| After parents' divorce, moved to L.A. with mother and younger brother Chad |
| Began acting in TV commercials |
| While in high school, acted in Super 8 movies made by classmates Sean Penn and Charlie Sheen |
1979 | Made TV series debut on the short-lived ABC sitcom "A New Kind of Family" |
1980 | Played the title role in the ABC Afterschool special "Schoolboy Father" |
1983 | Acted in the CBS TV-movie "Thursday's Child"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a TV movie |
1983 | Landed breakthrough role as Sodapop in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders" |
1983 | Played a wealthy prep-school student whose mother (Jacqueline Bisset) carries on an affair with his roommate (Andrew McCarthy) in "Class" |
1984 | Featured opposite Jodie Foster and Nastassja Kinski in the film adaptation of John Irving's "The Hotel New Hampshire" |
1984 | Played an American attending the famed British university in "Oxford Blues" |
1985 | Featured alongside other twentysomething actors (including Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez and Andrew McCarthy) in "St. Elmo's Fire" |
1986 | Landed starring roles in "Youngblood" (with "The Outsiders" co-star Patrick Swayze) and "About Last Night" (with "St. Elmo's Fire" co-star Demi Moore) |
1987 | Earned critical praise for his performance as a mentally-challenged youth in "Square Dance" |
1987 | Made stage debut at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in "Three Sisters" |
1988 | Caught on videotape in a tryst with two women (one underage) at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta |
1988 | Starred in the thriller "Masquerade" opposite Meg Tilly |
1989 | Made disastrous appearance on the 61st Academy Awards telecast performing a duet with an actress playing the part of Snow White |
1990 | Had a villainous turn opposite James Spader in "Bad Influence" |
1990 | Hosted "Saturday Night Live" (NBC), beginning his association with then-cast member Mike Myers |
1992 | Garnered praise for his featured role in Mike Myers' "Wayne's World" |
1992 | Made Broadway debut in "A Little Hotel on the Side" |
1993 | Co-starred with Natasha Richardson and Maggie Smith in a small screen remake of "Suddenly Last Summer" (PBS) |
1994 | Portrayed a deaf mute in the ABC miniseries version of "Stephen King's The Stand" |
1995 | Had an uncredited cameo in "Tommy Boy," starring "SNL" cast members David Spade and Chris Farley |
1995 | Produced the HBO-aired film "Frank and Jesse"; also co-starred as Jesse James |
1997 | Portrayed a conservative Christian leader in "Contact" |
1997 | Wrote and directed the short film "Desert's Edge" (aired on the Showtime series "Directed By") |
1999 | Put his notable impersonation of Robert Wagner to good use with a featured role in Myers' "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" |
1999 | Returned to series television for the first time since 1979, playing the President's deputy communications director on the NBC political drama, "The West Wing"; left the series due to monetary disputes; earned Golden Globe (1999, 2000) and Emmy (2001) nominations for Best Actor |
2002 | Had supporting role in "A View From the Top" |
2002 | Played a NYC detective tempted to corruption in the TNT original movie "Framed" |
2003 | Starred and executive produced the short-lived NBC drama "The Lyon's Den" |
2004 | Starred in the short-lived CBS drama "Dr. Vegas"; also produced |
2005 | Re-teamed with Aaron Sorkin to star in the London revival of "A Few Good Men" |
2006 | Cast on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" as a Republican senator, Robert McCallister; left series after the fourth season |
2006 | Co-starred with Aaron Eckhart in Jason Reitman's satirical comedy "Thank You for Smoking" |
2006 | Reprised his role as Sam Seaborn, the senior political official for the final episodes of NBC's "The West Wing" |
2010 | Joined the NBC comedy "Parks and Recreation" as a state employees brought in to fix Pawnee's budgetary crisis |
2011 | Co-starred in Mark Pellington's "I Melt with You" |
