Biography

Sandy Cohen, Gallagher's character on The O.C. (2003), was ranked #25 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].

1973-77: Attended Tufts University. He sang in a group called the Beelzebubs, which is a "mini rock choir" (a capella group) at Tufts.

Was nominated for the 1986 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actor in a Drama for Long Day's Journey Into Night (1987).

Son James Gallagher (born in 1990) and daughter Kathryn Gallagher (born in 1993).

2004: Attended the Best In Drag Show in Los Angeles which raised $150,000 for AIDS afflicted. The show's producer/director was Tom Perdoe.

If I have a choice between a nice, bland hero or a really interesting, detestable character, I'd rather do the detestable one. Good guys can be pretty boring. I love playing characters who celebrate the power and joy and beauty of greed. As the bad guy, you have less moral and behavioral restrictions. There's no burden of being liked. It's real freedom for the actor.

For me, pop culture seems to be all guilt, no pleasure, all pop no culture at the moment.

"The OC" was great fun, especially the first season.

(2011, on making Skag) There's actually two things I remember. I remember Karl Malden talking about working with Marlon Brando, and I experienced my first earthquake. It was at the old MGM studios, which is now the Sony lot. I was playing a bastard son in medical school who wasn't going to come home to see his dad because he had a test or something like that. So I was on the phone, this very emotional scene where I'm telling my father that I'm not coming home. Karl is on the other end of the phone, and he's actually on the set talking to me on the other end of the phone, which is unusual. A lot of times you record your side of the conversation. But the camera's on me, it's a little makeshift set inside a huge former Busby Berkeley soundstage, and the camera's got the lights, everything going on, and I'm just acting up a storm. In fact, I had actually studied with one of the guys that Karl had studied with at the studio, and Brando had studied with. So I'm acting up a storm, and all of a sudden I hear this "ratatatat." This must be a like two-page monologue. I'm thinking, "I can't believe they're fixing the roof in the middle of my monologue!" But I keep going, you know, because I'm feeling the fear, so I just barrel on anyway. And all of a sudden the set starts to shake a little, and I think, "I can't believe the fucking subway. I'm right in the middle of my monologue, and the subway..." Of course there's no subway in Los Angeles, but I'm still busy doing my thing. And I'm looking, and the lights are in my eyes, and I'm going on, and I'm thinking, "The guy's fixing the roof, the subway underneath... boy, this isn't going very well." And I look just a little bit past the bright light, pretending to be looking out the mirror of my room or whatever, and... I see that Malden is gone. He's no longer on the phone. Then I realize the camera operator is gone. And I look around, and there's no one on the set except me... and I'm still just acting up a storm! I mean, I'm thinking, "Holy fuck," but I'm still going on with the scene, like, "Dad, don't you understand? This is important to me, it's my future," while thinking, "Holy fuck, what's going on? Is this how they do things out here?" 'Cause, you know, this was one of the first things I'd ever done. And then I realized, "Oh my God, it's an earthquake! This is an earthquake!" And it's started to rumble now. So immediately I leap up, and I go into the door frame behind my desk where I was on the phone all this time, and I'm pressing so hard against the door frame that the thing is bowing out a little bit. And that's when I realize, "Oh, my God, this is a set! This is not going to protect me from anything!" There's, like, eight miles of ceiling above me, and I'm under this balsawood door frame. So I'm running around trying to find the exit, and I finally get out, and of course, everyone smoked back then, so they're all sitting in cars smoking. And someone goes, "Hey, first earthquake, huh?" I'm just, like, "There's nobody here. That can't be good. But I'm almost done with the monologue, so I'll finish just in case." The show must go on, right?

(2011, on filming House On Haunted Hill) We had a great time. Geoffrey Rush is the funniest man in the world. We laughed a lot with Chris Kattan. Chris Kattan would call me in the middle of the night when we were shooting that and play a Cher song. I can't remember what it was. I wish I could. Even now, when it's 3 o'clock in the morning, I always think, "Oh, my God, why am I thinking about Cher?" So we were shooting that out in Valencia on a sound stage, and Jack Lemmon and George Scott, who I'd also done a couple movies with, were doing Inherit The Wind in the same studio a couple of sound stages over. So I said, "Geoffrey, come on." I knew that Jack and George were big fans of Geoffrey's, so I said, "How'd you like to meet Jack Lemmon and George Scott?" He said, "Oh, my God, Peter, I would love to." I said, "Well, it's easier than you can imagine. Come on, let's go." So we hung out with George and Jack in their separate trailers and then watched them shoot the ultimate scene in the trial on the set. I just felt so happy that I could introduce such enormous talents.