Stoltz was born in Whittier, California, the son of Evelyn (née Vawter),[2] a violinist and schoolteacher, and Jack Stoltz, an elementary school teacher.[3] He has two sisters.[4][5]
In the 1970s, Stoltz joined a repertory company that performed ten plays at the Edinburgh Festival. He returned to the United States in 1979, when he entered USC as a drama student. He dropped out to pursue film and television roles.[9]
In 1978, he was cast as Steve Benson in the television adaptation of Erma Bombeck's The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank.[10]
Director Cameron Crowe and Stoltz became friends when the latter appeared in his first feature film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Crowe wrote it and Stoltz had a minor role. According to Stoltz, Crowe promised Stoltz roles in all of his future films.[11]
Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future. His view of the movie clashed, however, with that of the director, Robert Zemeckis. While the film was to become a sci-fi comedy (and box office smash hit), Stoltz had read the script from a more serious angle, apparently focusing on the tragic consequences of going back to live a life that was not one's own. Five weeks into shooting, Zemeckis replaced Stoltz with Michael J. Fox.[12][13]
In 1989, Stoltz starred as the lead character of the sequel The Fly II. The movie was a hit, grossing approx 38.9 million dollars worldwide.
During the 1990s, Stoltz went back and forth between stage, film and television, appearing in studio and independent films such as The Waterdance (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Grace of My Heart (1996) and Anaconda (1997).
During the first part of the 2000s, he starred with Gillian Anderson in The House of Mirth (2000), based on the novel by Edith Wharton. From 2001 to 2002, he had a recurring role as the English teacher-poet August Dimitri in ABC's Once and Again, wherein Julia Whelan's character, a teenager, fell in love with his character. He directed an episode of the show in 2002.
He has contributed essays to the books City Secrets--New York as well as Life Interrupted by Spalding Gray and appears on the children's CD Philadelphia Chickens.[20]
Beginning in 2007, Stoltz directed episodes of the drama series Quarterlife, which began airing as webisodes and were then picked up to air on the NBC network in 2008. Stoltz played a serial killer in need of medical attention in three episodes of the fifth season of Grey's Anatomy.[21] He has also directed two episodes of Grey's Anatomy.
He became a regular director of the series, Glee, directing a total of 12 episodes, including "Nationals", in which the Glee club finally wins the championship.[22]
In 2011, Stoltz was seen back on the silver screen with the film Fort McCoy; he earned accolades for his leading role as a conflicted barber of German heritage forced to suppress his American patriotism after moving his family to a post–World War II military base housing a German POW camp.
Starting in 2014, Stoltz became the producing director of the CBS political drama series Madam Secretary. The following year he became one of its four executive producers, alongside Morgan Freeman and Barbara Hall and has directed more than 10 episodes, as well as starring alongside Téa Leoni in several episodes as her brother, Will Adams.[23]
Personal life
Stoltz and Bridget Fonda began dating in 1990. The relationship ended after eight years.[24]
