Joshua Malina Bio
Joshua Charles Malina (born January 17, 1966) is an American actor and producer whose work spans film, television and stage. He is best known for his long-running roles as Will Bailey on The West Wing, Jeremy Goodwin on Sports Night, and as David Rosen on Scandal, as well as for portraying Siebert on The Big Bang Theory. A Yale University graduate with early Broadway experience and a penchant for improvisation, Malina co-created and produced the Bravo series Celebrity Poker Showdown and has remained a fixture in Sorkin-influenced projects. He lives in New York with his wife Melissa Merwin and their two children.
Early Life and Background
Joshua Charles Malina was born on January 17, 1966, in New York City, New York. His parents, Robert and Fran Malina, were founding members of Young Israel of Scarsdale in New Rochelle, where Malina grew up. His father was an attorney, investment banker and Broadway producer. Despite his surname sounding potentially Latino to many, Malina has clarified that the name is Czech in origin, meaning “raspberry.”
Malina attended middle school at Westchester Day School before graduating from Horace Mann School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Yale University, where he was a member of The Spizzwinks, an a cappella group, together with fellow actor Noah Emmerich.
Path to Actor
Malina made his acting debut in the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men, eventually moving into a larger role within the play. His parents connected him with Sorkin, who was a high school classmate and friend of Malina’s cousins, suggesting he audition for the production. During a cast bowling outing, Malina performed the Heimlich maneuver when Sorkin began to choke on a hamburger while eating. Malina has joked in interviews that Sorkin’s continued casting of him in subsequent productions may owe to this incident.
Following his Broadway debut, Malina appeared in numerous Sorkin film and television projects, establishing a working relationship that would come to define much of his career.
Joshua Malina Career
Early Career (1992–2000)
Malina’s first job in the film business was as a production assistant on Fletch Lives. His on-screen debut came in the film version of A Few Good Men, where he had a three-line, five-word role. He has said he appreciated the dedication that star Jack Nicholson showed by performing his lines in the scene himself even though his character was off-screen. In his next film, Sorkin’s The American President, Malina had a somewhat larger role as assistant to Annette Bening’s environmental-activist character.
From 1998 to 2000, Malina starred as Jeremy Goodwin on Sports Night, a role he pursued after Sorkin sent him the pilot script. The Goodwin character began as a research analyst but was promoted to associate producer by the second season, creating a larger role for Malina. The critically acclaimed show was canceled after two seasons, though it has since developed a devoted following. The actor counts Sports Night among his most popular roles.
Breakthrough (2002–2012)
Following the poorly received film Imagine That, Malina played Will Bailey on The West Wing from 2002 to 2006. His character was initially perceived by the public as an attempt to replace departing series star Rob Lowe, although Malina said in numerous interviews that the two actors and characters were too dissimilar to be viewed as anything but a change.
During his tenure on The West Wing, Malina was known to the rest of the cast as a tireless prankster. He coated telephones with Vaseline and reset producer Alex Graves’s iPod menus to Mandarin Chinese. He also sent a $200 Valentine’s Day bouquet to Jimmy Smits that included a card crafted on Bradley Whitford’s stolen letterhead stating “Jimmy, You are a delight.”
Following the end of The West Wing, Malina campaigned for the leading role of Danny Tripp in Sorkin’s next TV project, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, but the role went instead to Whitford. When the show was cancelled in its first season, Malina was teased by some in the industry who suggested he was Sorkin’s good luck charm. In 2007, Malina became one of the four stars of the short-lived ABC dramedy Big Shots. He is a co-creator and producer of Bravo’s cable TV series Celebrity Poker Showdown, an idea that came from a weekly high-stakes poker game hosted by Hank Azaria.
Notable Works and Milestones
From 2011 to 2019, Malina appeared as University President Siebert on The Big Bang Theory. In 2012, Malina held a recurring role on Scandal as Assistant U.S. Attorney David Rosen. He was promoted to a series regular for season 2. Malina co-hosted the podcast The West Wing Weekly with Hrishikesh Hirway from March 2016 until its conclusion in January 2020. On Broadway, Malina took over the lead role of Hermann Merz in Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt in March 2023. In 2024 he performed in London in What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank at the Marylebone Theatre.
Joshua Malina Family
Malina’s father was Robert Malina, an attorney, investment banker and Broadway producer. His mother was Fran Malina. Malina married costume designer Melissa Merwin in 1996 after meeting her in 1992 through her sister Jennifer and Jennifer’s then-husband, actor Timothy Busfield. Merwin converted to Judaism under Conservative auspices. The couple have two children.
Personal Life
Joshua Malina married Melissa Merwin in 1996. Merwin converted to Judaism under Conservative auspices. The couple have two children. In August 2024, Merwin filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences after 28 years of marriage.
Malina is an avid poker player who learned the game from Sorkin while on Broadway and used poker winnings to pay his rent early in his career. He organized a cast-and-crew poker game that lasted the full duration of Sports Night and occasionally delayed the start of shooting. The idea for Celebrity Poker Showdown came from a weekly high-stakes poker game hosted by Hank Azaria. In 2004, Malina was a participant in the first-ever national television advertising campaign supporting donations to Jewish federations, featuring film and television personalities celebrating their Jewish heritage and promoting charitable giving.