Peter Gallagher

Peter Gallagher is an American actor and singer known for his appearances in Sex, Lies and Videotape, American Beauty and The O.C. Gallagher was born and raised in New York as the youngest of three children. He attended Tufts University, where he appeared in various student theater productions and sang with the Beelzebubs a cappella group. After graduating, he studied acting at the William Esper Studio in New York.

Gallagher began his career on stage, making a name for himself in Broadway in productions such as Hair and Grease. He made his film debut in the 1980 drama The Idolmaker and gained wider attention with his role in Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape in 1989. He went on to star in movies like Late For Dinner (1991), The Player (1992), While You Were Sleeping (1995) and American Beauty (1999).

In 2002, he joined the cast of The O.C. as Sandy Cohen, a role that he played until the show’s end in 2007. He later landed recurring roles on Covert Affairs, The Gifted and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The multihyphenate has remained active on stage as well as on screen, appearing in the Broadway production Left on Tenth in 2024.

Gallagher married Paula Harwood in 1983. They share two children: son James Gallagher (born in 1990) and daughter Kathryn Gallagher (born in 1993).