Richard Schiff Biography

Fast Facts

• Recipient of an honorary award given out by his former school, City College of New York, for distinguished post-graduate achievements
• Brother to producer Paul Schiff
• Born to publishing executive Charlotte and real estate lawyer Edward Schiff
• Married actress Sheila Kelley in 1996 after meeting at an audition for "Antigone," a play he directed in 1993
• Cut firewood for a year in Colorado before moving to New York to study acting
• Made a name for himself as an actor on "The West Wing" throughout the late '90s and early 2000s
• Initially interested in directing, he would make his directorial debut with several off-Broadway plays before transitioning to television, where he would eventually helm several episodes of the show he was currently a cast member of, "The West Wing․"
• He would meet eventual co-star Bradley Whitford several years prior to "The West Wing" because his younger brother Paul and Whitford were college roommates at Wesleyan University in the early '80s
• Performed "Underneath the Lintel" for BBC Radio in 2008