Kevin Dunn

Kevin Dunn appeared in such shows as "Seinfeld" (NBC 1989-1998), "Samantha Who?" (ABC 2-7-2009) and "Veep" (HBO 2012-). Dunn was born to a Catholic family on August 24, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1977, and his first television role came in 1986 in a small appearance on the short-lived television show "Jack and Mike" (ABC 1986-87). One of his best-known early roles was as Agent Bird in the iconic Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe drama "Mississippi Burning" (1988). He was considered for the role of George Costanza in "Seinfeld," but lost out to Jason Alexander; Dunn instead appeared briefly on the show in 1990 as a painfully eager former friend of Seinfeld's named Joel Horneck. Dunn landed a few regular roles after this, but those shows, including "Arsenio" (ABC 1997) and "Bette" (CBS 2000-2001) saw cancellation after one season. He finally landed a role that stuck in 2007, as the lovable patriarch in the Christina Applegate-starring amnesia sitcom "Samantha Who." He appeared as a series regular in the first season of the critically acclaimed "True Detective" (HBO 2014-) alongside Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. He found traction with another critically acclaimed HBO show as the downer Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty on the political comedy "Veep."