Tim Daly is an American actor, writer and director possibly best known for playing the role of Joe Hackett on the 1990s TV Series, "Wings."
Born in New York City to Irish American parents, Tim the only son and youngest child of actor James Daly and actress Hope Newell. He is a younger brother of actress Tyne Daly, who is 10 years his senior, and is a brother-in-law of television and film composer Mark Snow. He is also related to former game show host and newsman John Charles Daly. He has two other sisters, Mary Glynn (Snow's wife) and Pegeen Michael. He attended The Putney School, where he started to study acting.
Daly began his professional career while a student at Vermont's Bennington College, where he studied theatre and literature, in which he now holds a Bachelor of Arts, and acted in summer stock. He graduated from college in 1979 and returned to New York to continue studying acting and singing.
Daly debuted on stage when he was seven years old in Jenny Kissed Me by Jean Kerr, together with his parents and two sisters. The show also starred Sharon Laughlin and John D. Irving.
Daly appeared for the first time on TV when he was 10 years in an American Playhouse adaptation of An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, which starred his father James Daly. He dreamed about a sports or music career and also considered becoming a doctor or a lawyer, but finally decided to become an actor. Daly started his professional acting career when he appeared in a 1978 adaptation of Peter Schaffer's play Equus.
His first leading film role was in the film Diner, directed by Barry Levinson, in which he shared screen time with actors including Kevin Bacon and Mickey Rourke. Starring roles soon followed in Alan Rudolph's feature, Made in Heaven, the American Playhouse production of The Rise & Rise of Daniel Rocket, and the CBS dramatic series, Almost Grown created by David Chase.
In theatre he has starred in the Broadway production of Coastal Disturbances by playwright Tina Howe (he received a 1987 Theatre World Award for his performance) opposite Annette Bening, Oliver, Oliver at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Mass Appeal by Bill C. Davis and Bus Stop by William Inge at Trinity Square Repertory, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (at the Santa Fe Festival Theatre), A Knife in the Heart and A Study in Scarlet (at the Williamstown Playhouse) and Paris Bound (at the Berkshire Theatre Festival). In 2006 Daly returned to Broadway when he appeared on stage opposite David Schwimmer and Željko Ivanek in the Broadway revival of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.
Daly is well known for his role as straight-laced pilot Joe Hackett on the long-running NBC sitcom Wings. He beat Kevin Conroy for the part. Daly made several appearances on The Sopranos as J.T. Dolan, an AA buddy of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli). Daly received a 2007 Emmy nomination for his work on the series.
Tim Daly had been approached by Stephen King to play the role of Jack Torrance in his 1997 miniseries The Shining, but Daly declined due to scheduling conflicts. However, Daly did recommend his "Wings" costar Steven Weber, who eventually won the part as the leading man. In 1999, Tim Daly would finally work with Stephen King in another production.
He appeared on the midseason ABC crime series Eyes, which got good reviews but was canceled after only five episodes.
Daly became very well-known for his role as Superman in "Superman: The Animated Series." Coincidentally, Kevin Conroy, who lost the audition to Daly for the role of Joe Hackett, was later cast as the leading man in "Batman: the Animated Series," and Conroy and Daly worked together in a few crossover episodes. Another Wings tie-in was that Steven Weber did a role in an episode of "Batman: the Animated Series," playing a city alderman whose attitude was strongly akin to that of Brian Hackett.
Daly was unable to return as Superman in "Justice League" (the role then went to actor George Newbern), as he was already under contract to star in a remake of the 1960s TV drama, "The Fugitive," a remake that aired for only one season in 2000 to 2001. He reprised his role as Superman in the 2002 video game "Superman: Shadow of Apokolip"s and the 2006 direct-to-video release "Superman: Brainiac Attacks."
In 2006, Daly played the role of Nick Cavanaugh on the new ABC drama, "The Nine." Starting May 3, 2007, Daly appearing in the "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff, "Private Practice."
Daly is an owner of Red House Entertainment production company, which he co-founded with wife, Amy Van Nostrand, and Steve Burleigh. Movies produced through the company include Peabody Award and Humanitas Prize-winning "Edge of America" and Daly's directing debut, the independent film "Bereft."
Daly and his wife have also created Wandering Park Productions, a company designed to develop and produce a variety of film, television and theater projects. The company producing credits include the critically acclaimed and award winning Los Angeles premiere of Vincent Cardinal's play, "A Colorado Catechism," starring both Daly and his wife. The play received outstanding reviews and earned both Daly and his wife the DramaLogue Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress. He later co-produced a documentary, "PoliWood," about the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The documentary, directed by Barry Levinson, was released in 2009.
Daly is an activist in various liberal political and social causes. In 2004, he became active in the presidential politics of the Democratic Party by joining "John Kerry for President," an organization dedicated to John Kerry's presidential candidacy for the 2004 election. He later became a member of The Creative Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, politically-active group formed of members of the American film entertainment industry. As a member of TCC, Daly has joined the National Task Force on Children's Safety, a program co-founded by The Creative Coalition and Safety4Kids, "the first children's media brand focused solely on safety and health." According to the program website: "The Task Force is the first critical step in creating a national dialogue on safety and media literacy and determining next steps to ensure that the issues are prioritized in the minds of parents, educators and legislators," and dedicated to awareness, education and lasting change by impacting national policy on safety education and media literacy." In August 2007, he became one of the three chairs for the organization's activity at the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions. Along with actress Kerry Washington and writer/director Sue Kramer, he was responsible for leading "TCC's Convention efforts designed to bring issues of importance to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign." In November 2007, Daly interviewed senator John Edwards, one of the Democratic president candidates.
In June 2008, Daly, together with Chandra Wilson, was named the 2008 ambassador for Lee National Denim Day, a fundraiser for breast cancer, benefiting the Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In August 2008, Daly was named co-president of the Creative Coalition, a nonpartisan group that works on issues such as health care reform and arts funding.
Daly and his wife, actress Amy Van Nostrand, have two children including Sam, who was born in 1984, and Emelyn, born in 1989), and have both won DramaLogue Awards for Best Actress and Best Actor in the Coast Playhouse's The Colorado Catechism by Vincent J. Cardinal in Los Angeles. They married on September 18, 1982.
Daly has since guest starred as himself on "Monk," briefly reuniting him with Tony Shalhoub, his castmate from "Wings." He has since guest starred in four episodes of "The Sopranos" as J.T. Dolan, a drugs and gambling addicted TV screenwriter, written especially for Daly by show creator David Chase.