Tim Matheson (born
Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an
American
actor. He is perhaps best known for his
portrayal of the smooth talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978
comedy
Animal House, but has
had a variety of other well-known roles both before and
since.
Biography
Career
At the age of 13, Matheson appeared as Roddy Miller in
Robert Young's
CBS
nostalgia comedy series
Window
on Main Street during the 1961-1962
television season. In 1964, he provided the voice
of the lead character in the cartoon program
Jonny Quest. His was also the voice of Jace
in the original animated series of
Space
Ghost. In addition, he played the role of the oldest son,
Mike Beardsley, in the film
Yours, Mine and Ours,
which also starred
Lucille Ball and
Henry Fonda.
In 1969, he joined the cast of
NBC's
The Virginian
western series in the eighth season,
as Jim Horn. He had a guest role in the 14th episode of the second
season of
Night Gallery, in
the story "Logoda’s Heads". In the final season of the television
western
Bonanza in 1972-1973,
Matheson played Griff King, a parolee who tries to reform his life
as a worker at the
Ponderosa Ranch
under Ben Cartwright's watch. He portrayed a young
motorcycle cop, Phil Sweet, in the 1973 film
Magnum Force. Matheson also
appeared earlier in the
ABC television
comedy series
My Three
Sons and
Leave It to
Beaver.
In the fall of 1976, Matheson appeared with
Kurt Russell in the 15-episode NBC series
The Quest, the story
of two young men in the
American West
seeking the whereabouts of their sister, a captive of the
Cheyenne. In 1978 he co-starred in
Animal House opposite
John Belushi; the following year, he appeared
opposite Belushi again in Spielberg's
1941. Matheson starred in the 1984 comedy
movie
Up the Creek
and the comedy
Fletch.
Matheson also appeared in the 1983
To Be or Not to Be
starring
Mel Brooks and
Anne Bancroft.
Matheson
and Catherine Hicks played Rick and
Amanda Tucker, who operate a detective
agency in Laurel Canyon
in CBS'
Tucker's Witch, which aired
during the 1982-1983 season.
Matheson, along with business partner Dan Grodnik, bought
National
Lampoon in 1989 when the magazine was facing financial
decline. They were unable to reverse the magazine fortunes,
however, and sold it in 1991. He went on to act in over 100 film
and television projects. Matheson had a recurring role as
Vice President John Hoynes on
The West Wing. His work on
The West Wing earned Matheson two
Primetime Emmy award nominations for Best
Guest Star in a Drama Series. In addition to playing Sheriff
Matthew Donner in the shortlived
Wolf
Lake, he has directed episodes of
Third Watch,
Ed,
The Twilight
Zone,
Cold Case,
Without a Trace,
The West Wing,
Burn Notice,
Psych, and
Shark.
In 1996 Matheson took on the role of Carol Brady's thought dead
husband in
A Very Brady
Sequel.
Matheson appeared in the movie Van Wilder in 2002, playing the father of
the title character, who was inspired by his own character in
Animal House; Matheson's character even makes a veiled
reference to the fun times he had had at Dartmouth
, where the fraternity upon which Animal
House is based is rumored to have "had a strong tradition of
existence." He appeared in the auto-racing film
Redline. He also appeared in a
Volkswagen commercial in 2008.
Personal life
Matheson
was born in Glendale
, California
, a suburb of Los Angeles
. He is married to Megan Murphy Matheson,
with whom he has three children. He was previously married to
actress
Jennifer Leak.
External links