Victor Garber

Victor Jay Garber, OC, actor, singer (born 16 March 1949 in London, ON). A suave, sensitive and prolific actor, Victor Garber is perhaps best known for his roles in such TV series as Alias (2001–06) and Family Law (2021–) and such films as Titanic (1997), Legally Blonde (2001), Milk (2008), and Argo (2012). Garber has worked extensively in both Canada and the United States, with more than 150 screen credits to his name. He has also had a long, distinguished career in plays and musical theatre on and off Broadway. He has been nominated for multiple Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, Gemini Awards and Canadian Screen Awards. He has been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Early Life and Education

Victor Garber was born and raised in London, Ontario, by his parents Joseph and Hope Garber, who were of Russian-Jewish descent. He has two siblings: Nathan and Lisa. Garber’s mother was an actor and singer who hosted her own talk show on London’s CFPL-TV called At Home with Hope Garber. Garber has said that his mother “was a local celebrity who was supportive of my decision to pursue show business.” His father was less enthusiastic about Garber’s career path, but Garber said, “I could count on him to send me a cheque when I was living on my own in Toronto.”

Garber attended Ryerson Elementary School and was first bitten by the acting bug at age nine. He took part in the children’s program at London’s Grand Theatre and made an impression as Tom Sawyer. Garber grew up listening to his mother’s Broadway cast albums and has described seeing a 1961 production of West Side Story at Toronto’s O’Keefe Centre (now Meridian Hall) as a life-changing experience. “I remember it felt like I held my breath through the entire first act,” he told the Toronto Star in 2024. “I was seeing onstage what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I couldn’t dance like that, but I was a singer and an actor. I knew I had some talent. New York was always my goal.”

In the summer of 1964, at the age of 16, Garber studied under Robert Gill at an intensive six-week theatre training program at the University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre. He then stayed in Toronto, working with Toronto Workshop Productions under the direction of George Luscombe and supporting himself with odd jobs.

Early Career

In 1966, Victor Garber took something of an early career detour when he teamed with three out-of-work singers to form the folk rock group Sugar Shoppe. They had a top 40 hit with a cover of Bobby Gimby’s “Canada” in 1967 and recorded an album for Capitol Records in 1968. They also performed on The Ed Sullivan Show before disbanding in 1972.

Garber then landed the lead, as Jesus, in the legendary Toronto production of Godspell in 1972. The cast included Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin and was led by musical director Paul Shaffer. Garber’s performance earned him the lead role in the film version in 1973. He then moved to New York City, where he studied acting at HB Studio.

Stage Career

In New York, Victor Garber became a regular on and off Broadway, establishing a long and distinguished singing and acting career. He co-starred in the original Broadway production of Deathtrap (1978), which earned him his first of four Tony Award nominations. He also originated roles in Sweeney Todd, Lend Me a Tenor and Noises Off, the latter landing him his first of many awards as part of an ensemble cast.

Garber co-starred with Uta Hagen in You Never Can Tell in 1986 and appeared in a revival of Damn Yankees in the early 1990s. His performance earned him a 1994 Tony Award nomination. He earned a special award from the Outer Critics Circle in 1998 for his role opposite Alan Alda and Alfred Molina in Art. He co-starred with Donna Murphy in a critically acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies in 2007 and played Garry Essendine in multiple productions of Noël Coward's Present Laughter. He also co-starred opposite Bernadette Peters in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! in 2018. That same year, Garber received the John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Theatre World Awards in New York City.

Film and Television Career

After nearly 20 years on stage, Victor Garber returned to film with roles in Paul Schrader’s Light Sleeper (1992) and Cameron Crowe’s Singles (1992). He also appeared opposite Michael J. Fox in Life with Mikey (1993) as well as Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Atom Egoyan's Exotica (1994), and The First Wives Club (1996). His most recognizable part came as the Titanic's designer, Thomas Andrews, in James Cameron's hugely successful Titanic (1997).

In Canada, Victor Garber has appeared in such TV movies as Grand Larceny (1991), The First Circle (1991), Dieppe (1994) and External Affairs (1999). He had a recurring role in the 1992–93 season of the series E.N.G. and made three appearances as Inspector Philip Millard in the television adaptations of the Joanne Kilbourn mysteries by Gail Bowen: Deadly Appearances (2000), Love and Murder (2000) and The Wandering Soul Murders (2001). He also appeared opposite Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde (2001).

Garber then landed a regular supporting role in the popular US spy series Alias (2001–06), where he played Jack Bristow, the estranged father of lead actress Jennifer Garner, in all 105 episodes. His follow-up US series, Justice (2006), did not fare as well and was cancelled before it completed its first season.

Garber appeared in the TV series ReGenesis and Ugly Betty in 2007, and as San Francisco mayor George Moscone in Milk (2008). He played businessman Jordan Wethersby in the series Eli Stone (2008-09) and performed several songs for the soundtrack. In 2009, he was seen in the mini-series The Last Templar and appeared in Nurse Jackie and the popular Glee. In 2010, he took a recurring role in the Newfoundland-made series Republic of Doyle and had an uncredited role in his friend Ben Affleck’s heist movie, The Town. in 2011, Garber was seen in guest roles in 30 Rock, Law & Order Los Angeles and Flashpoint. He also played Kip Wallice in Web Therapy, with Lisa Kudrow.

Garber played His Royal Highness Prince Charles (now King Charles III) in the TV movie William & Catherine: A Royal Romance (2011) and co-starred with Gabrielle Miller in The Guys Who Move Furniture (2012). As part of an ensemble cast, he played Canadian diplomat Ken Taylor in Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo (2012), a film about the escape of six Americans from Iran in what was known as the “Canadian Caper.” He also appeared in Damages, The Good Wife and Louie and had a supporting role in Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed thriller Sicario (2015).

In 2015, Garber first appeared as Dr. Martin Stein in the popular TV series The Flash, based on the DC comics character. Garber reprised this role in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (2016–21), as well as the series Supergirl and Arrow. He also appeared in Schitt’s Creek, And Just Like That…, The Orville and American Horror Stories. He has had a regular role on the Global TV legal drama Family Law since it premiered in 2021.

Personal Life

Victor Garber is now openly gay, but early in his career, he took the advice of an agent who told him he would never have a career as a leading man if he was out. “That was a chilling thing to hear from a very smart guy,” Garber has said. “And the thing is, after I played Liberace in a TV movie [Liberace: Behind the Music in 1988], I didn’t work in TV for years — until J.J. Abrams cast me in Alias.” Garber is now “celebrated as a queer elder,” according to the Toronto Star. The campy Mirvish production Titanique has a character named after him, and he voiced Waylon Smithers’s boyfriend in a 2021 episode of The Simpsons.

Garber has been in a relationship with Canadian model and artist Rainer Andreesen since 2000. They were married in 2015 and live mainly in Greenwich Village.

Garber is a close friend of his Alias co-star Jennifer Garner. Garber officiated her private wedding to Ben Affleck in 2005, and he is the godfather of their first child, Violet. Garber said in 2019 that he feels like a “grandfather” to their three children.

Honours

Victor Garber has been nominated for six Emmy Awards: three for his work in Alias, two for guest appearances in Will & Grace and Frasier and one for his performance as Judy Garland's third husband Sidney Luft in the TV movie Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), which was shot in Toronto. He has also been nominated for Gemini Awards for his work in First Circle, Dieppe and External Affairs and Tony Awards for Deathtrap (1978), Little Me (1982), Lend Me a Tenor (1989) and Damn Yankees (1994). More recently, he was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his guest performance on Schitt’s Creek, and he’s been nominated twice for his lead role in Family Law.

In 2018, Garber received the prestigious John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Theatre World Awards in New York City. In 2024, London’s Forest City Film Festival gave Garber its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards

Theatre Awards

Theatre World Award (Ghosts) (1973)
Outstanding Ensemble (Noises Off), Drama Desk Awards (1984)
Special Award (Art), Outer Critics Circle (1998)
John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement, Theatre World Awards (2018)

Screen Awards

Best Acting by an Ensemble (The First Wives Club, shared with Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith et al.), National Board of Review (1996)
Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series (Alias), Saturn Awards (2003)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Drama (Alias), Satellite Awards (2003)
Best Acting Ensemble (Milk, shared with Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Stephen Spinella et al.), Critics Choice Awards (2009)
Ensemble of the Year (Argo, shared with Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin et al.), Hollywood Film Awards (2012)
Ensemble Cast Award (Argo, shared with Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin et al.), Palm Springs International Film Festival (2013)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Argo, shared with Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin et al.), Screen Actors Guild Awards (2012)
Lifetime Achievement Award, Forest City Film Festival (2024)