Acting and directing
Busfield began his professional career in theater serving as an understudy to Matthew Broderick in Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1982. The following year, he relocated to Los Angeles and joined the cast of ABC's short-lived sitcom Reggie (1983), an American adaptation of the BBC series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.
In 1984, Busfield gained wider recognition with his first substantial film role as Arnold Poindexter, a member of the Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity, in the comedy Revenge of the Nerds (1984), later reprising the role in Revenge of the Nerds II (1987). That same year, he joined the cast of the CBS medical drama Trapper John, M.D. as J.T. McIntyre, a role he played until the series concluded in 1986.
Following Trapper John, M.D., Busfield and his brother Buck founded the Fantasy Theatre, a professional touring company for children's audiences, later designated California's Honorary State Children's Theater. Based in Sacramento, California, the brothers also established the B Street Theatre in 1992, focusing on adult stage productions.
In 1987, Busfield was cast as Elliot Weston on the ABC drama thirtysomething, marking his first major mature role. His performance earned three Emmy nominations, culminating in a win in 1991 shortly before the series ended.
During this period, Busfield appeared as the antagonist Mark in Field of Dreams (1989). In 1990, he replaced Tom Hulce as the lead in the Broadway production of A Few Good Men. That year, he also made his directorial debut on thirtysomething, directing three episodes. Subsequent film roles included supporting performances in Sneakers (1992), Quiz Show (1994), and the family sports film Little Big League (1994), in which he portrayed Minnesota Twins first basemen Lou Collins, a character loosely based on first baseman Kent Hrbek.
Busfield returned to network television throughout the 1990s, starring as the head of the Byrd family in The Byrds of Paradise (ABC, 1993–94), and as one of several former high school athletes in the comedy-drama Champs (ABC, 1996). By the late 1990s, he increasingly split his time between acting and directing, helming multiple episodes of Sports Night (ABC, 1998–2000), Ed (NBC, 2000–04)—on which he also served as co-executive producer and guest-starred as Ed's brother Lloyd—and other network series.
During this era, Busfield began a recurring role as Danny Concannon on The West Wing, appearing intermittently throughout the show's run. He later directed and executive produced the CBS drama Without a Trace (2002–09), occasionally appearing onscreen as Jack Malone's lawyer. He also directed episodes of Las Vegas, Damages, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, on which he co-starred as control director Cal Shanley. He subsequently served as executive producer of Lipstick Jungle (NBC, 2008–09).
From 2014 to 2015, Busfield guest starred on Sleepy Hollow as Benjamin Franklin.
In 2019, Busfield directed Guest Artist, which premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The project launched Grand River Productions, a production company formed by Jeff Daniels, Busfield, and Busfield's wife, Melissa Gilbert. Also in 2019, he guest starred in Dolly Parton's Heartstrings as Logan Cantrell in the episode "Sugar Hill".
In 2020, Busfield appeared as a guest during the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip marathon fundraiser episode of The George Lucas Talk Show and voiced the title character in the Marvel/SiriusXM radio drama podcast series Marvel’s Wastelanders: Star-Lord.
