'Bryan Lee
[1] Cranston' (born
March 7 1956 in
San Fernando Valley, California) is an Award-winning
American actor,
voice actor, writer and director, best known in his role as
Hal, the father of the family in the
Fox Network television situation comedy ''
Malcolm in the Middle.'' He also played
Dr. Tim Whatley on ''
Seinfeld'' and other roles in numerous movies and television programs.
Biography
Bryan Cranston is the son of actor
Joe Cranston. Cranston grew up in the
Los Angeles area and graduated from
Canoga Park High School. He began his acting career after college in local and regional theatres, getting his start at the Granada Theatre in the San Fernando Valley, California. Cranston is married to Robin Dearden, who he met on the set of the show ''
Airwolf'' (1984). He was playing the villain of the week, and she was his hostage (held at gunpoint). They have a daughter, Taylor. Cranston was previously married to Mickey Middleton, a writer.
Though best known for his work on ''
Malcolm in the Middle'' beginning in
2000, Cranston has worked regularly since the late
1980s, though mostly in minor roles. His advertising work includes commercials for
Lay's potato chips,
Excedrin,
Honda Accord, and
Coffee-Mate. His voice acting includes English dubbing of Japanese Anime, under the name "Lee Stone". The last name of the
first Blue Ranger on ''
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'' (1993) was named after him. He did various work as part of the crew (voice-overs, etc.), so the Blue Ranger's full name became
Billy Cranston.
His largest role prior to Malcolm was as
astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the
HBO series ''
From the Earth to the Moon''. Cranston has also played astronaut
Gus Grissom in the film ''
That Thing You Do!'' He also appeared in
Steven Spielberg's ''
Saving Private Ryan'' as a one-armed military officer.
His role as Dr.
Tim Whatley, Jerry's dentist on ''
Seinfeld'', earned him some fans. A famous moment from the show is when Jerry suspected that Whatley "converted to
Judaism purely for the jokes."
He has also had a recurring role on the
CBS sitcom ''
The King of Queens'' as
Doug Heffernan's annoying neighbor, Tim Sacksky. He works as a water purifer salesman and in one episode he recruits Doug to sell them as well.
Cranston has directed several episodes of ''Malcolm in the Middle'' and received three
Emmy nominations for his performance on the show. He also wrote and directed the
1999 movie ''
Last Chance''. He appeared in ''
Little Miss Sunshine'' as a business colleague of
Greg Kinnear. He also had a guest role in late 2006 on the CBS sitcom ''
How I Met Your Mother'', playing main character Ted's obnoxious co-worker and former boss Hammond Druthers.
On July 6, 2006, Cranston was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the
58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the last season of ''
Malcolm in the Middle''. On August 27, 2006, the award was given to
Jeremy Piven of the HBO series ''
Entourage''.
On April 9th, 2007 Cranston won the Blue Door Trophy in the inaugural episode of the US adapted verson of the hit Australian television show ''
Thank God You're Here''.
He recently had a role as Lucifer in the ABC Family miniseries,
Fallen.
Trivia
★ Other titles he voiced for were
Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honneamise , and "
Macross Plus".
★ In the original
Armitage III Polymatrix 4 episode home video release (also know as an
OVA), he's listed as "Lee Stone", but in the movie edition of the same name, he's listed under his real name "Bryan Cranston".
★ Produced his "Kidsmartz" safety video with his ''
Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000) crew during one of their weeks off.
★ Always grows a beard and moustache during his "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) hiatus.
★ His favorite episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) is the first season episode "Rollerskates". He spent six weeks before filming learning how to rollerskate.
★ Impersonated
Brad Garrett's ''
Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996) voice shortly after losing to him for the second year in a row at the 2004 Emmy Awards.
★ Presented the category "Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series" at the 2004 Emmy Awards with his "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) co-star
Jane Kaczmarek. Bryan had been eligible for that category (for directing the "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) episode "Stereo Store") but did not receive a nomination.
★ Was singled out by frequent "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) director
Todd Holland during his Emmy speech in 2001. Cranston had been overlooked that year, and Holland proclaimed that he would "stand up here soon." Cranston was nominated for the first time the next year.
★ Appeared on an episode of ''
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' where he was a lawyer attempting to free Sabrina from a contract.
★ Guest starred in the episode "Drive" in the sixth season of
The X-Files.
★ Had a single episode role in
Babylon 5 as Ericson, the captain of a
White Star vessel ordered into a suicide mission to plant
misinformation within the enemy ranks.
External links
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Official Website
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Malcolm In The Middle Voting Community - Fan Site