Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American film and television actor.
Livingston was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Linda, a Lutheran pastor, and Kurt Livingston, an aerospace engineer. His younger brother, John, is also an actor; sister Jennifer Livingston is a TV news personality at WKBT in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He graduated from Marion High School in Marion, Iowa and attended Yale University, where he received B.A. degrees in Theater and English. Livingston relocated to Chicago and became involved in the city's theater scene.
Livingston's first film role was in 1992, in Dolly Parton's Straight Talk. He moved to Los Angeles and was cast in supporting roles in Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade and The Low Life. Livingston landed his first role in a major film in 1996's Swingers. He played the male lead in Office Space, which co-starred Jennifer Aniston and was written and directed by Mike Judge. He gave his first serious performance in HBO's Band of Brothers as Captain Lewis Nixon opposite Donnie Wahlberg and Damian Lewis. Going beyond nice-guy roles, Livingston played a Hollywood agent in Adaptation; a weaselly Ivy League upstart to Alec Baldwin's casino boss in The Cooler; and an unfortunate English teacher in Pretty Persuasion. He also appeared as Jack Berger, Carrie's boyfriend in the sixth season of Sex and the City, as well as in the episode "TB or Not TB" of House.
Sprint Nextel announced on October 21, 2006, that as part of their new "Power Up" campaign, they will use Livingston as a "straightforward, relatable guy who finds unconventional ways to talk about Sprint's wireless services".
November 9th, 2007, the indie film HOLLY premiered, starring Ron Livingston in his first turn to film drama. HOLLY tells the story of a Vietnamese girl trafficked into the sex trade in Cambodia. Ron plays Patrick, a shady card shark who becomes determined to save Holly from her ill-destined fate.
Summer 2007 saw Livingston on the off-Broadway stage in the world premiere of Neil LaBute's In A Dark Dark House, produced by MCC Theater, alongside Frederick Weller and Louisa Krause. The show ran May 16 through July 27, 2007 at The Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City.
Ron currently resides in Los Angeles with Casting Director Lee Dennison and is currently filming Defying Gravity.
Livingston is currently engaged to actress Lisa Sheridan. His younger brother, John Livingston, is also an actor and sister Jennifer Livingston is a TV news personality at WKBT in LaCrosse, WI.