NBC's ER premiered on September 19, 1994. Created by novelist Michael Crichton, it followed the doctors and nurses of the emergency room at Chicago's fictional Cook County General Hospital. The drama ran for 15 seasons and 331 episodes, until April 2009, and won 128 industry awards, including the Peabody Award and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Many of the actors who first wore its scrubs went on to Oscars, Broadway, long-running hit series and work behind the camera. Here is where some of those familiar faces went after Cook County.
Noah Wyle
Noah Wyle played the eager medical student-turned-doctor John Carter on ER from 1994 to 2005. That role brought him five straight Emmy nominations for supporting actor but no win. After ER he starred in TNT's The Librarian films, the sci-fi series Falling Skies (2011–2015) and Leverage: Redemption. In 2025 he went back to the emergency room as Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch on HBO Max's The Pitt, a show he also executive produces and writes for. In September 2025 he won his first Emmy, for lead actor in a drama, and dedicated it to health care workers. In September 2026 he won the same award again for the show's second season. Variety reported that this made him only the fifth actor to win lead drama actor for both of a show's first two seasons.
George Clooney
George Clooney played pediatrician Dr. Doug Ross on ER from 1994 to 1999, and the role earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations. He then became a film star in Out of Sight, Three Kings, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Ocean's films. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Syriana (2005), and he shared the Best Picture Oscar as a producer of Argo (2012). His honors include the Kennedy Center Honors in 2022. In 2025 he made his Broadway debut as journalist Edward R. Murrow in the stage version of his 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck. The role brought him his first Tony nomination, for Best Actor in a Play. The same year he starred with Adam Sandler and Laura Dern in Noah Baumbach's film Jay Kelly.
Julianna Margulies
Julianna Margulies played nurse Carol Hathaway on ER from 1994 to 2000 and came back for a 2009 appearance. The role won her a Primetime Emmy and six Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2009 she took the lead role of attorney Alicia Florrick in the CBS legal drama The Good Wife, which ran until 2016. That role won her two more Emmys and a Golden Globe, and she also became a producer on the show from its third season. Her other work includes the National Geographic miniseries The Hot Zone (2019). She also played Laura Peterson on Apple TV+'s The Morning Show from 2021 to 2023. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Time named her one of its 100 most influential people in 2015.
Alex Kingston
English actress Alex Kingston joined ER in 1997 as British surgeon Dr. Elizabeth Corday and stayed until 2004. She had already received a BAFTA nomination for the title role in ITV's The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996). From 2008 to 2015 she had a recurring role as River Song on the BBC's Doctor Who, and in 2021 she wrote a River Song novel, Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse. She also played Sarah Bishop in A Discovery of Witches (2018–2022). In 2023 she returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company as Prospero in The Tempest. In 2025 she competed on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing with professional Johannes Radebe, and they topped the leaderboard one week with a rumba.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ER_(TV_series)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Wyle
- https://au.variety.com/2025/awards/news/noah-wyle-the-pitt-wins-emmy-actor-drama-27648
- https://au.variety.com/2026/tv/news/noah-wyle-wins-emmy-lead-actor-in-a-drama-40325/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noah_Wyle_at_the_1995_Emmys.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noah_Wyle_on_Still_Here.png
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clooney
- https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/2025-tony-award-nominations-announced-george-clooney-sadie-121358290
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Clooney_2007_(cropped).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Clooney_2016_(cropped).jpg
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julianna_Margulies
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Julianna_Margulies_at_Met_Opera_(cropped).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Julianna_Margulies_66th_Emmy_Awards_(cropped).jpg
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kingston
- https://www.expressandstar.com/showbiz/2025/10/18/alex-kingston-tops-strictly-leaderboard-with-a-10-and-a-kiss-from-shirley-ballas
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alex_Kingston_(7702442302).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alex_Kingston_(54428943494).jpg
