Career
Edwards's early work includes a co-starring role in the TV series It Takes Two with Richard Crenna and Patty Duke Astin as his parents and Helen Hunt as his sister. His first starring role was in the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds as Gilbert Lowe, though he had a tiny part in the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, credited as "stoner Bud". It was his role as LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw alongside Tom Cruise in the 1986 film Top Gun that brought his first widespread public acknowledgement. His character, who died in an aviation accident, was among the most prominent and popular in the film. He also appeared as a terminally ill patient in Hawks (1988) alongside Timothy Dalton, another role which brought him worldwide fame. He also starred in the 1990 movie Downtown with Penelope Ann Miller and Forest Whitaker. In 1992 and 1993 he played Mike Monroe in ten episodes of Northern Exposure.
His best known role to date is as Dr. Mark Greene on the long-running TV series ER, where he resided from its premiere in 1994 to the end of the 8th season in 2002. The series also afforded Edwards his first opportunity to direct. Edwards's desire to pursue directing led to his request to be written out of the series, leading to his character's death from brain cancer. He reportedly earned $35,000,000 for three seasons on ER, which made him one of the highest-paid television actors to date. Anthony Edwards and his former co-star George Clooney were the ones who suggested doing an episode of ER live. The fourth season premiere, "Ambush" was performed live twice with an East Coast and West Coast version.
He never won a Primetime Emmy, thought he was nominated four times. He won a Golden Globe Award For Best Performance by an Actor-In a TV Series after being nominated four times, and he has two Screen Actor's Guild Awards.
In 2007, Edwards appeared as SFPD inspector Bill Armstrong in David Fincher's Zodiac, about the Zodiac Killer, the notorious serial killer who terrorized San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2008, Edwards returned to ER to reprise his role as Dr. Greene (in flashback scenes, where he treats the dying son of character Catherine Banfield) for one episode during its 15th and final season.
In 2010, Edwards appeared in the movie Motherhood, which set a record for the biggest bomb in British cinema history garnering just £88 on 11 tickets on opening weekend. In the United States Motherhood did not fare much better earning just $93,388 in three weeks of release.
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