# Josh Charles
**Josh Charles** (born in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American film, television, and stage actor known for the teen roles of Iggy in [John Waters](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-waters)'s *Hairspray* (1988) and Knox Overstreet in *Dead Poets Society* (1989), for Dan Rydell on [Aaron Sorkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/aaron-sorkin)'s *Sports Night*, and for five seasons as lawyer [Will Gardner](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-gardner) on the CBS drama *The Good Wife*, a role that brought him two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) • [2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Josh-Charles/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | September 15, Baltimore, Maryland[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) |
| Film debut | Iggy in John Waters's *Hairspray* (1988), secured at age 15[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) • [3](https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/josh-charles-the-good-wife-sports-night-bird-people-toronto-film-festival-amy-schumer/) |
| Breakthrough | Knox Overstreet opposite Robin Williams in *Dead Poets Society* (1989)[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) |
| Signature TV roles | Dan Rydell on *Sports Night* (1998–2000); Jake on HBO's *In Treatment* (2008); Will Gardner on *The Good Wife* (2009–2016)[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Josh-Charles/) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) |
| Awards | Two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2011, 2014) and a Golden Globe nomination for *The Good Wife*; SAG Award nomination for *Sports Night*[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) • [2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Josh-Charles/) |
| Later work | Daniel Hersl in HBO's *We Own This City* (2022); Max in FX's *The Veil*; Commander Wharton in the final season of *The Handmaid's Tale*[4](https://press.hulu.com/bios/josh-charles/) • [5](https://www.justjared.com/tags/josh-charles/) |
## Early life and teen roles
Charles grew up in Baltimore and trained there, attending the [Baltimore School for the Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/baltimore-school-for-the-arts) and spending summers at Stagedoor Manor Theater Camp in New York.[6](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/18122/josh-charles) He began working at 15, and his first feature role was Iggy, one of the teen council members, in Baltimore native John Waters's *Hairspray* (1988).[3](https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/josh-charles-the-good-wife-sports-night-bird-people-toronto-film-festival-amy-schumer/) • [7](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/josh-charles-always-great-awards-insider)
The next year he played Knox Overstreet, the lovestruck prep-school student, opposite [Robin Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-williams) in *Dead Poets Society*. The film was a substantial commercial success, earning $95.9 million domestically from a $340,000 opening weekend.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) • [8](https://thehatefuln8.com/people/josh-charles) He followed it with Bryan in *Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead* (1991) and later film roles including *Threesome*, *Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead*, *Four Brothers*, and *S.W.A.T.*[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) • [8](https://thehatefuln8.com/people/josh-charles)
## Sports Night and In Treatment
*Sports Night*, the first television series from writer Aaron Sorkin, cast Charles as Dan Rydell, co-anchor of a nightly sports broadcast; the ABC comedy-drama ran from 1998 to 2000 and earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Josh-Charles/) Charles has said the experience was not a collaboration in the way he would have liked, and that it briefly made him reluctant to return to television.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/josh-charles-always-great-awards-insider)
He came back in a different register on HBO's *In Treatment* (2008), playing a volatile stay-at-home father in the first-season therapy sessions opposite [Gabriel Byrne](https://www.edgepedia.org/gabriel-byrne). Charles has described the long-take, theater-like format as a chance to take the mask off, and the performance drew attention from his peers.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/josh-charles-always-great-awards-insider)
## The Good Wife and Will Gardner's death
From 2009 to 2016, Charles played Will Gardner, a partner at the Lockhart Gardner law firm who offers his law-school friend [Alicia Florrick](https://www.edgepedia.org/alicia-florrick) a job and becomes her romantic interest, on *The Good Wife*.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Josh-Charles/) • [9](https://goldenglobes.com/person/josh-charles/) The role brought Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2014, plus a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) • [4](https://press.hulu.com/bios/josh-charles/)
In March 2014, in the show's fifth season, Will Gardner was shot to death in the middle of a courtroom, an episode Charles discussed on [David Letterman](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-letterman)'s show days later.[10](https://time.com/36869/josh-charles-the-good-wife-shock/) Charles had decided to leave the series, and creators [Robert and Michelle King](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-and-michelle-king) secretly structured the season's story around the character's death; Charles has called the fifth season's writing the best he ever had.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/josh-charles-always-great-awards-insider) The exit drew a visible fan backlash, with writer Delia Ephron criticizing the decision in the New York Times.[11](https://www.vogue.com/article/josh-charles-nineties)
## Work after The Good Wife
During his time on *The Good Wife*, Charles shot the French-language drama *Bird People*, playing Gary Newman, an American who abandons his life during a Paris stopover; the film played at Cannes and the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival).[3](https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/josh-charles-the-good-wife-sports-night-bird-people-toronto-film-festival-amy-schumer/) • [12](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/09/josh-charles-bird-people-interview) He also made comedy guest turns, including sketches on *Inside Amy Schumer* and the preppy rival counselor Blake in *Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp*, and played a fragrance-industry businessman on *Masters of Sex*.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) • [11](https://www.vogue.com/article/josh-charles-nineties)
**Baltimore returned** to his career with *We Own This City* (2022), the HBO limited series from [David Simon](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-simon) and George Pelecanos in which Charles played Daniel Hersl of the [Baltimore Police Department](https://www.edgepedia.org/baltimore-police-department)'s Gun Trace Task Force.[4](https://press.hulu.com/bios/josh-charles/) • [13](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39806753/josh-charles-interview-2022/) He followed it with a supporting turn as CIA officer Max Peterson in FX's *The Veil* opposite [Elisabeth Moss](https://www.edgepedia.org/elisabeth-moss), and joined the final season of *The Handmaid's Tale* as Commander Wharton.[4](https://press.hulu.com/bios/josh-charles/) • [5](https://www.justjared.com/tags/josh-charles/)
In 2024, at [Ethan Hawke](https://www.edgepedia.org/ethan-hawke)'s invitation, Charles reprised Knox Overstreet alongside Hawke's Todd Anderson in [Taylor Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-swift)'s music video for "Fortnight," the lead single from *The Tortured Poets Department*, an album titled after the 1989 film.[4](https://press.hulu.com/bios/josh-charles/) • [7](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/josh-charles-always-great-awards-insider)
## Stage work
Charles's theater credits include a Long Wharf Theater production of *The Glass Menagerie* and the world premiere of Adam Bock's *The Receptionist* for the Manhattan Theatre Club.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles) After *Sports Night* he rebuilt onstage, earning strong reviews off Broadway in Neil LaBute's *The Distance From Here* and working with the Steppenwolf company in Chicago.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/josh-charles-always-great-awards-insider)
## References
1. [Josh Charles, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/josh-charles)
2. [Josh Charles, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Josh-Charles/)
3. [Q&A: Josh Charles on Life After 'The Good Wife,' 'Sports Night,' and Movies vs. TV, Grantland](https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/josh-charles-the-good-wife-sports-night-bird-people-toronto-film-festival-amy-schumer/)
4. [Josh Charles, Hulu Press](https://press.hulu.com/bios/josh-charles/)
5. [Josh Charles, Just Jared](https://www.justjared.com/tags/josh-charles/)
6. [Josh Charles, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/18122/josh-charles)
7. [Always Great: Josh Charles on His Tortured Poets and Iconic Good Wife Death, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/josh-charles-always-great-awards-insider)
8. [Josh Charles Box Office: Every Movie Ranked, The Hateful N8](https://thehatefuln8.com/people/josh-charles)
9. [Josh Charles, Golden Globes](https://goldenglobes.com/person/josh-charles/)
10. [VIDEO: Josh Charles Talks 'The Good Wife' Shocker With Letterman, Time](https://time.com/36869/josh-charles-the-good-wife-shock/)
11. [Why I'll Never Get Over '90s-Era Josh Charles, Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/josh-charles-nineties)
12. [Josh Charles Talks His Latest Projects, Advice to Young Actors, and Life After The Good Wife, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/09/josh-charles-bird-people-interview)
13. [An Honest Conversation With Josh Charles, Esquire](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39806753/josh-charles-interview-2022/)
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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 C to Cl*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license