# Zach Grenier
**Zach Grenier** (born 1954) is an American character actor whose career spans New York theater, film, and television, and who is most widely recognized as the ruthless divorce lawyer [David Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-lee) on the CBS drama *The Good Wife*.[1](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/zach-grenier/) On stage he received a 2009 Tony Award nomination for playing [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://www.edgepedia.org/ludwig-van-beethoven) in Moisés Kaufman's *33 Variations*, and on screen he has appeared in films including *Fight Club* (1999), *Zodiac* (2007), and the series *Devs* (2020).[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340260/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954 (some sources cite 1959), Englewood, New Jersey; original name James Hampton Grenier[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) |
| Training | Boston University, B.F.A.; attended the University of Michigan[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) |
| Signature stage role | Ludwig van Beethoven in *33 Variations* (Broadway, 2009); Tony Award nomination, Best Featured Actor in a Play[4](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/zach-grenier-43083) |
| Signature TV role | David Lee on *The Good Wife*, a guest role from 2009 that made him a series regular from the fifth season[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) |
| Other major honors | Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, 2006, for *Stuff Happens*; Lucille Lortel nomination, 2013, for *Storefront Church*[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340260/bio/) |
| Notable films | *The Kid Brother* (1987), *Talk Radio* (1988), *Fight Club* (1999), *Zodiac* (2007), *J. Edgar* (2011), *RoboCop* (2014), *Crown Heights* (2017)[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) • [6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-25275/filmographie/) |
| Career span | 38 years of screen credits listed by AlloCiné, with 72 films and series[7](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D25275.html) |
## Early life and training
Grenier was born in [Englewood, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/englewood-new-jersey), the son of George Hampton Grenier, an electrical engineer, and Helen, a librarian.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) His entry on Encyclopedia.com records his original name as James Hampton Grenier and notes that some sources give 1959 rather than 1954 as his birth year; he is also known as Zack or Zachary Grenier.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) He earned a B.F.A. at [Boston University](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-university) and attended the University of Michigan, and he is a member of [Actors' Equity Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/actors-equity-association).[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954)
His stage work began in Boston in 1978, with *The Christopher Marlowe Show* and a turn as Jacques in *As You Like It* at the Boston Shakespeare Company, followed by roles at the Portland Stage Company, the Performing Garage, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and other regional houses through the 1980s.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954)
## Theater career
**Broadway.** Grenier's recorded Broadway credits begin with [Larry Gelbart](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-gelbart)'s *Mastergate* (1989), in which he played Mr. Child, Mr. Picker, Mr. Boyle, and Mr. Carver while understudying three further roles.[4](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/zach-grenier-43083) He later appeared as Egan in *Voices in the Dark* (1999), [Thomas Cromwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-cromwell) in the [Roundabout](https://www.edgepedia.org/roundabout) revival of *A Man for All Seasons* (2008), Beethoven in *33 Variations* (2009), and Mark Herries in the revival of *Man and Boy* (2011).[4](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/zach-grenier-43083)
***33 Variations* and recognition.** The Broadway production of *33 Variations*, running from March to May 2009, cast him as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in Moisés Kaufman's play, and brought him the Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play.[4](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/zach-grenier-43083) He was also nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award in the same category for that performance.[8](https://playbill.com/person/zach-grenier-vault-0000031703)
**Off-Broadway and other honors.** His Off-Broadway work includes Sid Greenberg in *Talk Radio* at the Public Theater (1987), Dr. Robert Chapman in *A Question of Mercy* (1997), and [Dick Cheney](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-cheney) in David Hare's *Stuff Happens* at the Public Theater (2006).[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) The 2006 production earned him a Drama Desk Award as part of the ensemble.[4](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/zach-grenier-43083) Earlier awards include the 1997 Drama League Award for outstanding performance in *A Question of Mercy* and a 1998 Jeff Award nomination for *Art* at Chicago's Royal George Theatre.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) In 2013 he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor as Reed Van Druyten in [John Patrick Shanley](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-patrick-shanley)'s *Storefront Church*.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340260/bio/)
He returned to the Public Theater in 2018 as the fictional Texas Senator John McDowell in Sarah Burgess's *Kings*, directed by [Thomas Kail](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-kail), after having spent what a TDF interview describes as seven years on *The Good Wife* between the two Public productions.[9](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/hes-so-good-at-playing-bad/) At the [Atlantic Theater Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-theater-company) he has appeared in *Gabriel* and *Storefront Church*, and more recently he played [Willy Loman](https://www.edgepedia.org/willy-loman) in Pittsburgh Public Theater's production of *Death of a Salesman*.[1](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/zach-grenier/)
## Film career
His first film role came in Claude Gagnon's 1987 docudrama *The Kid Brother*, playing the father of Kenny Easterday, who portrayed himself in the story of a boy born with physical challenges in a Pennsylvania steel mill town.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) From there came the small role of Jim in [Mike Nichols](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-nichols)'s *Working Girl* and an appearance in *See No Evil, Hear No Evil* with [Gene Wilder](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-wilder) and Richard Pryor, followed by *A Shock to the System* with Michael Caine (1990), the soap-opera spoof *Delirious* with John Candy, and Mike Figgis's film noir *Liebestraum*.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html)
The early 1990s brought studio productions filmed far from New York: Renny Harlin's *Cliffhanger*, shot at Rome's Cinecittà Studios, *The Man Without a Face*, *Tommy Boy*, *Twister*, and the Montreal-shot adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's *Mother Night*, in which he played Joseph Goebbels.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) In Ringo Lam's *Maximum Risk* he played the mob boss Ivan Dzasokhov opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html)
**Directors of note.** A role he has singled out is Mr. Evans in Ang Lee's Civil War drama *Ride with the Devil* (1999).[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) That same year he appeared in David Fincher's *Fight Club* as the executive wearing the "cornflower blue tie", the man punched by Edward Norton's character in the film's fight scene.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) He worked with Fincher again on *Zodiac* (2007), playing the seasoned DOJ agent Mel Nicolai, a character fifteen years his senior with the help of makeup.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) Other later credits include Werner Herzog's *Rescue Dawn*, Clint Eastwood's *J. Edgar* as John Condon of the Lindbergh kidnapping investigation, the 2014 *RoboCop* remake as Senator Dreyfuss, and the 2017 film *Crown Heights*.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) • [6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-25275/filmographie/) His most recent listed film work is *She Said* (2022) and forthcoming titles including John Keller's *Her Song*, shot in a village in the French Pyrenees, in which he plays a composer married to a novelist.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-25275/filmographie/) • [5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html)
## Television career
Grenier's television record runs from the late-1980s NBC series *Tattinger's*, where he played Sonny Franks, through recurring parts including Jack DiRado on *C-16: FBI* (1997–98) and Carl Webb on *24* (2001–2002).[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954) He played Andy Cramed, the town's infected cleric, on HBO's *Deadwood* across 2004 to 2006.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954)
**David Lee.** In 2008, while on Broadway in *33 Variations*, he auditioned for a new CBS series and was hired for the guest role of David Lee, a lawyer in the central firm of *The Good Wife*; the character became an integral part of the team, and with the fifth season Grenier was made a series regular.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) He later reprised David Lee across six seasons of the Paramount+ sequel series *The Good Fight*.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-25275/filmographie/) • [5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) He also rejoined the same producers for the 2016 series *BrainDead*, playing the patriarch of a political family.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html)
His subsequent television work includes the recurring role of New York's incumbent mayor Ed Feratti in seasons six and seven of *Ray Donovan*, a series-regular turn as Kenton in the 2020 FX on Hulu series *Devs* from Alex Garland, an appearance as Graham Simons in *FBI: International* (2024), and a 2026 season of *The Tap* as President Brewster.[5](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html) • [6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-25275/filmographie/)
## References
1. [Zach Grenier, Atlantic Theater Company](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/zach-grenier/)
2. [Zach Grenier Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340260/bio/)
3. [Grenier, Zach 1954(?)–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/grenier-zach-1954)
4. [Zach Grenier, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/zach-grenier-43083)
5. [Zach Grenier, Film and Television, zachgrenier.info](https://zachgrenier.info/zach-grenier-film-and-television.html)
6. [Zach Grenier, Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-25275/filmographie/)
7. [Zach Grenier, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D25275.html)
8. [Zach Grenier, Playbill](https://playbill.com/person/zach-grenier-vault-0000031703)
9. [He's So Good at Playing Bad, TDF Stages (2018)](https://www.tdf.org/on-stage/tdf-stages/hes-so-good-at-playing-bad/)
---
*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 Gr to G*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; 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