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Timothy Olyphant

Highest Rated: 98% Deadwood: The Movie (2019)

Lowest Rated: 8% Mother's Day (2016)

Birthday: May 20, 1968

Birthday:

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Adept at both comedy and intense, dramatic action, Timothy Olyphant was an eclectic but appealing presence in two highly-regarded series - "Deadwood" (HBO, 2004-06) and "Justified" (FX, 2010-15) - and an inveterate scene-stealer in films and series like "Go" (1999), "Damages" (FX Network/Audience Network, 2007-2012) and "Live Free or Die Hard" (2007). Born Timothy David Olyphant on May 20, 1968 in Honolulu, Hawaii, he moved with his family - Gallo wine executive J.V. Bevan Olyphant, his wife, Katherine and two brothers - to Modesto, California when he was two years of age. There, he nurtured an interest in competitive swimming at Fred C. Beyer High School, and considered a career in art. Olyphant was recruited to the University of Southern California by its swimming coach, but upon discovering that he would be unable to swim and pursue his chosen major- architecture - he chose to earn his degree in fine arts. Upon graduating in 1990, he married his college sweetheart, Alexis Knief, and the pair relocated to New York, where Olyphant dabbled in coaching and stand-up comedy before abandoning fine art in favor of an acting career. After completing a two-year course of study at the William Esper Studio, he began landing minor roles on television series and in features like "Sex and the City" (HBO, 1998-2004) and "Scream 2" (1997). His first break came as a drug-dealing anti-hero in Doug Liman's edgy comedy-drama "Go" (1999), which in turn led to an offer from its producer, Mickey Liddell, to star in "The Broken Hearts Club" (2000), a romantic comedy about gay men in West Hollywood, California. Response to the film set the template for much of Olyphant's film output in the next few years: Olyphant's slyly bemused performances was, more often than not, the sole bright spot in indie and studio efforts like "Auggie Rose" (2000); "Gone in Sixty Seconds" (2000), with Nicolas Cage; "Head Over Heels" (2001); "Rock Star" (2001) with Mark Wahlberg, and "The Girl Next Door" (2004). That same year, Olyphant received one of his best showcases in "Deadwood," producer David Milch's proudly profane and intricately plotted Western series about the lives of real and imagined individuals in the notorious titular South Dakota mining camp. Olyphant played Seth Bullock, the hot-tempered but law-abiding camp sheriff, whose notions of right and wrong often ran afoul of Ian McShane's Machiavellian saloonkeeper, Al Swearengen. A critical favorite for Milch's ornate dialogue and cast of accomplished players, "Deadwood" was only a modest ratings hit, and the cost of maintaining an entire town set led to its untimely demise after two seasons. But even with the abbreviated run, the attention afforded by critics and industry figures to "Deadwood" helped to boost Olyphant's profile from comic support to dramatic lead and co-lead, which in turn led to major roles in a slew of motion pictures. The most successful of these was undoubtedly "Live Free or Die Hard" (2007), whch cast him as a cyber-terrorist pitted against Bruce Willis' reluctant hero, but as before, Olyphant was the most notable element of films like "Hitman" (2007), which afforded him a rare lead; "The Perfect Getaway" (2009); "The Crazies" (2010) and "Elektra Luxx" (2010). Olyphant was soon back on television, where he played Rose Byrne's highly suspect boyfriend in the second season of "Damages," and a brief run as a handsome paper salesman on several episodes of "The Office" (NBC, 2005-2013). His performance on "Damages" led to network chief John Landgraf offering him the lead on "Justified," a crime thriller based on Elmore Leonard's stories about a flinty U.S. Marshal. The series helped to do what "Deadwood" had promised - to provide Olyphant with a long-running and high-quality showcase for his talents, which earned a Emmy nomination in 2011. When "Justified" ran its course after five seasons, Olyphant bounced between comic and dramatic efforts: the former included an amusing turn as a vain, fictionalized version of himself on "The Grinder" (Fox, 2015-16) and a series lead in the Netflix dark comedy "The Santa Clarita Diet" (2017-19), with Olyphant as a suburban husband attempting to contend with his wife (Drew Barrymore), who has transformed into a cannibalistic zombie. In 2019, long-standing rumors of a "Deadwood" revival finally materialized as a two-hour TV-movie for HBO, with Olyphant reprising his role as an older, slightly less irascible Bullock.

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Highest rated movies

98% 81% Deadwood: The Movie Watchlist
91% 78% Go
Watchlist
88% 70% Rango Watchlist 88% 67% Missing Link Watchlist 86% 70% Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood Watchlist
82% 86% Live Free or Die Hard
Watchlist
81% 58% Scream 2
Watchlist
80% 44% High Life
Watchlist
72% 57% The Crazies
Watchlist
66% 79% National Champions Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
31% 62% Amsterdam Unknown (Character) $14.9M 2022
66% 79% National Champions Elliott Schmidt (Character) $455.5K 2021
20% 72% The Starling Travis Delp (Character) - 2021
98% 81% Deadwood: The Movie Seth Bullock (Character),
Executive Producer
- 2019
86% 70% Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood James Stacy (Character) $142.4M 2019
88% 67% Missing Link Willard Stenk (Voice) $16.6M 2019
No Score Yet No Score Yet Behold My Heart Steven Lang (Character) - 2018
61% 70% Snowden Matt Kovar (Character) $21.6M 2016
8% 44% Mother's Day Henry (Character) $32.5M 2016
44% 60% This Is Where I Leave You Horry Callen (Character) $34.3M 2014
33% 30% Dealin' With Idiots Max's Dad (Character) $15.3K 2013
88% 70% Rango The Spirit of the West (Voice) - 2011
32% 57% I Am Number Four Henri (Character) $55.1M 2011
24% 20% Elektra Luxx Dellwood Butterworth (Character) $10.8K 2010
72% 57% The Crazies Sheriff David Dutton (Character) $39.1M 2010
80% 44% High Life Dick (Character) - 2009
62% 52% A Perfect Getaway Nick (Character) $15.5M 2009
64% 26% Stop-Loss Lt. Col. Boot Miller (Character) $10.9M 2008
20% 44% Meet Bill Chip Johnson (Character) $59.1K 2007
16% 57% Hitman Agent 47 (Character) $39.7M 2007
82% 86% Live Free or Die Hard Thomas Gabriel (Character) $134.5M 2007
23% 55% Catch and Release Fritz (Character) $15.3M 2006
56% 69% The Girl Next Door Kelly (Character) $14.6M 2004
10% 62% A Man Apart Jack Slayton (Character) $26.2M 2003
28% 35% Dreamcatcher Pete (Character) $33.7M 2003
48% 29% Coastlines Sonny Mann (Character) $6.5K 2002
No Score Yet No Score Yet Shadow Realm Eli West (Character) - 2002
50% 66% The Safety of Objects Randy (Character) $319.1K 2001
53% 59% Rock Star Rob (Character) $17.0M 2001
54% 47% Auggie Rose Roy Mason (Character) - 2000
64% 72% The Broken Hearts Club Dennis (Character) $1.7M 2000
26% 77% Gone in Sixty Seconds Detective Drycoff (Character) $101.6M 2000
No Score Yet 41% No Vacancy Luke (Character) - 1999
91% 78% Go Todd Gaines (Character) $16.8M 1999
No Score Yet 53% Advice From a Caterpillar Brat (Character) - 1999
No Score Yet 74% When Trumpets Fade Lt. Lukas (Character) - 1998
81% 58% Scream 2 Mickey Altieri (Character) $101.3M 1997
No Score Yet 50% Ellen Foster Roy Hobbs (Character) - 1997

TV

Credit
86% 79% Terminator Zero Terminator (Character) 2024
92% 47% Justified: City Primeval U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Character),
Executive Producer
2023
78% 55% Full Circle Derek (Character) 2023
No Score Yet 61% Late Night With Seth Meyers Guest 2014 2017-2020 2022
No Score Yet 84% The Great North Unknown (Guest Voice) 2022
85% 76% The Simpsons Sheriff Flanders (Guest Voice) 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet Conan Guest 2012-2021
90% 78% The Mandalorian Cobb Vanth (Guest Star) 2020
89% 94% Santa Clarita Diet Joel Hammond (Character),
Executive Producer
2017-2019
No Score Yet No Score Yet Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen Guest 2018
83% 70% The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale Unknown (Guest Star) 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Ellen DeGeneres Show Guest 2012-2015 2017
No Score Yet 44% The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest 2016
93% 81% The Grinder Unknown (Guest Star) 2015-2016
97% 95% Justified Raylan Givens (Character),
Executive Producer
2010-2015
86% 83% The Mindy Project Unknown (Guest Star) 2013
No Score Yet No Score Yet Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Guest 2011 2013
91% 84% Archer Lucas Troy (Guest Voice) 2013
81% 83% The League Sushi Chef (Guest Star) 2012
81% 89% The Office Danny Cordray (Guest Star) 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Bonnie Hunt Show Guest 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet Rachael Ray Guest 2010
91% 88% Damages Wes Krulik (Character) 2007 2009-2010
77% No Score Yet Samantha Who? Winston Funk (Guest Star) 2008
No Score Yet No Score Yet Late Night With Conan O'Brien Guest 2007
92% 95% Deadwood Seth Bullock (Character) 2004-2006
82% 88% My Name Is Earl Billy Reed (Guest Star) 2006
70% 80% Sex and the City Sam (Guest Star) 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet High Incident Unknown (Guest Star) 1997