Andrew McCarthy

McCarthy was born in Westfield, New Jersey, the third of four boys. His mother worked for a newspaper, and his father was involved in investments and stocks. McCarthy moved to Bernardsville, New Jersey, as a teenager and attended Bernards High School and the Pingry School, a preparatory academy. At Pingry, he played the Artful Dodger in Oliver!, his first acting role. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at NYU for acting, but was expelled after two years.McCarthy's first major role was in the 1983 comedy Class opposite Jacqueline Bisset. He was a member of the 1980s Hollywood group of young actors dubbed by the media as the "Brat Pack". The group starred in a few films, among them St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink. McCarthy appeared in the 1987 films Mannequin and Less than Zero, a cinematic adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel. In 1985, McCarthy starred with Donald Sutherland and Kevin Dillon in Heaven Help Us (also known as Catholic Boys) as Michael Dunn. McCarthy made his Broadway debut in The Boys of Winter. He quickly returned to Hollywood in 1988 to star in several films, such as Fresh Horses and Kansas. He had another hit with the 1989 comedy film Weekend at Bernie's.

He returned to Broadway to star in Side Man, and the production won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play. In 2003, McCarthy was set to guest star in two episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Due to bad relations with actor Vincent D'Onofrio, series creator Dick Wolf decided against it. Wolf later stated, "Mr. McCarthy engaged in fractious behavior from the moment he walked on the set." McCarthy fired back in a statement of his own saying, "I was fired because I refused to allow a fellow actor to threaten me with physical violence, bully me and try to direct me." Despite this incident, he later guest starred in a 2007 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (with Chris Noth, not D'Onofrio). In 2004, he played Dr. Hook in Kingdom Hospital. He appeared in five episodes of the 2005 NBC television series E-Ring. In 2008, he starred in the NBC television series Lipstick Jungle as billionaire Joe Bennett and had a minor role in The Spiderwick Chronicles.

McCarthy directed several episodes of the hit CW television series Gossip Girl, including "Touch of Eva" in the fourth season.

In 2010 and 2011, he appeared in the hit USA show White Collar. He returned to the series in the next season to direct the episode "Neighborhood Watch". In 2015, he directed three episodes in Season 2 of the NBC hit television show The Blacklist starring James Spader and Megan Boone. In 2016, he starred in the short-lived ABC drama The Family.

From 2020 to 2021, he had a recurring role in NBC's TV series Good Girls. In 2022, McCarthy joined the cast of The Resident as Ian Sullivan, a renowned pediatric surgeon and Cade's estranged father.