← Back to explore

Tracy Letts

Acting

Born July 4, 1965 · Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Also known as Tracy S. Letts

Biography

Tracy S. Letts (born July 4, 1965) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for August: Osage County (2007), for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. As an actor, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for the Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2013). As a playwright, Letts is known for having written for the Steppenwolf Theatre, Off-Broadway and Broadway theatre. His works include Killer Joe, Bug, Man from Nebraska, August: Osage County, Superior Donuts, Linda Vista, and The Minutes. Letts adapted three of his plays into films, Bug and Killer Joe, both directed by William Friedkin, and August: Osage County, directed by John Wells. His 2009 play Superior Donuts was adapted into a television series of the same name. As a stage actor, Letts has performed in various classic plays with the Steppenwolf Theatre since 1988. He made his acting Broadway debut as George in the revival of Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He continued acting on the Broadway stage in The Realistic Joneses, All My Sons, and The Minutes. On television, he is known for his portrayal of Andrew Lockhart in seasons 3 and 4 of Showtime's Homeland from 2013 to 2014, and pyramid-scheme con-artist Nick on the HBO comedy series Divorce from 2016 to 2019. He played Jack McKinney in the HBO sports drama series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022–2023) for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. On film he has portrayed Henry Ford II in James Mangold's sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019) and Herb Sargent in Jason Reitman's biographical comedy-drama Saturday Night (2024). He has also taken leading roles in The Lovers (2017) as well as supporting roles in The Big Short (2015), Indignation (2016), Imperium (2016), Lady Bird (2017), The Post (2017), Little Women (2019), and A House of Dynamite (2025). Description above from the Wikipedia article Tracy Letts, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences · 2022
  • Tony AwardBest Actor in a Play · 2013
  • Pulitzer PrizeDrama · 2008
  • Tony AwardBest Play · 2008
  • Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a Play
Show all 6 awards →
  • Tony AwardBest Play · 2022 · nominated

Filmography40 titles

Seinfeld

1989as Counter Guy

Ford v Ferrari

2019as Henry Ford II

The Simpsons

1989as Tracy Letts (voice)

Little Women

2019as Mr. Dashwood

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

2022as Jack McKinney

Homeland

2011as Andrew Lockhart

The Big Short

2015as Lawrence Fields

Strong Medicine

2000as Ken

Home Improvement

1991as Henry

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

2021as Jack (uncredited)

Lady Bird

2017as Larry McPherson

The Paper

2025as John Stack

The Post

2017as Fritz Beebe

Profiler

1996as Alan Chandler

Christine

2016as Michael

August: Osage County

2013Screenplay, Theatre Play

The Lowdown

2025as Frank Martin

Saturday Night

2024as Herb Sargent

Eric LaRue

2023as Bill Verne

Imperium

2016as Dallas Wolf

Killer Joe

2011Screenplay, Writer

U.S. Marshals

1998as Sheriff Poe

The Drew Carey Show

1995as Lomax

A House of Dynamite

2025as General Anthony Brady

Divorce

2016as Nick

Indignation

2016as Dean Caudwell

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015as Self - Guest

Bug

2006Screenplay, Theatre Play

The Woman in the Window

2021as Dr. Landy (uncredited)

Elvis & Nixon

2016as John Finlator

Straight Talk

1992as Sean (voice)

Deep Water

2022as Don Wilson

Guinevere

1999as Zack

Chicago Cab

1998as Sports Fan

The American Revolution

2025as (voice)

French Exit

2020as Franklin Price (voice)

Wiener-Dog

2016as Danny

The Lovers

2017as Michael

McVeigh

2024as Richard

Off Camera with Sam Jones

as Self