Date of Birth: April 18, 1963 Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Occupation: Actor Quote: "The great irony in this is people asking me how it feels to play a gay character. But the weird thing is this is the closest character to me I've ever played. Aside from Will's sexuality, his sense of humor is my sense of humor." -- New York Post, September 28, 1998

Claim to Fame: Plays Will on NBC's Will & Grace

Significant Other(s):
Wife: Janet Holden, assistant director; met 1995 during the filming of Lonesome Dove; married August 1997

Family:
Father: Keith McCormack, retired financial analyst for Shell Oil
Mother: Doris McCormack
Siblings: Has two younger

Biography
Actor Eric McCormack was born in Toronto on April 18, 1963. While a teenager, McCormack developed an interest in acting, which was inspired in part by his father, who had once pursued a career as a thespian. After High School graduation, he enrolled in Toronto's Ryerson Theater School. He left Ryerson in 1985, several months before graduation, in order to accept a position with the well-respected Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Over the course of five seasons with the Stratford company, McCormack rose from bit parts to major roles in productions such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Henry V, and he developed a reputation as one of Canada's most promising stage actors. In 1991, McCormack scored his first screen role in a remake of the classic dinosaur saga The Lost World, and in 1992, he was cast on a syndicated TV series, Street Justice, as Detective Carl Weathers. Moving to Vancouver that same year, McCormack stayed busy over the next several years with a variety of television projects shot in Canada (including recurring roles in two series, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years and Townies) and occasional feature films (most notably Holy Man and Free Enterprise). In 1998, McCormack got his big break when he was cast as Will Truman, a gay lawyer, on the situation comedy series Will and Grace. Well received by critics, Will and Grace slowly grew into a ratings winner, and in 2000, McCormack's work on the show earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

Filmography
Queen Of The Whole Wide World (2001)
The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
Here's To Life (2000)
Will & Grace (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Free Enterprise (1998)
Exception to the Rule (1997)
The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1995)
Island City (1994)
Call of the Wild (1993)
Return to the Lost World (1993)
Family of Strangers (1993)
The Lost World (1992)
Miracle on I-880 (1992)

Education:
Ryerson Polytechnic University; Banff Center for the Arts