All fans of The West Wing will forever know Richard Schiff as the smart and earnest "Toby Ziegler", Communications Director in the White House under President "Josiah Barlett", played by Martin Sheen.
A legendary star
But Richard Schiff, born in 1955 in Maryland, started acting way before The West Wing was even thought of by the brilliant Aaron Sorkin. Schiff had originally studied directing, but also tried his hand at acting and had guest appearances in shows like L.A. Law, Murphy Brown and NYPD Blue in the early and mid-90's.
Richard Schiff: "Toby Ziegler" on The West Wing
Around that time, Steven Spielberg saw him in the TV drama High Incident and cast him in the 1997 hit The Lost World: Jurassic Park. He then also co-starred in Dr. Doolittle alongside Eddie Murphy.
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These jobs eventually led to him be considered for the role of "Toby Ziegler" in the NBC show The West Wing, which definitely marked the peek of his career to date. The show ran successfully from 1999 until 2006 and Richard Schiff was part of it from day one alongside Bradley Whitford and Rob Lowe.
Richard Schiff: Life after The West Wing
While he was still doing the show, Schiff had some more appearances in features like People I Know (2002) and the Academy Award winning movie Ray (2004). When The West Wing was over, he moved on to recurring roles on TV shows like Murder in the First, NCIS and House of Lies.
His next main parts were in the shows Rogue and Ballers with Dwayne Johnson. He has been starring as "Dr. Aaron Glassman" in the ABC hit show The Good Doctor with Freddie Highmore since 2017.
Richard Schiff's personal life
Richard Schiff met his wife Sheila Kelley in the mid-80's and they have been married since 1996. They have a son, Gus, and a daughter named Ruby.
He starred as "Josh Lyman"...
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