Paxton Whitehead

A British character actor with extensive stage experience, Paxton Whitehead is most widely recognized as uptight academic Dr. Phillip Barbay from the hit 1986 comedy "Back to School." A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Whitehead made his initial forays into American television during the 1980s and found film work with "Back to School" and other mainstream comedies of the era, including "Baby Boom." After starring in the short-lived sitcom "Marblehead Manor," Whitehead continued to work primarily in television, eventually appearing in the 1997 PBS miniseries "Liberty! The American Revolution." Less active in the new millennium, he had a notable supporting role in the 2001 romantic comedy "Kate & Leopold." Paxton Whitehead died on June 16, 2023 in Arlington, VA at the age of 85.