Kevin Dunn Biography

Kevin Dunn (born August 24, 1956) is an American actor who has appeared in supporting roles in a number of films and television series since the 1980s.

His roles include White House Communications Director Alan Reed in the political comedy Dave, US Army Colonel Hicks in the 1998 version of Godzilla, Alan Abernathy's father Stuart in Small Soldiers, Sam Witwicky's father Ron in Transformers, Oscar Galvin in the 2010 action thriller Unstoppable, and Major Ken Quesada in HBO's True Detective. Currently he stars as pessimistic Presidential Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty in Veep.

Early life

Dunn was born in Chicago, the son of John Dunn, a musician and poet, and his wife Margaret (ne East), a nurse. His sister is actress/comedian Nora Dunn. He was raised in a Catholic family, and has Irish, English, Scottish, and German ancestry. Dunn graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1977, and received an honorary doctorate in 2008 from the same school.

Career

Dunn appeared in many live theatre performances in Chicago and suburbs, including the theatre companies Northlight, Remains, Wisdom Bridge and Goodman before his TV and motion picture career. Dunn's work includes Samantha Who?, a series appearing on ABC from 2007 to 2009, as well as playing Ron Witwicky in Michael Bay's Transformers film series. His film appearances include Small Soldiers, Stir of Echoes, Godzilla, Snake Eyes, Nixon, Mad Love, Ghostbusters II, Dave, Beethoven's 2nd, Hot Shots!, and 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Dunn also played Murry Wilson in a 2000 miniseries, The Beach Boys: An American Family. He played President Richard Nixon's White House Counsel, Charles Colson, in Nixon and played President Bill Clinton's National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, in ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11 which aired on September 10 and September 11, 2006. In 2000, he co-starred in Bette, a sitcom starring Bette Midler, in which he played her husband in the show's first 11 episodes.

Dunn played Joel Horneck, Jerry's overzealous childhood friend, in the Seinfeld episode "Male Unbonding". He is also featured in Live Free or Die as well as the 2006 Sony Pictures film Gridiron Gang.

Dunn is executive producer of the award-winning documentary film Kumpana: Flamenco Los Angeles (2011).

Filmography

• Family Ties (1988) - Bob
• Mississippi Burning (1988) - Agent Bird
• Blue Steel (1989) - Asst. Chief Stanley Hoyt
• Ghostbusters II (1989) - Milton Angland
• Roseanne (1989) - Burt Drucker
• Marked for Death (1990) - Lt. Sal Roselli
• Seinfeld (1990) - Joel Horneck
• The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) - Tom Killian
• Only the Lonely (1991) - Patrick Muldoon
• Hot Shots! (1991) - Lt. Cmdr. James Block
• 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) - Captain Mendez
• Chaplin (1992) - J. Edgar Hoover
• Dave (1993) - Alan Reed
• Beethoven's 2nd (1993) - Brillo (additional cast, uncredited)
• Little Big League (1994) - Arthur Goslin
• Mad Love (1995) - Clifford Leleand
• Nixon (1995) - Charles Colson
• Chain Reaction (1996) - FBI Agent Doyle
• Picture Perfect (1997) - Mr. Mercer
• Godzilla (1998) - Col. Hicks
• Almost Heroes (1998) - Hidalgo
• Small Soldiers (1998) - Stuart Abernathy
• Snake Eyes (1998) - reporter Lou Logan
• Stir of Echoes (1999) - Frank
• The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000) - Murry Wilson
• Evolution (2001) - Dr. (Deleted alternate ending)
• Gleason (2002) - Jack Philbin
• God, the Devil and Bob (2003)
• Boston Public (2003) - Big Ed
• I ? Huckabees (2004) - Marty
• LAX (2004) - Vic Tilden
• Huff (2004) - Berkowitz
• Law & Order (2005) - Arnie MacLaren
• The Darwin Awards (2006) - Insurance Exec
• 7th Heaven (2004-2006) - Coach Terry Hardwick
• Lost (2006) - Gordy
• Live Free or Die (2006) - Monson
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2006) - Det. Carson Laird
• The Closer (2006) - Mr. Catalina
• All the King's Men (2006) - Alex
• The Black Dahlia (2006) - Elizabeth Short's Father (uncredited)
• Gridiron Gang (2006) - Ted Dexter
• Prison Break (2007) - Cooper Green
• Boston Legal (2006-2007) - Jonathan Weiner
• Transformers (2007) - Ron Witwicky
• Lions for Lambs (2007) - AFX Editor
• Samantha Who? (2008) - Howard Newly
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) - Mark Nash
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) - Ron Witwicky
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated - Dale Dinkley
• Unstoppable (2010) - Oscar Galvin
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) - Ron Witwicky
• Warrior (2011)
• Harry's Law (2011) - George Kupcheck
• Luck (2011-2012) - Marcus
• Prosecuting Casey Anthony (2013) - George Anthony
• The Frozen Ground (2013) - Lt. Bob Jent
• Jobs (2013) - Gil Amelio
• Cesar Chavez - Professor Arlo
• Veep (2013-present) - Ben Cafferty
• Draft Day (2014) - Marvin
• True Detective - Ken Quesada
• Ashby (2015)
• Code Black (2015)
• Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)
• The Night Of (2016)
• Above Suspicion (2018)
• Trading Paint (2018)
• Captive State (2019)