Tim Guinee was born in Los Angeles, California, and spent his childhood in Illinois and Texas. He graduated from the Houston High School for Performing Arts and later attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he received an honorary doctorate.
Guinee made his feature film debut in James Clavell's Tai Pan, the first western film made in mainland China, just three months after graduating from college. He has since appeared in a wide range of films, including Iron Man I & II, The Doors, Heaven and Earth, Two Men in Town, Just Like A Woman, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, and Personal Velocity.
Guinee's theater credits include Eric Bogosian's SubUrbia at Lincoln Center, Twelfth Night and Richard II at the New York Shakespeare Festival, and Horton Foote's The Prisoner's Song and The One Armed Man at the Ensemble Studio.
In addition to his work in film and television, Guinee has also had a successful career in regional theater, appearing in productions such as Equus, Krapp's Last Tape, The Cherry Orchard, The Dumb Waiter, Macbeth, Guys and Dolls, and many others.
Guinee has also produced plays for Peter Hedge's The Edge Theater and has worked with directors such as Jon Favreau, Oliver Stone, and Rebecca Miller. He has appeared in numerous television shows, including HBO's The Staircase, Netflix's Inventing Anna, and series-regular work on Showtime's Homeland and AMC's Hell On Wheels.
Guinee has also had major recurring arcs on programs like The Good Wife and Elementary, and has done television films such as The Road From Coorain, Elvis, Comics, and Queen. He has also voiced animated productions of Movie Dick and Beavis and Butthead do America.
Guinee made his directorial debut with the short film of Horton Foote's One Armed Man, produced by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hallie Foote, and starring Charles Haid, John Magaro, and Terry Kinney. The film played in over 50 festivals around the world and garnered an astonishing 24 awards and 7 additional nominations.
In addition to his work in the entertainment industry, Guinee is a committed environmentalist and has been a volunteer firefighter for over two decades. He has trained as a wire-walker with the great Philippe Petit and has spent time white-water rafting extraordinary and remote rivers around the world.
Guinee is a member of the Climate Reality Project, the founder of The Climate Actors, and serves on the Leadership Council of Riverkeeper and the board of Green Product Placement. He was honored to be awarded the Alfredo Sirkis Memorial Green Ring Award by former Vice-President Al Gore for his work on the climate-crisis.
Guinee has produced events including Unheard Voices, a benefit to support the work of Doctor's Without Borders during the Rwandan genocide, held at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He has also produced a series of benefits to help save famous New York venues that were struggling financially in the wake of Covid, including The Westbank Cafe, Birdland, the York Theater Company, and Philip Seymour Hoffman's LAByrinth Theater Company.
Guinee lives in an 1840's farmhouse with his wife, the writer Daisy Foote, their dogs Finn and Tilly, and a host of honeybees.
