A hulking (6'3-1/2"), hardworking dark-haired character player and occasional lead, Oliver Platt grew up the son of a US diplomat, splitting his time between the Middle East, Asia and Washington, DC. After college, he pursued theater in the Boston area before relocating to NYC, where he acted Off-Broadway in productions at the Manhattan Punch Line Theatre Group. It was there that he caught the eye of actor Bill Murray, who recommended him to director Jonathan Demme. Demme cast him as Matthew Modine's wise-cracking partner in "Married to the Mob", and he also acted in another high profile production, Mike Nichols' "Working Girl" (both 1988), portraying Melanie Griffith's sexist boss. Though he continued for awhile to perform in plays like "Urban Blight" (1998), "Ubu" (1989) and "Elliot Loves" (1990), the demands on this A-list supporting player's time have precluded his working in the theater during the 90s and into the new millennium.
Platt's first co-starring role came as one of the death-defying students in Joel Schumacher's "Flatliners" (1990) which he followed with good--but not star-making--parts in "Postcards from the Edge" (also 1990), the dog comedy "Beethoven" and the sports drama "Diggstown" (both 1992). He raised his profile higher in 1993 with appearances as Timothy Hutton's associate ("The Temp"), Woody Harrelson's sneaky lawyer ("Indecent Proposal") and Aidan Quinn's friend ("Benny & Joon") and gained some credence as an alternative sex symbol in his first film lead as Porthos in Stephen Herek's remake of "The Three Musketeers". His role as Paul Bunyan in the fantasy "Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill" (1995) called for further swashbuckling, while "Funny Bones" (also 1995) gave him a meaty role as an aspiring stand-up comic and belligerent son of comedy icon George Fawkes (Jerry Lewis). Unfortunately, his essentially unsympathetic part proved a cross to bear, and the supporting characters walked off with the best notices.
After roles as a weapons designer assisting in the rescue of a hijacked plane in the thriller "Executive Decision" and a legal colleague to Matthew McConaughey in the courtroom drama "A Time to Kill", Platt made his producing debut on the indie "Big Night" (all 1996), co-directed by actors Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott. He would later team with Tucci as two Depression-era actors who unleash bizarre improvisations on an unsuspecting public in "The Impostors" (1998), one of five films he appeared in that year. While "Dangerous Beauty" and "Simon Birch" all received little fanfare, Platt did hit a home run as Warren Beatty's coke-snorting campaign manager and "spin doctor" in "Bulworth" and as Eddie Murphy's partner in "Dr. Dolittle". He continued his relentless pace in 1999 appearing as an obnoxious mythology professor in the David E Kelly-scripted "Lake Placid", a robot mechanic in "Bicentennial Man" and a caustic gay architect in "Three to Tango".
Platt started the new millennium as the hotheaded Mafia chieftain in "Gun Shy", another crime comedy exploring the vulnerabilities of tough guys, and then put his imposing size to good use as Jimmy King, a bitter, drunken professional wrestler in "Ready to Rumble" (both 2000), made with the full cooperation of Time-Warner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Following a nicely etched supporting turn as a therapist in the thriller "Don't Say a Word" (2001), Platt appeared in one of his most subtle and appealing performances yet, playing Katie Holmes' compassionate, put-upon father struggling to reconcile his splintered family in the digital film "Pieces of April" (2003).
Though Platt made a few guest spots on shows like "The Equalizer" (CBS) and "Miami Vice" (NBC) in the late 80s, his only small screen credits were in HBO's "The Infiltrator" (1995, as a journalist who exposes a group of neo-Nazis) and "CinderElmo" (Fox, 1999, as the Fairy Godperson), a "Sesame Street" retelling of the classic fairy tale "Cinderella". All that changed in the fall of 2000, when Platt starred in his own NBC series playing a tabloid journalist who teams with students to solve crimes in "Deadline." Despite the pedigree (the drama was created and executive produced by "Law & Order"'s Dick Wolf), the show failed to capture the imagination of viewers and was cancelled after only five airings, despite a 13-episode commitment from the network. Undaunted, Platt continued his breakneck pace, filming roles in several movies, including "Don't Say a Word" (2001). The actor had not eschewed TV, however. He accepted a recurring role as White House counsel Oliver Babish on NBC's popular political drama "The West Wing", a part that netted him an Emmy nomination. Less successful was his second bid as the lead in a series, "Queens Supreme" (CBS, 2003), which cast him as a charismatic jurist. Platt joined the cast of Showtime's "Huff" in 2004, playing Hank Azaria's best friend and along the way, earning a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Back on the big screen Platt made for a sympathetic if deferential dad trying to mediate the Thanksgiving conflict between his judgmental wife (Patricia Clarkson) and his free-spirited daughter (Katie Holmes) in the charming indie "Pieces of April" (2003), followed by typically standout supporting turns in "Hope Springs" (2003), the biopic "Kinsey" (2004) and especially in Harold Ramis' pitch-black comedic film noir "The Ice Harvest" (2005) as the best friend who stole the wife of an imperiled mob accountant (John Cusack) who's now drowning his sorrows on Christmas Eve--Platt delivered one of the funniest and most realistic portrayals of a man on a bender seen on the screen. However, his next project "Casanova" (2005), director Lasse Hallstrom's fictionalized account of the legendary lothario (Heath Ledger) falling in love at last, was easily one of the most ill-conceived and disappointing films of the year, despite lavish production values and game performances by Platt, as an obese pork magnate betrothed by arrangement to the object of Casanoa's affection (Sienna Miller), and the rest of the all-star cast.