John Shea
Born	John Victor Shea III (1949-04-14)April 14, 1949 (age 76) North Conway, New Hampshire, U.S.
Education	Bates College(BA) Yale University(MFA)
Occupations	Actor,film producer,film director,screenwriter
Years active	1975–present
Known for	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Spouses	Laura Pettibone ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 2000)​ Melissa MacLeod ​ (m. 2001)​ [1]
Children	3

John Victor Shea III (/ʃeɪ/SHAY;^[2] born April 14, 1949) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. His career began onBroadway where he starred inYentl, subsequently winning his first major award, the 1975Theatre World Award.^[3] Shortly after hisOff-Broadway career began,Lee Strasberg invited Shea to join theActors Studio where he spent several years studyingmethod acting.

He made his television film debut inThe Nativity (1978), alongsideMadeleine Stowe. Billed alongsideHelen Mirren, he starred in thenoir filmHussy (1980)^[4] and theAcademy Award-winning dramaMissing (1982). In 1988, Shea won his firstEmmy for his performance as William Stern inBaby M. Shea's subsequent films include the comedy thrillerCoast to Coast (1987), the dramaWindy City (1984), the dark crime featureSmall Sacrifices (1989), the political thrillerThe Insurgents (2006), the Tamil language thrillerAchchamundu! Achchamundu! (2009), the dramaAn Invisible Sign (2010), and the Finnish filmThe Italian Key (2011).

His breakthrough came when he was cast asLex Luthor in the 1990s TV seriesLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, subsequently being cast as Adam Kane in the 2000sMutant X series. Shea's public profile increased in 2012 after his five-year role asHarold Waldorf,Blair Waldorf's father onGossip Girl.

Shea has been noted for his political involvement insocial equity, which in 1984 led him to organize the largest peace rally in the history of the United States, garnering praise by various non-governmental organizations such asAmnesty International.^{[citation needed]} In 2014, Shea announced his directorial debut withGrey Lady, released in mid-2017.

Shea was born inNorth Conway, New Hampshire, near where his father was teaching atFryeburg Academy, Maine, and was raised in the Sixteen Acres area ofSpringfield, Massachusetts, with four siblings. His parents were Elizabeth Mary (née Fuller) and Dr. John Victor Shea, Jr.,^[5] who served in theU.S. Army during World War II, fighting in theBattle of the Bulge, and who became a teacher, coach and later assistant Superintendent of Schools. Elizabeth Shea introduced John to literature, poetry, classical music, and art and urged him to study the piano.

Shea attended Roman Catholic schools in Springfield, graduating fromCathedral High School, where he captained the varsity debate team and played varsity football and track. Shea studied atBates College inLewiston, Maine, where he earned a bachelor's degree in theatre. He performed on the varsity debating and football teams and co-edited the college literary magazine,Puffed Wheat, before graduating in 1970.^[1][6]

He studied acting and directing at theYale School of Drama ofYale University under DeanRobert Brustein, gaining an M.F.A in Directing in 1973.^[1] During his time at the School of Drama, he also performed at theYale Repertory Theatre, in the Yale cabaret with schoolmatesJoe Grifasi andMeryl Streep, and studied film making withArthur Penn,Sidney Lumet, andGeorge Roy Hill in the film program at theArt and Architecture School.^[6][7]

After a directing apprenticeship at both theChelsea Theatre underRobert Kalfin and thePublic Theater withJoseph Papp, he made hisBroadway debut at the age of 26 in Kalfin's production ofIsaac B. Singer'sYentl oppositeTovah Feldshuh, for which he received theTheatre World Award.Yentl started Off Broadway at the Chelsea Theatre Center at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and, after a favorable reception, was moved to theEugene O'Neill Theatre by producer and Actors Studio co-founder,Cheryl Crawford, and was later made into a film starringBarbra Streisand. After seeing his performanceLee Strasberg invited Shea to join theActors Studio where he spent several years studyingmethod acting. Since his Broadway debut in the mid 1970s, Shea has continued to work inOff-Broadway and Broadway theatre productions, starring inArthur Kopit'sEnd of the World starring withLinda Hunt andBarnard Hughes. In 1977, during his first trip to Los Angeles to get experience in front of a camera, he played guest roles in such TV series asEight Is Enough andMan from Atlantis, and co-starred inThe Last Convertible, a miniseries for Universal.

He made his television film debut as Joseph inThe Nativity (1978) oppositeMadeleine Stowe as Mary, a biblical epic shot in Spain. His feature film debut came in Matthew Chapman's English film noirHussy (1980), oppositeHelen Mirren.^[4] His American film debut was inConstantin Costa-Gavras'sAcademy Award-winningMissing (1982), which starredJack Lemmon andSissy Spacek.^[8] The film, shot on locations in Mexico, also won thePalme d'Or at the1982 Cannes Film Festival and helped launch Shea's international acting career.^[9]

During the early 1980s, Shea was asked to join the billed cast ofPaula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winningHow I Learned to Drive along withMolly Ringwald as well as the following:Anne Meara'sDown the Garden Paths,Eugene O'Neill'sLong Day's Journey Into Night, the original production ofA. R. Gurney'sThe Dining Room,Peter Parnell'sThe Sorrows of Stephen,Stephen Poliakoff'sAmerican Days,Theodore Mann's production ofRomeo and Juliet,Philip Barry'sThe Animal Kingdom oppositeSigourney Weaver. Shea went on to be cast in the title role in Nancy Hasty'sThe Director, and, later, inIsrael Horovitz'sThe Secret of Madame Bonnard's Bath.

In 1983, Shea co-starred asRobert F. Kennedy in the critically acclaimed NBC miniseriesKennedy, alongsideMartin Sheen asJohn F. Kennedy andBlair Brown asJacqueline Kennedy.

In 1984 Shea starred in Armyan Bernstein'sWindy City along withKate Capshaw. He won the "Best Actor" award at theMontreal World Film Festival in 1984.^[10]

In 1982, he co-hosted, withKathryn Walker, the June 12th Anti-Nuclear Rally in Central Park, the largest peace rally in the history of the United States.^[11] This rally was the subject of the 1984 documentary filmIn Our Hands by Robert Richer and Stan Warnow, in which Shea made a cameo appearance.^[12]

Shea made hisCarnegie Hall debut playing "The Soldier" inTom O'Horgan's 1985 production ofIgor Stravinsky'sL'Histoire du Soldat, withPinchas Zukerman andAndre de Shields. That year, he also starred in a French language speaking role inLune de miel. In 1986, he made his LondonWest End debut starring inJoseph Papp's production ofLarry Kramer's dramaThe Normal Heart at theAlbery Theatre.^[13]

In 1987ABC contracted a network miniseries titledBaby M, in which Shea was cast.^[14] His portrayal of William "Bill" Stern received critical acclaim and resulted in him being nominated and winning his firstEmmy Award forSupporting Drama Actor.^[15] He starred inSmall Sacrifices alongsideFarrah Fawcett in 1989.

In Grant Tinker's 1990 CBS seriesWIOU, written by John Eisendrath and Kathryn Pratt, Shea led an ensemble cast briefly before the show's cancellation.^[16][17]

In 1993, Shea was cast asLex Luthor in the television show,Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.^[18] His portrayal of the DC Comics supervillain received positive reviews, but he left after the first season occasionally returning in later seasons in a guest role. Shea said of the role:

This villain is written as a human being, and not just a one dimensional comic villain or a two dimensional comic villain, the way he might have been portrayed in the comic books or even other films. I thoughtGene Hackman was brilliant, but it was a different kind of comic villain.^[19]

His starring run of the series ended on an enjoyable note for Shea; the series finale includes a virtual reality sequence in which Luthor flies over Metropolis in a modified Superman costume. Shea recalled, "One day I read the script and I thought, 'Oh my God! I'm really going to get to do this?' And they said yes. You're going to get to fly. ... They just took me out on this boom and they flew me back and forth across thegreen screen. And they had wind machines blowing and smoke machines, and, oh my God, I felt like I was reborn."^[20] After leavingLois & Clark, Shea starred in a new X-Men inspired series,Mutant X, where he was cast as Adam Kane.^[21] The show aired for three seasons before being cancelled.

In 1998 Shea co-wrote and directed the independent filmSouthie, starringDonnie Wahlberg,Rose McGowan,Amanda Peet,Anne Meara,Will Arnett andLawrence Tierney. The film won theSeattle International Film Festival award for Best Film, represented the United States at the Montreal International Festival, and was distributed by Lions Gate Films.^[22] Shea appeared onSex and the City as Dominic a month later.^[23][24] He also starred in the independent filmThe Adventures of Sebastian Cole.^[25] Shea was contracted later that year to be a reader onSelected Shorts forSymphony Space, broadcast nationwide onPublic Radio International. His reading ofTruman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" wonAudioFile Magazine's Earphones Award in 1999, as part of the anthologySelected Shorts: Classic Tales, Vol. XII.^[26]

In 2005 he was cast as Trevor Lipton inLaw & Order: Criminal Intent.^[27]

When casting forGossip Girl began in 2007, Shea was asked to join the recurring cast asHarold Waldorf,Blair Waldorf's father.^[28] His portrayal of the character garnered him increased name recognition amongmillennials and contributed to his presence inAmerican meme and popular culture.^[29][30][31] He was cast inScott Dacko's 2006 political thrillerThe Insurgents withMary Stuart Masterson.^[32]

Later in 2009 he was cast as Cary Ago's father, Jeffery, a recurring character onThe Good Wife.^[33] He made his debut intoIndian cinema with the 2009Tamil dramaAchchamundu! Achchamundu!, directed by Indo-American film directorArun Vaidyanathan, becoming the first American actor to work in a Tamil film. The film garnered widespread praise and critical acclaim.^[34][35][36]

Shea voiced the central character Sylvain in the English dub of the animated feature filmGandahar.^[37] He was cast in the 2010 Americandrama filmAn Invisible Sign withJessica Alba.^[38]

Shea was cast alongsideLea Thompson in the 2012 romantic comedyThe Trouble With the Truth. In the summer of 2013 he directed a 40th anniversary production ofEdward Gorey'sDracula.^[39]

At the start of 2014, Shea appeared inMadam Secretary as Ted Graham.^[40] Later that year, he wrote and directedGrey Lady, a romantic thriller set on Nantucket, starringEric Dane,Natalie Zea,Adrian Lester,Carolyn Stotesbury, Chris Meyer, andAmy Madigan. The independent film, produced byBeacon Pictures and shot byAndrzej Bartkowiak, had its first charity screening in August 2015.^[41] It was released on DVD and various streaming services in the summer of 2017.

In 2015, Shea joined the cast ofAgent X as Thomas Eckhart.^[42] It was announced that Shea would play Dr. Marcus Eldridge in a 2016 episode ofBones.^[43]

Shea has been married twice. He and his first wife, photographer Laura Pettibone, had one child together, Jake. He and his current wife, the artist Melissa MacLeod, a co-founder of the cooperative (X) Gallery on Nantucket, have two children, Miranda and Caiden.^[44]

Shea is the Artistic Director Emeritus of the Theatre Workshop ofNantucket, where he helped produce 40 productions.^[45]

According toIMDB, Shea has been in a total of 81 movies as an actor, has written, and directed twoscreenplays that have turned into film (Grey Lady andSouthie), and has served as an associate producer onAchchamundu! Achchamundu! as well as an executive producer on his directorial debut,Grey Lady.^{[46][user-generated source]}

• John Shea atIMDb
• John Shea at theInternet Broadway Database
• John Shea at theInternet Off-Broadway Database

• People from Carroll County, New Hampshire
• 1949 births
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• Male actors from New Hampshire
• American male film actors
• American male stage actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• Living people
• Method actors
• Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
• Bates College alumni
• Yale University alumni
• David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from March 2020
• Accuracy disputes from September 2025
• Internet Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata