Background
Groener was born in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany to an opera singer mother and a father who worked as a concert pianist, office clerk, and composer.
Groener was born in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany to an opera singer mother and a father who worked as a concert pianist, office clerk, and composer.
As a teenager, Groener was apprenticed at the San Francisco Ballet. He went on to study drama at the University of Washington.
He emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of two. Groener"s reputation in New York City rests almost entirely on his work in musical theater, although the bulk of his roles outside New York have been in classical drama or contemporary plays like Eastern Standard. His Broadway credits include Is there life after high school?, Will Parker in Oklahoma! Groener has performed regularly on television, including guest appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990), Star Trek: Voyager (1996), Star Trek: Enterprise (2005) and several dozen other series.
He was also a series regular in the sitcom Dear John.
In 1998 and 1999, Groener portrayed Richard Wilkins, the evil mayor of Sunnydale on the third season of cult television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Groener reprised his role in cameo appearances in Buffy"s 4th and 7th seasons.
From 2004 to 2006 he appeared as the chef Gunther on the television series Las Vegas. Notable film work includes Road to Perdition and About Schmidt.
He also appeared in two episodes of The West Wing as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Bones episode "The Woman at the Airport" as a plastic surgeon, Henry Atlas.
In 2009, Groener appeared in the second season episode of Breaking Bad, "Bit by a Dead Bee", as protagonist Walter White"s psychiatrist. He was a regular vocalist for the Varèse Sarabande label, performing on such recordings as Shakespeare on Broadway, Cole Porter: A Musical Toast, and various installments of the Unsung Broadway and Lost in Boston series. He played King Arthur in Monty Python"s Spamalot during 2006.
In 2010, he appeared as the title role in the Antaeus Company"s production of King Lear.
Drama Critics Circle Award for this performance. In 2012 he starred in the debut of Christopher Hampton"s play Appomattox at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, playing a dual role as both United States. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965.