I've played villains on stage - you know, the Iagos and so on - but I think of myself as a funny person. I mostly did comedies before I did TV work.

This casting was a result of his work on The Practice because the Lost producers liked his work there and thought he was a good fit for the character they were developing. In 1976 after graduating from Drake University in Des Moines Iowa where he studied theater and art he moved to New York City. In 2009 narrated a reading of "Babar the Elephant" with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.