Mark Linn-Baker

Mark Linn-Baker began his professional career in New York theater in the early 1980s, developing and performing the two-man comedy show The Laundry Hour with Lewis Black. His stage credits include Doonesbury (1983), Laughter on the 23rd Floor (1993), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996), A Flea in Her Ear (1998), A Year with Frog and Toad (2003), Losing Louie (2006), Relatively Speaking (2011), and The School for Scandal (2016). In 2019, he played Mayor George Shinn in the Kennedy Center production of The Music Man and reprised the role in the 2022 Broadway revival opposite Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.

Linn-Baker made his film debut in Manhattan (1979) and gained wider recognition as Benjy Stone opposite Peter O’Toole in My Favorite Year (1982). His later film credits include Noises Off (1992) and How Do You Know (2010).

On television, he appeared in projects including O’Malley (1983), The Ghost Writer (1984), Miami Vice (1984), Moonlighting (1985), and The Recovery Room (1985). He achieved his greatest television success starring as Larry Appleton in the ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers (1986–1993), which ran for eight seasons.

Throughout his career, Linn-Baker made numerous guest appearances on television, including Full House (1992), Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Family Matters (1997), Law & Order, Sesame Street (1997), Ally McBeal, Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2003, 2007), The Electric Company (2009), Life on Mars (2009), Law & Order (2010), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2019), and The Blacklist (2019). He also appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in HBO’s The Leftovers (2015–2017).

From 2017 onward, Linn-Baker held a recurring role as Deputy New York City Mayor Carlton Miller on the CBS drama Blue Bloods. In addition to acting, he directed episodes of Family Matters, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Step By Step, and The Trouble with Larry, and contributed voice work to Sandra Boynton’s Philadelphia Chickens (2002) audiobook project.