Gary Michael Cole is an American actor working across television, film, stage, and voice performance, born on September 20, 1956, in Park Ridge, Illinois.

Cole attended Rolling Meadows High School before going on to Illinois State University. He began his professional acting career in 1985 at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, establishing his stage credentials before moving into the broader entertainment landscape. That foundation in theater would carry him through decades of work in multiple mediums.

On television, Cole took on the role of Jack "Nighthawk" Killian in the NBC drama series Midnight Caller, which ran from 1988 to 1991. The role placed him at the center of a prime-time drama for three seasons and marked his emergence as a recognizable presence on American television. His film work followed in the 1990s, with appearances in The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995 and Office Space in 1999, two projects that drew on notably different registers of performance — one a broad comedic send-up of a beloved television property, the other a deadpan workplace satire. Both demonstrated a capacity for comedy that sat alongside his earlier dramatic work.

Cole has also worked extensively as a voice actor, contributing character voices to the long-running animated series Family Guy. That range — from live stage performance at Steppenwolf to network drama, theatrical film, and animation — reflects a career built across distinct corners of the acting profession. His work in voice performance stands as one of the more durable threads in his professional output, running parallel to his on-screen appearances rather than replacing them. Across television, film, stage, and animation, Cole has moved between genres and formats, with comedy and drama appearing repeatedly throughout his body of work.