Michael Harney is a classic character actor who found the perfect fit for a long-term TV role in Sam Healy. Corrections Officer Healy was a complex, being an apparent misogynist and xenophobe who found sympathy for the mentally ill due to his relationship with his similarly ill mother. So while he had antagonistic relationships with Piper and Alex, for example, he still managed to have valuable friendships with inmates like Pensatucky, Red, and Lolly (Lori Petty).
Harney’s extensive career goes back decades to his TV debut on a 1994 episode of L.A. Law, followed by stints on Law & Order, NYPD Blue, and Deadwood. In fact, many of his screen appearances have been law-enforcement-related, playing an A.D.A. on The Practice, a detective on Without a Trace, a SWAT commander in Lincoln Heights, and detective Mitch Ouellette in Weeds. While OITNB was running, he appeared in movies like Bad Hurt (2015), Soy Nero (2016), Widows (2018), and A Star Is Born (2018). And he hasn’t slowed down since, voicing Darth Marr in a variety of Star Wars projects and appearing on series like For All Mankind, Project Blue Book, Doom Patrol, and Space Command. Coming up: Hulu series Interior Chinatown, directed by Taika Waititi.
