John Benjamin Hickey (born June 25, 1963) is an American actor with a career in stage, film and television. He won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Felix Turner in The Normal Heart. On Broadway, he originated the role of Arthur in Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning play Love! Valour! Compassion! in 1995, a role he would recreate for the 1997 film version. He played Clifford Bradshaw in the 1998 revival of Cabaret, which won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical, and played Reverend John Hale in the Tony-nominated 2002 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Currently, he plays Sean, the homeless brother of Cathy (played by actress Laura Linney), the main character, on the Showtime series, The Big C. Hickey graduated from Plano Sr. High School, Plano Texas 1981 and attended Texas State University - San Marcos from 1981–1983 and was active in the theater department. He earned his bachelor's degree in English at Fordham University in 1985.