 1989 Produced (with Grodnick) the feature "Blind Fury", directed by Phillip Noyce; did not act in the film
• 1990 Starred in the USA Network thriller "Buried Alive"
• 1991 Played title role in short-lived (a mere seven episodes) Fox series "Charlie Hoover"
• 1991 Starred as a high school teacher in "Stephen King's 'Sometimes They Come Back'" (CBS)
• 1993 Portrayed Howard Hughes in Johnathan Kaplan's "Since I Don't Have You" segment of Sowtime's "Fallen Angels" film noir anthology
• 1994 Executive produced and directed USA Network movie "Breach of Conduct"
• 1995 Helmed "Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead" (USA Network); also portrayed Detective McKinley
• 1996 Posed as Carol Brady's (Shelley Long) long-lost first husband in the even-better-than-the-original "A Very Brady Sequel"; previously, Long and Matheson had starred onstage in a long-running Los Angeles production of A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters"
• 1997 Directed and reprised role in the sequel "Buried Alive II" (USA Network)
• 1998 Starred opposite Daryl Hannah in "We Are Circus" part of Showtime's "Resuers: Stories of Courage-Two Families" as a non-Jewish married couple running a traveling circus in Germany during World War II who hide Jews at great personal risk to themselves
• 1999 Had recurring role as the US Vice President in the NBC drama "The West Wing"; earned an Emmy (2003) nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor
• 1999 Acted the part of Marty in Rob Reiner's "The Story of Us", yet another project for Universal Studios
• 1999 Directed Showtime's "In the Company of Spies", with Tom Berenger and Ron Silver
• 2001 Co-starred in the TNT series "Breaking News"
• 2006 Cast as the father of an assassin in the USA comedy "To Love and Die in L.A."
• 2006 Cast in Wim Wenders' neo-Western "Don't Come Knocking" starring Sam Shepard
• Appeared in episodes of "Leave It to Beaver" and "My Three Sons" (both ABC), among other series; provided voice for "Sinbad Jr" segment of CBS' animated "The Alvin Show"
• As a contract player for Universal, played Jim Horn for a season on "The Virginian" (NBC, 1969-1970) and Griff King for a year on "Bonanza" (NBC, 1972-1973)
• Bought (with Daniel Grodnick) NATIONAL LAMPOON magazine, becoming executive officer and chairman; after 18 months at the helm, Matheson and Grodnik engineered a merger with a video company, J-2 Communications
• Founding member of L.A.'s breakthrough comedy troupe, The Groundlings
• Served in the Marine Corps Reserves