Andrew McCarthy Biography

Andrew Thomas McCarthy (born November 29, 1962) is an American actor, award-winning travel writer and television director from Westfield, N.J. He is known for his roles in the 1980s films St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie's, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero, and more recently for his roles in the television shows Lipstick Jungle, White Collar and Royal Pains.

Career

McCarthy gained recognition in Hollywood during the 1980s. His boy-next-door looks continually had him placed as the sincere and kind leading man. His breakout role was in the 1983 theatrical film Class. As McCarthy's career grew, he involuntarily became a member of the '80s Hollywood group of young actors known as the "Brat Pack"; McCarthy's better-known films include the Brat Pack films St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink. During the filming of St. Elmo's Fire, McCarthy took up smoking, a habit he dropped in 1995. He starred in the 1987 box office hits, Mannequin and Less Than Zero, a theatrical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' popular novel. In 1985, McCarthy starred with Donald Sutherland and Kevin Dillon in Heaven Help Us (also known as Catholic Boys) playing Michael Dunn. In 1985, McCarthy made his Broadway debut in The Boys of Winter. He quickly returned to Hollywood in 1988 to star in several films, such as Fresh Horses and Kansas.

He had another hit in the 1989 comedy film Weekend at Bernie's. In 1991, he played the lead role in the motion picture Year of the Gun, a thriller which received mixed reviews from critics. In 1992, he starred in the romantic comedy film Only You. In 1993, he reprised the lead role of Larry Wilson in the sequel to the box office hit Weekend at Bernie's, Weekend at Bernie's II, the sequel was successful in the box office. He also had a supporting role in the critically acclaimed The Joy Luck Club. In 1994, he starred in the motion pictures Getting In, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle and Dead Funny. In 1994, he starred in the motion picture Escape Clause. In 1996, he starred in the motion picture I'm Losing You, a theatrical adaptation of the novel I'm Losing You. He also starred in the period piece, Mulholland Falls. In 1997, he starred in the motion picture Stag. He also starred in the 1999 theatrical film A Twist of Faith as a police detective.

He returned to Broadway theatre to star in Side Man, McCarthy's version of the play won a Tony Award for Best Play in 1999. In 2003, McCarthy was set to guest star in two episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Due to bad relations with actor Vincent D'Onofrio, series creator Dick Wolf decided against it. Wolf later stated, "Mr. McCarthy engaged in fractious behavior from the moment he walked on the set." McCarthy fired back in a statement of his own saying, "I was fired because I refused to allow a fellow actor to threaten me with physical violence, bully me and try to direct me." Despite this incident, he later guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (with Chris Noth, not D'Onofrio) that originally aired in November 2007. In 2004, he played Dr. Hook in Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. He appeared in five episodes of the now-cancelled NBC television series E-Ring. In 2008, he starred in the NBC television series Lipstick Jungle as a billionaire, but was eventually cancelled, and had a minor role in The Spiderwick Chronicles. He is ranked #40 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars of all time list. McCarthy recently directed several episodes of the hit CW television series, Gossip Girl, including Touch of Eva in the fourth season. In 2010 and 2011, he also appeared in the hit USA show White Collar; he was praised by several critics for his performance in the episodes. He returned to the series in the next season to direct the episode "Neighborhood Watch".

Personal life

McCarthy was born in Westfield, New Jersey. His mother worked for a newspaper and his father was involved in investments and stocks. McCarthy moved to Bernardsville, New Jersey, as a teenager and attended the Pingry School. He also attended the town's public school, Bernards High School, for part of a year.

In 1999, McCarthy married his college sweetheart Carol Schneider 20 years after they first dated. He later stated his reasons for tracking her down after they had drifted apart: "I ran into someone who said they had seen Carol and her boyfriend and they seemed really happy, and for some reason it bothered me for a week. I called her and asked her if she was really with this guy and asked her out for coffee." In 2002, Schneider gave birth to a son, Sam. In 2005, the couple divorced. On August 28, 2011 he married Dolores Rice. They have a daughter, Willow.

In 2004, he announced that he once had a serious alcohol problem, which began at age 12. In 1992, he entered a detoxification program and has been sober since.

McCarthy has also become a travel writer, and is currently an Editor at Large at National Geographic Traveler magazine. In 2010, McCarthy was escorted out of an underground church in Lalibela, Ethiopia, for entering the site without documentation. He had been in the church on assignment for the travel magazine Afar. A book written by McCarthy, The Longest Way Home: One Man's Question for the Courage to Settle Down, was published in 2012.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Class	Jonathan Ogner
1985	'	Arthur Beniker
1985	Heaven Help Us	Michael Dunn	Known also as Catholic Boys
1985	St. Elmo's Fire	Kevin Dolenz
1986	Pretty in Pink	Blane McDonough
1987	Waiting for the Moon	Henry Hopper
1987	Mannequin	Jonathan Switcher
1987	Less Than Zero	Clay Easton
1988	Kansas	Wade Corey
1988	Fresh Horses	Matt Larkin
1989	Weekend at Bernie's	Larry Wilson
1990	Jours tranquilles à Clichy	Henry Miller
1990	Dr. M	Assassin
1991	Year of the Gun	David Raybourne
1992	Only You	Clifford Godfrey
1993	Weekend at Bernie's II	Larry Wilson
1993	'	Ted Jordan
1994	Getting In	Rupert Grimm
1994	Dead Funny	Reggie Barker
1994	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Edwin 'Eddie' Pond Parker II
1995	Night of the Running Man	Jerry Logan	Direct-to-video release
1995	Dream Man	David Mander	Direct-to-video release
1996	Mulholland Falls	Jimmy Fields
1996	Everything Relative	Howard
1996	Cosas que nunca te dije	Don
1997	Stag	Peter Weber
1998	Bela Donna	Frank
1998	I Woke Up Early The Day I Died	Cemetery Cop
1998	I'm Losing You	Bertie Krohn
1999	'	Henry Smith
1999	New World Disorder	Kurt Bishop
1999	New Waterford Girl	Cecil Sweeney
2000	Nowhere in Sight	Eric Shelton
2001	Heaven Must Wait	Raymond Cane
2002	Standard Time	Elliot Shepherd
2004	2BPerfectlyHonest	Josh
2004	News for the Church		Director, writer; Short film
2005	'	Charles King
2008	'	Richard Grace
2009	'	Cash
2009	Camp Hell	Michael
2010	Main Street	Howard Mercer
2011	Snatched	Frank Baum	completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Amazing Stories	Edwin	Episode: "Grandpa's Ghost"
1991	Tales from the Crypt	Edward Foster " Screenwriter	Episode: "Loved to Death"
1992	Common Pursuit	Martin Musgrove	Television film
1995	'	Johnathan	Television film
1996	Escape Clause	Richard Ramsay	Television film
1996	Hostile Force	Rabbit (Mike)	Television film
1996	'	Richard Reilly	Television film
1998	'	Keith Lussier	Television film
1998	Perfect Assassins	Ben Carroway	Television film
2000	'	Stanley Banner	Television film
2000	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Randolph Morrow	Episode: "Slaves "
2000	'	Michael Lewis	Television film
2000	Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis	Robert F. Kennedy	Television film
2002	Georgetown		Television pilot
2002	'	Mike Harper	Television film
2003	Straight from the Heart	Tyler Ross	Television film
2003	Law & Order	Attorney Finnerty	Episode: "Absentia"
2003	'	Marshall	Episode: "The Monsters Are on Maple Street"
2003	Monk	Derek Philby	Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School"
2004	Kingdom Hospital	Dr. Hook	Miniseries
2004	'	Kit Freers	Television film
2004	Crusader	Hank Robinson	Television film
2005	E-Ring	Aaron Gerrity	Five episodes
2006	'		Television pilot
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	A.D.A. Gene Hoyle	Episode: "Offense"
2008–09	Lipstick Jungle	Joe Bennett	20 episodes
2009	Gossip Girl	Rick Rhodes	Episode: "Valley Girls"
2009	Royal Pains	Marshall David Bryant IV	2 episodes
2009	The National Tree	Corey Burdock	Television film
2011	White Collar	Vincent Adler	2 Episodes

Awards and nominations

Fantafestival

• 1987: Won, "Best Actor" " Mannequin

Sedona International Film Festival

• 2005: Won, "Best Short Film" " News for the Church