William Ragsdale

American actor William Ragsdale has built his long and successful screen career on playing an incredibly diverse array of roles — from cult classic horror movies to sitcoms to neo-Western crime dramas, he’s done it all. He has had an incredible number of guest roles in all kinds of shows, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Desperate Housewives, Ellen, and many others. His most recent roles include parts in shows such as Younger and Black-ish.

Ragsdale’s first major role came early in his career, co-starring as Charlie Brewster in the 1985 supernatural horror movie, Flight Night, which has long been regarded as one of the classics of the genre. He also led the story in the 1988 sequel. In 1991, he was cast as Herman Brooks, the lead character in the Fox sitcom, Herman’s Head, in which the different aspects of Herman’s personality are revealed by a chorus of four other characters. It was an ambitious show, which ran for three seasons. He later starred in the sitcoms Brother’s Keeper and Grosse Point and (before she came out) also appeared as Ellen DeGeneres’ boyfriend in four episodes of her eponymous sitcom.

During the 2010s and beyond, Ragsdale’s key roles have included playing Gary Hawkins in 13 episodes of FX drama, Justified, and recurring roles in the likes of Mistresses, Necessary Roughness, Search Party, and Younger. He has appeared on our TV screens every year since 1989 and shows no signs of leaving them any time soon.