Michael O'Neill

Acting · Production

Born May 29, 1947, Montgomery, Alabama, USA

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Michael O'Neill (born May 29, 1951) is an American actor. With a career stretching through three decades, he usually portrays senior law enforcement or military officers. He is perhaps best known for his role as Special agent Ron Butterfield, the head of President Josiah Bartlet's Secret Service detail, on The West Wing. He played CTU Administrative Director Richard Walsh in the first two episodes of 24. He played Sgt. Maj. Ron Cheals in the CBS action-drama series The Unit. He starred in the Season Six 2 part Finale of Grey's Anatomy as the broken widower who holds the hospital hostage with a 9mm while pursuing the doctors responsible for unplugging his wife. His most notable film performances occur in Seabiscuit, Secondhand Lions, Transformers, Dancer, Texas Pop 81, Traffic, Sea of Love, A Quiet Little Marriage, Nothing But the Truth, and Green Zone. O'Neill graduated from Auburn University in 1974. After attending Auburn he spent time under the tutelage of actor Will Geer and his daughter, Ellen, at Theatricum Botanicum in Los Angeles before moving to New York to pursue his career there.

Filmography

• 2025Bride Hard — Frank
• Happy Face — D.A. Craig Calloway
• 2025War of the Worlds — Secretary of Defense Walter Crystal
• Happy's Place — Jim Jackoway
• Tracker — Buck Avery
• 2023Air — Joe Dean
• Echoes — Victor McCleary
• Fire Country — Harlan Denbo
• Outer Range — Judge Pettigrew
• 2021Cold Call — Christian
• Messiah — Cameron Collier
• 2020The Stand at Paxton County — Dell Connelly
• 2019Clemency — Chaplain David Kendricks
• 2018Danger One — Beckwith
• 2018Indivisible — Chaplain Rogers
• The Resident — Joshua Williams
• The Romanoffs — Ron Hopkins
• Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan — Senator Mitchell Chapin
• 2017On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace — Producer
• S.W.A.T. — Carl Luca
• 11.22.63 — Arliss Price
• Shooter — Ray Brooks
• This Is Us — Arlo
• Extant — Alan Sparks
• Manhattan — Psychiatrist
• 2014The Grim Sleeper — Detective Simms
• Bates Motel — Nick Ford
• 2013Dallas Buyers Club — Richard Barkley
• Rectify — Senator Roland Foulkes
• Scandal — Lonnie Mencken
• Vegas — Mayor Ted Bennett
• 2011J. Edgar — Senator McKellar
• 2010Flying Lessons — Chief Dobbs
• 2010Green Zone — Colonel Bethel
• Law & Order: LA — Jeb Monroe
• Rizzoli & Isles — Jonathan McKnight
• The Glades — Trent Staley
• FlashForward — CIA Director Keller
• NCIS: Los Angeles — Ret. U.S. Army General Richard Collins
• 2008A Quiet Little Marriage — Bruce
• 2008Crazy — Ralph Christianson
• Fringe — Sheriff Velchik
• Leverage — Judge Roy
• 2008Nothing But the Truth — CIA Director
• Sons of Anarchy — Anthony Franklin
• The Mentalist — Sheriff Nelson
• Army Wives — Reverend Bankerd
• 2007Transformers — Tom Banacheck
• The Nine — Pete Burton
• The Unit — Ron Cheals
• Close to Home — Don Wheeler
• Commander in Chief — Congressman Wilcox
• Criminal Minds — Det. Yarbough
• Ghost Whisperer — Nolan
• Grey's Anatomy — Gary Clark
• Numb3rs — Boyd Keene
• Prison Break — Herb Stanton
• 2004American Crime — Sheriff Smyth
• 2004Around the Bend — Cowboy
• Boston Legal — Dr. Robert McLean
• LAX — Alonso Mathews
• 2003Dreamcatcher — Gen. Matheson
• NCIS — Riley McCallister
• 2003Seabiscuit — Mr. Pollard
• 2003Secondhand Lions — Ralph
• CSI: Miami — Jerry Blackburn
• 2002The Emperor's Club — Co-Producer
• Without a Trace — Thomas Shannon
• 24 — Richard Walsh, Richard Welsh
• Crossing Jordan — Chris Benz
• Boston Public — Dr. Bernard Colbert
• 2000The Legend of Bagger Vance — O.B. Keeler
• 2000Traffic — Lawyer Rodman
• 1999ATF — ATF Asst. Director Ben Walker
• Roswell — Philip Evans
• 1999The Mod Squad — Greene
• The West Wing — Ron Butterfield
• 1998Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 — Mr. Lusk
• 1998Standoff — Cult Leader (Voice)
• 1998Virtual Obsession
• Ally McBeal — Dr. Colbert
• The Practice — Judge Robert Temple
• The Shining — Daniel Edwards (uncredited)
• Millennium — County Prosecutor Calvin Smith
• 1996The Sunchaser — Agent Moreland
• 1995Awake to Danger — Detective Brickman
• 1995Bushwhacked — Jon Jordan
• JAG — Commander Bradley
• 1994Beyond Betrayal — Ray Pasquerello
• 1994Blind Justice — Spencer Heymen
• Chicago Hope — Bill Wyzinski
• ER — Col. Ken Kilner
• One West Waikiki
• Diagnosis: Murder — Sheriff Buck O'Hara
• 1993For Their Own Good — Clark Thompson
• The X-Files — Patrol Captain Van Gelder
• 1993Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story — Dick Britton
• 1992Jennifer Eight — Serato
• 1992Lorenzo's Oil — School Psychologist
• 1992The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag — Jergens
• 1989An Unremarkable Life — Michael
• 1989Sea of Love — Raymond Brown
• 1981Ghost Story — Churchill