Root was born in Sarasota, Florida, the son of Leona Estelle and Rolland Clair Root, a project superintendent and site manager on major civil engineering projects throughout the United States and Mexico. Root has likened his childhood to that of an "Army brat", as his family frequently relocated while his father finished each construction project. Root graduated from Vero Beach High School in Vero Beach, Florida. He received his AA from the University of Florida, and trained in the BFA acting program. The university recognized him as one of its distinguished alumni in 2008.Subsequently he was granted his BFA after completion of his final semester based on the quality and character of his acting career having left college to pursue Broadway in his final semester.\n', '

Among his most recognized television roles are eccentric billionaire Jimmy James on the sitcom NewsRadio and as the voice of divorced, down-and-out Army barber Bill Dauterive and Hank Hill\'s hedonistic boss Buck Strickland on the FOX animated television series King of the Hill (Root originally auditioned for the role of conspiracy theorist and pest control worker Dale Gribble). He had a recurring role on the final two seasons of The West Wing as Republican campaign consultant Bob Mayer. His most recognizable film roles to date are as the mumbling, quirky Milton Waddams in Office Space, as the mild-mannered gymrat Gordon Pibb in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, as Suds, a drunk sports writer, in Leatherheads, and as the dimwitted principal in the 2008 Judd Apatow produced comedy Drillbit Taylor.\n', '

Root is a favorite of the Coen Brothers. He has appeared in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Ladykillers, and No Country For Old Men. Kevin Smith wrote a role in Jersey Girl specifically for Root.\n', '

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