Bill Irwin

Biography

Bill Irwin (born in Santa Monica, California, in 1950) is an American actor, clown and comedian whose career links the revival of American circus in the 1970s with a long run of stage work on Broadway and Off-Broadway. Known for silent, physical comedy, he has also built a steady screen career in supporting roles and a familiar presence on television.

After studying theatre at Oberlin College, where he graduated in 1974, Irwin attended the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College the following year. In 1975 he co-founded the Pickle Family Circus in San Francisco, but he left the company in 1979 to focus on the stage. He went on to create his own shows, including The Regard of Flight (1982) and Largely New York (1989), and later teamed with David Shiner on Old Hats, a clowning revue with music that won the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue.

His dramatic work has been just as varied. In 1988 he played Lucky in the Lincoln Center Off-Broadway production of Waiting for Godot, alongside Steve Martin and Robin Williams, a role that gave him a famous long speech in a career built largely on silence. In 2005 he played George opposite Kathleen Turner in a Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, earning a Tony Award. He also adapted Molière's Les Fourberies de Scapin as Scapin, a comedy he has staged in several productions.

His film career began in 1980 with Robert Altman's Popeye. He has appeared in more than twenty films, mostly in supporting parts, among them Eight Men Out, about the 1919 Black Sox scandal, and the comedy Hot Shots!, in which he played Charlie Sheen's father. Critics praised his role in Rachel Getting Married (2008), and in Interstellar he voiced and puppeteered the robot TARS. On television he is best known as Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street and as Dr. Peter Lindstrom on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

His legacy rests on the blend of clowning, vaudeville and dramatic acting he brought to American stages. Married to Martha Roth, he remains active across theatre, film and television, with recent credits including Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, released in 2026.

Key films

• Popeye (1980), his screen debut, as Harold Hamgravy.
• Hot Shots! (1991), as the father of Charlie Sheen's character.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), in the film adaptation of the holiday story.
• Rachel Getting Married (2008), as the father of the lead character, a widely praised role.
• Interstellar (2014), as the voice and puppeteer of the robot TARS.
• The Odyssey (2026), directed by Christopher Nolan.