Lyman Ward
Quick Facts
Biography
Lyman Ward (born June 21, 1941) is a Canadian actor.
Life and career
Ward was born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick and graduated from St. Malachy's Memorial High School in the class of 1959, and then in 1963 from St. Thomas University which was located at the time in Miramichi, New Brunswick before relocating to Fredericton in 1964.
He appeared on the first episode of Laverne & Shirley as Tad Schotz, but is most noted for playing Ferris Bueller's father in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). In 1990, Ward was cast as Jim Walsh in the pilot of the show Beverly Hills, 90210. Producers later recast the role and his scenes were cut and reshot with James Eckhouse. In 2001, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Not Another Teen Movie as Mr. Wyler, spoofing his role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Ward also played a minor role in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) as John, one of the marketers.
Ward met Cindy Pickett on the set of Ferris Bueller, where they played the parents of the teenage protagonist in the 1986 film. They married in real life, had two children together, then divorced shortly after playing the parents of the teenage protagonist in the 1992 film Sleepwalkers, citing irreconcilable differences.
Ward published a novel titled Fortune's Tide in 2016, a historical fiction based in his home town of Saint John, New Brunswick.
He continues to act in both films and television.
TV and Filmography
- Coffy (1973) - Orderly
- One Day at a Time (Season 1 Episode 2) (1975) - Steve Blanchard
- The Great Smokey Roadblock (1977) - Leland
- Battlestar Galactica (1979) - Karibdis
- The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980) - Real Estate Agent
- Barney Miller (1980 episode "Agent Orange" as Len Macready, 1982 episode "Examination Day" as Harv Jetter)
- Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) - Emergency Room Doctor
- Love Letters (1983) - Morgan Crawford
- Moscow on the Hudson (1984) - Agent Williams
- Young Lust (1984)
- Protocol (1984) - Senator Kenworthy
- Creature (1985) - David Perkins
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) - Mr. Grady
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - Tom Bueller
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) - John (uncredited)
- Perfect Victims (1988) - Steven Hack
- Milk and Honey (1988) - Adam Bernardi
- She's Having a Baby (1988) - Himself (uncredited)
- Riding the Edge (1989) - John
- Best Shots (1990) - Roger Boro
- Murder She Wrote (1991) - Mitchell Lawrence
- Guilty as Charged (1991) - Stanford
- The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991) - Chief Healy
- Mikey (1992) - Mr. Jenkins
- Sleepwalkers (1992) - Mr. Robertson
- The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) - Chief Gallo
- No Dessert, Dad, Till You Mow the Lawn (1994) - Larry
- The Wrong Woman (1995) - Jonah Slide
- Independence Day (1996) - Secret Service Agent
- The Secret Agent Club (1996) - SHADOW General
- Not Another Teen Movie (2001) - Mr. Wyler
- Quiet Kill (2004) - Dr. Rubin
- Rumor Has It (2005) - Charity Dinner Guests
- Two:Thirteen (2009) - Police Captain
- Farah Goes Bang (2013) - Walter
- Transparent (2015) - Dean Carl Spitzer