Peter MacNicol spotted in rare public outing as Emmy nomination controversy lingers
The Ally McBeal and Sophie's Choice star, now 71, was photographed in Los Angeles amid renewed attention to a 2016 nomination reversal.
Peter MacNicol, 71, the Emmy-winning actor best known for his quirky portrayal of eccentric lawyer John Cage on Ally McBeal, was photographed during a casual public outing in Los Angeles this week, marking a rare sighting for fans of the 1990s hit.
MacNicol earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2001 for Ally McBeal. His nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy for Veep in 2016 was later rescinded after it emerged he had appeared in exactly half of the season’s 10 episodes, exceeding the eligibility limit. The decision underscored the show’s episodic threshold rules, which require nominees to appear in fewer than 50 percent of that season’s episodes. He also appeared for a few seconds in the documentary episode Kissing Your Sister, which contributed to the complication of his status for the year.
The veteran actor has a varied career spanning film and television. In film, MacNicol played Dr. Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II (1989) and camp counselor Gary Granger in Addams Family Values (1994), and he shared the screen with Meryl Streep in the 1982 drama Sophie’s Choice. His television resume includes appearances on Cheers, CSI: Cyber, 24 and Boston Legal, among others. Off screen, he has been married to his wife, a film producer, since 1986, a longtime partnership that has accompanied a steady stream of high-profile roles over the decades.
In more recent work, MacNicol appeared in the 2025 film Home Delivery, in which a plus-size supermodel invites her family to witness the birth of her first child. The film’s leads reunited for its 40th anniversary screening in 2024, a note of continuity in a career that has spanned four decades of Peter MacNicol’s presence in both the screen and the broader culture of entertainment.
Experts note that the 2016 Emmy nomination controversy did not end MacNicol’s career; he has continued to work across film and television, and his fans have continued to recall his distinctive performances from Ally McBeal and his other notable projects. A representative did not comment on the recent outing. The event nevertheless prompted renewed interest in a performer whose work helped define a certain era of television comedy and courtroom drama.