Tim Matheson

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Tim Matheson
Matheson in a Bonanza publicity photo, 1972
Born	Timothy Lewis Matthieson (1947-12-31) December 31, 1947 (age 73) Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1961–present
Spouse(s)	Jennifer Leak ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1971)​ Megan Murphy Matheson ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 2010)​ Elizabeth Marighetto ​ ​ (m. 2018)​
Children	3
Website	www.tim-matheson.com

Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor, producer and director.^[1] He is perhaps best known for his portrayals of the smooth-talking Eric "Otter" Stratton in the comedy film National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and of Vice President John Hoynes in the NBC drama The West Wing, which earned him 2 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Matheson has had a variety of other well-known roles, including the voice role of the lead character in the animated series Jonny Quest (1964–1965), and President Ronald Reagan in the 2016 TV movie Killing Reagan.

Early life[]

Matheson was born in Glendale, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, Matheson was the son of Sally and Clifford Matthieson, a training pilot.^[2] He served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

Career[]

At age 13, Matheson appeared as Roddy Miller in Robert Young's CBS nostalgia comedy series Window on Main Street during the 1961–1962 television season. In the 1962–1963 season he appeared in two episodes of Leave It to Beaver, cast as Mike Harmon, a friend of Beaver.^[3] In 1964, he provided the voice of the lead character in the animated series Jonny Quest. He also supplied the voices of Sinbad Jr. the Sailor in the 1960s Hanna-Barbera animated series Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt^[4] and Jace in the original animated series Space Ghost. He co-starred as Joe Hardy, opposite Richard Gates as Frank Hardy, in a 1967 pilot episode for what would have been a TV series called The Hardy Boys, based on the novel series of the same name, but the series was not picked up.^[5]

He played the role of the oldest son, Mike Beardsley, in the film Yours, Mine and Ours (1968), which starred Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda.

Matheson as Jim Horn

In 1969, Matheson joined the cast of NBC's television western The Virginian in the eighth season as Jim Horn. He had a guest role in the 14th episode of the second season of Night Gallery, in the story "Logoda's Heads". In the final season of the television western Bonanza in 1972–1973, Matheson played Griff King, a parolee who tries to reform his life as a worker at the Ponderosa Ranch under Ben Cartwright's tutelage. He portrayed a corrupt motorcycle cop, Phil Sweet, who was part of a death squad with some other young cops in the film Magnum Force (1973). Matheson also appeared earlier in the CBS situation comedy My Three Sons. In 1975, he guest starred in CBS's short-lived family drama Three for the Road.

In 1976, Matheson appeared with Kurt Russell in the 15-episode NBC series The Quest, the story of two young men in the American West seeking the whereabouts of their sister, a captive of the Cheyenne. In 1978, he co-starred in National Lampoon's Animal House opposite John Belushi; the following year, he appeared opposite Belushi again in Steven Spielberg's 1941. In 1980 he auditioned for the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, for which Harrison Ford won the part.

Matheson appeared in the film To Be or Not to Be (1983) starring Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. He and Catherine Hicks played Rick and Amanda Tucker, who operate a detective agency in Laurel Canyon in CBS' Tucker's Witch, which aired during the 1982–1983 season. Then Matheson starred in the comedy films Up the Creek (1984) and Fletch (1985). In 1989, he starred in the short-lived sitcom Nikki and Alexander produced by Reinhold Weege.^[6]

Matheson with Bruce Campbell at the San Diego Comic Con International, July 22, 2010

Matheson, along with business partner Dan Grodnik, bought National Lampoon in 1989. The partners sold the company in 1991. He also had a recurring role as Vice President John Hoynes on The West Wing. His work on The West Wing earned him two Primetime Emmy award nominations.

In addition to playing Sheriff Matthew Donner in the short-lived Wolf Lake, he has directed episodes of Third Watch, Ed, The Twilight Zone, Cold Case, Without a Trace, The West Wing, Psych, The Good Guys, Shark, White Collar, Criminal Minds, Suits and Burn Notice (on which he also performed in a recurring role).

In 1996, Matheson took on the role of a con man who claims to be Carol Brady's thought-to-be-dead husband in A Very Brady Sequel. He appeared in the movie Van Wilder (2002), playing the father of the title character, who was inspired by his own character in Animal House; Matheson's character even makes a veiled reference to the fun times he had had at Dartmouth, where the fraternity upon which Animal House is rumored to have "had a strong tradition of existence". He appeared in the auto-racing film Redline. He also appeared in a Volkswagen commercial in 2008.

In 2009, Matheson directed the pilot episode of Covert Affairs, premiered on USA Network in 2010. Matheson also directed the pilot episodes of The Good Guys (2010) for the Fox Network, Criminal Behavior (2011) for Lifetime, and Wild Card (2011) for USA Network. He played Dr. Brick Breeland on Hart of Dixie from 2011 to 2015.

Personal life[]

Matheson has been married three times. He was first married to actress Jennifer Leak from 1968 to 1971, who he met on the set of Yours, Mine, and Ours. In 1985 he married Megan Murphy Matheson, with whom he had three children; they divorced in 2010.^[7] He married Elizabeth Marighetto in March 2018; the two live together in Hollywood, California.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Theme parks[]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Kevin Scott Collier. Jonny, Sinbad Jr. & Me. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017. ISBN 1978414838

External links[]

• Official website
• Tim Matheson at IMDb
• Interview with Tim Matheson @ A.V. Club