---
name: "Timothy Busfield"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/timothy-busfield"
fi1m_id: "timothy-busfield"
imdb_id: "nm0124079"
tmdb_id: 23881
wikidata_id: "Q714610"
roles: ["Director","Actor"]
born: "12 June 1957"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 10
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "director"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-04T18:44:00.222110+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Timothy Busfield

## Identity

Timothy Busfield

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/timothy-busfield
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** timothy-busfield
- **IMDb ID:** nm0124079
- **TMDB ID:** 23881
- **Wikidata ID:** Q714610
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Busfield, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q714610, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124079/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/23881

Director and actor. Born 12 June 1957 in Lansing, Michigan, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Actor
- **Born:** 12 June 1957, Lansing, Michigan, USA
- **Active:** 1981–2018
- **Also known as:** Tim Busfield , Timothy C. Busfield , تیموتی بوسفیلد
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 10: 5 acting, 5 directing
- **Frequently works with:** [Bethany Rooney](https://film.one/person/bethany-rooney.md), [Jean de Segonzac](https://film.one/person/jean-de-segonzac.md), [Constantine Makris](https://film.one/person/constantine-makris.md), [David Grossman](https://film.one/person/david-grossman.md), [Mario Van Peebles](https://film.one/person/mario-van-peebles.md), [Michael Pressman](https://film.one/person/michael-pressman.md), [Steve Shill](https://film.one/person/steve-shill.md), [Wendey Stanzler](https://film.one/person/wendey-stanzler.md)
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as director, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 64 (3), 1990s 81 (4), 2000s 78 (1), 2010s 75 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 71 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Crime 2, Comedy 1, Mystery 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Busfield, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q714610, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124079/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/23881

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Damages*](https://film.one/tv/damages.md) (78), [*This Is Us*](https://film.one/tv/this-is-us.md) (76)
- **AMC+:** [*Field of Dreams*](https://film.one/film/field-of-dreams.md) (83)
- **Pluto TV:** [*Nashville*](https://film.one/tv/nashville-2012.md) (74)
- **Hulu:** [*Law & Order*](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Timothy Busfield is an American actor and director. He was born on 12 June 1957 in Lansing, Michigan, and studied at East Tennessee State University.

He is known for his role as Elliot Weston in the television series *Thirtysomething* (1987–1991), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1991. Busfield played Mark in the film *Field of Dreams* (1989) and Danny Concannon in *The West Wing* (1999–2006). He has directed numerous episodes of series including *This Is Us*, *The Rookie*, *Lie to Me*, *White Collar*, *Chicago Med* and *Designated Survivor*.

Busfield has also appeared in films such as *Revenge of the Nerds* (1984) and *Sneakers* (1992), and founded the B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (10)

### Performed in (5)

- *The West Wing* (1999), Fi1m 86, as Danny Concannon — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-west-wing.md)
- *Quiz Show* (1994), Fi1m 84, as Fred — [page](https://film.one/film/quiz-show.md)
- *Field of Dreams* (1989), Fi1m 83, as Mark — [page](https://film.one/film/field-of-dreams.md)
- *Revenge of the Nerds* (1984), Fi1m 38, as Arnold Poindexter — [page](https://film.one/film/revenge-of-the-nerds.md)
- *Stripes* (1981), Fi1m 70, as Soldier with Mortar — [page](https://film.one/film/stripes.md)

### Directed (5) — the average rests on these

- *This Is Us* (2016), Fi1m 76, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/this-is-us.md)
- *Nashville* (2012), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/nashville-2012.md)
- *Damages* (2007), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/damages.md)
- *Sports Night* (1998), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/sports-night.md)
- *Law & Order* (1990), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)

## Complete filmography (107)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Citadel* (2023), series, as Therapist Simmons
- *The Independent* (2022), as Tom Mayfield
- *For Life* (2020), series, as Henry Roswell
- *FBI: Most Wanted* (2020), series, Director
- *Dolly Parton's Heartstrings* (2019), series, as Logan Cantrell · Director
- *Almost Family* (2019), series, as Ron Doyle
- *The Loudest Voice* (2019), series, as Neil Mullin
- *Guest Artist* (2019), Director, Producer
- *The Rookie* (2018), series, Director
- *FBI* (2018), series, Director
- *Nightcomer* (2017), as Marty
- *Designated Survivor* (2016), series, as Dr. Adam Louden · Director
- *This Is Us* (2016), series, Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/this-is-us.md)
- *Billions* (2016), series, as Dr. Marc Ruloff
- *Second Chance* (2016), series, Director
- *Chicago Med* (2015), series, Director
- *Rosewood* (2015), series, Director
- *Secrets and Lies* (2015), series, as John Garner · Director
- *23 Blast* (2014), as Duncan
- *The Night Shift* (2014), series, Director
- *Sleepy Hollow* (2013), series, as Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *Graceland* (2013), series, Director
- *Restless Virgins* (2013), as Senator Whitman
- *Save the Date* (2012), as Benjie
- *Nashville* (2012), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/nashville-2012.md)
- *Revolution* (2012), series, as Ethan Camp
- *Perception* (2012), series, as George
- *The Client List* (2012), series, Director
- *Against the Wall* (2011), series, Director
- *Love Bites* (2011), series, Director
- *Franklin & Bash* (2011), series, Director
- *Beyond the Blackboard* (2011), as School district's HR representative
- *No Ordinary Family* (2010), series, Director
- *Blue Bloods* (2010), series, as Charles Bynes
- *The Glades* (2010), series, Director
- *The Deep End* (2010), series, Director
- *White Collar* (2009), series, Director
- *Maneater* (2009), series, Director, Co-Executive Producer
- *Lie to Me* (2009), series, Director
- *Childrens Hospital* (2008), series, as Dr. Bloomfield
- *The Ex List* (2008), series, Director
- *Canterbury's Law* (2008), series, Director
- *Lipstick Jungle* (2008), series, Producer, Director
- *Damages* (2007), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/damages.md)
- *Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip* (2006), series, as Cal Shanley · Director
- *Psych* (2006), series, Director
- *The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie* (2005), as Timothy Busfield
- *Retrosexual: The '80s* (2004), series, as (archive footage)
- *Entourage* (2004), series, as TV Director, Timothy Busfield — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/entourage.md)
- *Good Girls Don't* (2004), series, Director
- *Summerland* (2004), series, Director
- *Joan of Arcadia* (2003), series, Director
- *Miss Match* (2003), series, Director
- *Las Vegas* (2003), series, Director
- *National Security* (2003), as Charlie Reed
- *Without a Trace* (2002), series, as Ed Felder · Director, Producer
- *Terminal Error* (2002), as Elliot
- *Dead in a Heartbeat* (2002), as Franklin
- *First Years* (2001), series, Director
- *Lizzie McGuire* (2001), series, Director
- *Ed* (2000), series, as Lloyd Stevens · Director
- *That's Life* (2000), series, Director
- *The West Wing* (1999), series, as Danny Concannon — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-west-wing.md)
- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Daniel Carter · Director
- *The Darklings* (1999), as Clayton Shepherd
- *Time at the Top* (1999), as Frank Shawson
- *Wanted* (1998), as Fr. Donnelly
- *Dream House* (1998), as Richard Thornton
- *The Souler Opposite* (1998), as Robert Levin
- *Sports Night* (1998), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/sports-night.md)
- *Rude Awakening* (1998), series, as John
- *Erasable You* (1998), as Brian
- *Buffalo Soldiers* (1997), as Maj. Robert Carr
- *Trucks* (1997), as Ray
- *What's Right with America* (1997), as Mr. Gordon
- *When Secrets Kill* (1997), as Det. Walter Ferrence
- *First Kid* (1996), as Woods
- *The Unspeakable* (1996), as Matthew Grissom
- *Tracey Takes On...* (1996), series, Actor
- *Champs* (1996), series, as Tom McManus
- *The Outer Limits* (1995), series, as Dr. Jon Holland
- *In the Line of Duty: Kidnapped* (1995), as Pete Honeycutt
- *In the Shadow of Evil* (1995), as Det. Walt Keller
- *Quiz Show* (1994), as Fred — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/quiz-show.md)
- *Little Big League* (1994), as Lou Collins
- *The Byrds of Paradise* (1994), series, Actor
- *Murder Between Friends* (1994), as John Thorn
- *Wall of Silence* (1993), as Ephraim Lipshitz
- *Striking Distance* (1993), as Sacco
- *Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman* (1993), series, as Spy Guy (uncredited)
- *The Skateboard Kid* (1993), as Frank
- *Fade to Black* (1993), as Professor Del Calvin
- *Sneakers* (1992), as Dick Gordon
- *Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story* (1992), as Fred Schultz
- *Strays* (1991), as Paul Jarrett
- *Law & Order* (1990), series, as Ray Backlund · Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)
- *Field of Dreams* (1989), as Mark — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/field-of-dreams.md)
- *thirtysomething* (1987), series, as Elliot Weston · Director
- *Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise* (1987), as Arnold Poindexter
- *Matlock* (1986), series, as Adam Gardner
- *Revenge of the Nerds* (1984), as Arnold Poindexter — Fi1m 38, [page](https://film.one/film/revenge-of-the-nerds.md)
- *Reggie* (1983), series, as Mark Potter
- *Family Ties* (1982), series, as Doug, Young Matt Gilbert
- *Hotel* (1982), series, Actor
- *Stripes* (1981), as Soldier with Mortar — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/stripes.md)
- *Trapper John, M.D.* (1979), series, as J.T. McIntyre Jr.
- *One Smart Fellow*, as Clark

## Gallery

- ![Timothy Busfield](https://film.one/media/person/119596/gallery-6350065673d1.jpg) Timothy Busfield — Allan Lundell, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Timothy_Busfield_2016.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Timothy Busfield](https://film.one/media/person/119596/gallery-cfe6a8a54761.jpg) Timothy Busfield — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 1991: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (won), for *Thirtysomething*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/timothy-busfield