Age: 74
male
Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the film Office Space (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the animated series King of the Hill (1997–2010, 2025–present). Root has appeared in numerous Coen brothers films, including O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Ladykillers (2004), No Country for Old Men (2007), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). Other notable film roles include Dave (1993), Dodgeball (2004), Idiocracy (2006), Cedar Rapids (2011), Selma (2014), Trumbo (2015), Get Out (2017), and On the Basis of Sex (2018). His television roles have included Capt. K'Vada in the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-part episode "Unification" (1991) and Hawthorne Abendsen in seasons 2–4 of the series The Man in the High Castle. He has supporting roles in a variety of HBO series, including Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, Perry Mason, and Succession. He starred as Monroe Fuches in the HBO dark comedy series Barry, for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2019. Description above from the Wikipedia article Stephen Root, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
The Fountainhead follows Howard Roark, an idealistic and uncompromising architect who refuses to conform to conventional design principles or social expectations. Roark's unwavering commitment to his artistic vision puts him at odds with the architectural establishment, particularly the influential critic Ellsworth Toohey, who represents collectivist mediocrity. As Roark struggles to build his career on his own terms, he becomes entangled with Dominique Francon, a woman of wealth and beauty who is drawn to his integrity despite her own cynicism about the world. Their passionate and complex relationship unfolds against a backdrop of professional rivalry, betrayal, and moral compromise. The novel explores themes of individual achievement versus social conformity, the nature of genius, and the cost of maintaining one's principles in a world that demands compromise. Through Roark's journey from obscurity to vindication, Ayn Rand presents a philosophical argument for rational self-interest and the supremacy of individual will. The story culminates in a dramatic trial that forces society to confront the value of uncompromising excellence and the destructive nature of enforced mediocrity.
