# Anthony Edwards (actor)
**Anthony Charles Edwards** is an American actor, producer, and director born in 1962 in [Santa Barbara, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-barbara-california), best known for playing navigator Nick "Goose" Bradshaw in *Top Gun* (1986) and Dr. [Mark Greene](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-greene) on the NBC medical drama *ER*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) He is the youngest of five children of Erika Kem, a landscape painter, and Peter Edwards, an architect.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962, Santa Barbara, California; youngest of five children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) |
| Breakout film role | Lt. Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, Tom Cruise's navigator and best friend, in *Top Gun* (1986)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) |
| Signature TV role | Dr. Mark Greene on *ER*, 1994–2002 with a return in 2008; 182 episodes[2](https://www.avclub.com/anthony-edwards-on-zero-hour-er-and-being-top-gun-s-1798236543) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) |
| Emmy record | Nominated four times for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1995–1998) without a win; won the 2010 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Made for Television Movie as an executive producer of *Temple Grandin*[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anthony-edwards) |
| Other honors | Golden Globe winner (1998); Screen Actors Guild Awards for *ER*, counted as three in *Zodiac* production notes and two on IMDb[4](https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/film_film/0002/25/2087261c502269b4ffda27558af39d11588691ad.pdf) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) |
| Directing | Directed the *ER* episode "Take These Broken Wings" in the show's second season; feature directorial debut with *My Dead Boyfriend*[5](https://www.etonline.com/features/202032_anthony_edwards_directing_feature_debut) |
| Credits | 67 acting credits, 10 as producer, and 3 as director listed on IMDb[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) |
## Early life and start in acting
Edwards's parents encouraged him to act at 16, which led to a summer workshop in London before he finished high school. Back in the United States he worked in commercials to pay for acting studies at the [University of Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-southern-california), then dropped out and in the same year took a small role in *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1982), the box-office hit starring [Sean Penn](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-penn).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) His first movie role was teenage racer John Muldowney in *Heart Like a Wheel* (1983), and his first starring role was the nerdy Gilbert Lowell in *Revenge of the Nerds* (1984), a part he reprised in *Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise* (1987).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/)
## 1980s film career
After *[The Sure Thing](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-sure-thing)* (1985) and *Gotcha!* (1985), Edwards was cast as Goose in *Top Gun* (1986), the easy-going navigator and best friend of [Tom Cruise](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-cruise)'s Maverick who dies during a training maneuver.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) • [6](https://time.com/6176032/top-gun-maverick-review/) As the film made Cruise a star, it raised Edwards's profile at the same time.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) He later described the part pragmatically: he viewed the film as a career move rather than an artistic one, saying he came from a "hippy-dippy family" in which glamorizing the military "was just not where I came from," though he acknowledged that generations of viewers have told him they enlisted because of the movie.[7](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39038065/anthony-edwards-life-after-er-inventing-anna-2022/) In a 2013 interview he called himself the film's "Mr. Lefty Liberal Peace Lover."[2](https://www.avclub.com/anthony-edwards-on-zero-hour-er-and-being-top-gun-s-1798236543)
He followed with *Summer Heat* (1987), *Mr. North* (1988), and *Miracle Mile* (1988), then moved through TV movies and features including *Hawks* (1988), *How I Got Into College* (1989), *Downtown* (1990), *Pet Sematary II* (1992), *Landslide* (1992), and *Delta Heat* (1992).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) His best reviews in the early 1990s came from a recurring role as Mike Monroe, the quirky "bubble man," on *Northern Exposure*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) He earned a CableACE Award nomination for the HBO film *Sexual Healing* (1993), played law clerk Clint Von Hooser in the [John Grisham](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-grisham) adaptation *[The Client](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-client-1994-film)* (1994), and portrayed killer Dick Hickock in the 1996 television remake of [Truman Capote](https://www.edgepedia.org/truman-capote)'s *In Cold Blood*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/)
## ER and Dr. Mark Greene
*ER* gave Edwards his most prominent role, the easy-going physician Dr. Mark Greene, on what was then among the most popular shows on American television.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) He appeared from the series' 1994 start through 2002, returning for the 2008 finale, for a total of 182 episodes.[2](https://www.avclub.com/anthony-edwards-on-zero-hour-er-and-being-top-gun-s-1798236543) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) When deciding whether to re-up after the first four seasons, he recalled a friend's advice that "they're getting the prime of your life," and he signed on happily; his children were all born during the eight years he spent on the show.[2](https://www.avclub.com/anthony-edwards-on-zero-hour-er-and-being-top-gun-s-1798236543) A later contract kept him on the series for three more years at a salary described as one almost no actor could be paid, with the money meant to buy family time and later directing work.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/)
The role brought sustained award recognition. The Television Academy lists five Emmy nominations and one win: nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998, all as Dr. Mark Greene, and a win as executive producer when *[Temple Grandin](https://www.edgepedia.org/temple-grandin-film)* (HBO) took Outstanding Made for Television Movie in 2010.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anthony-edwards) He won a Golden Globe in 1998 for the role.[4](https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/film_film/0002/25/2087261c502269b4ffda27558af39d11588691ad.pdf) His Screen Actors Guild total is disputed: according to the production notes for *Zodiac*, he has three SAG Awards, a 1996 honor for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series plus Ensemble Cast prizes in 1998 and 1999, whereas IMDb's biography gives him only two.[4](https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/film_film/0002/25/2087261c502269b4ffda27558af39d11588691ad.pdf) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) He also won a People's Choice Award early in the show's run for best actor in a new series.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-09-ca-40755-story.html)
## Directing and producing
Edwards moved behind the camera during *ER*. He directed the second-season episode "Take These Broken Wings," saying the show was a good place for a debut because he knew the crew, and he later made his feature directorial debut with *My Dead Boyfriend*.[5](https://www.etonline.com/features/202032_anthony_edwards_directing_feature_debut) His producing work includes the 2010 Emmy-winning television movie *Temple Grandin*.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anthony-edwards) During a hiatus from *ER* he starred in and produced *Don't Go Breaking My Heart* (1999).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/)
## Later work
After leaving *ER*, his first sizable film roles were Brains in *Thunderbirds* (2004) and Jim Paretta in *The Forgotten* (2004).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) [David Fincher](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-fincher)'s *[Zodiac](https://www.edgepedia.org/zodiac-film)* (2007) cast him as Inspector William Armstrong of the San Francisco police, one of the detectives pursuing the Zodiac killer.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) • [4](https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/film_film/0002/25/2087261c502269b4ffda27558af39d11588691ad.pdf) He played Steven Loski in *Flipped* (2010) and returned to series television in 2013 as Hank Galliston in ABC's thriller *Zero Hour*, his first regular series role since *ER*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/) • [2](https://www.avclub.com/anthony-edwards-on-zero-hour-er-and-being-top-gun-s-1798236543) More recently he appeared in *Inventing Anna*, and he reflected in 2022 that the roles people know him for, *Top Gun* and *ER*, "were a long time ago."[7](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39038065/anthony-edwards-life-after-er-inventing-anna-2022/)
## References
1. [Anthony Edwards (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000381/)
2. [Anthony Edwards on Zero Hour, ER, and being Top Gun's "Mr. Lefty Liberal Peace Lover", The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/anthony-edwards-on-zero-hour-er-and-being-top-gun-s-1798236543)
3. [Anthony Edwards, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/anthony-edwards)
4. [Zodiac production notes, Festival de Cannes media library](https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/film_film/0002/25/2087261c502269b4ffda27558af39d11588691ad.pdf)
5. [Anthony Edwards on the Challenges of Directing and Playing Around on the 'ER' Set, Entertainment Tonight](https://www.etonline.com/features/202032_anthony_edwards_directing_feature_debut)
6. [The New Top Gun Is So Much Better Than the First One, Time](https://time.com/6176032/top-gun-maverick-review/)
7. ['ER' Star Anthony Edwards on Life Now, 'Inventing Anna', 'We Crashed' & 'Walking Dead' Projects, Esquire](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39038065/anthony-edwards-life-after-er-inventing-anna-2022/)
8. [A Visit With Dr. Greene, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-09-ca-40755-story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Do to Es*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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