Bradley Whitford is an American film and television actor. He has played White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing, Danny Tripp on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Dan Stark in the Fox police buddycomedy The Good Guys, Timothy Carter, a character who was believed to be Red John in the CBS series The Mentalist, and antagonist Eric Gordon in the film Billy Madison.
Whitford was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Genevieve Louie and George Van Norman Whitford. He graduated from Madison East High School in 1977. He majored in English and Theater at Wesleyan University , where his roommate was the younger brother of future castmate Richard Schiff. Whitford then attended the Juilliard Schools Drama Division as a member of Group, which also included actor Thomas Gibson.
Source: Wikipedia