Gaines was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play in 2007, for Journey's End, making him the first actor to be nominated in each of the four Tony categories for which an actor is eligible.
Only two male and three female performers have been nominated for all four Tony performance awards, the others being Raúl Esparza, Angela Lansbury, Jan Maxwell, and Audra McDonald. Gaines was the first performer to be nominated for each of Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1989 for The Heidi Chronicles, Best Actor in a Musical in 1994 for She Loves Me, Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2000 for Contact, and again in 2008 for Gypsy and Best Actor in a Play in 2007 for Journey's End. Gaines won in three of the categories (and four of the five nominations), missing only for the performance in Journey's End. His four wins are for The Heidi Chronicles, She Loves Me, Contact, and Gypsy.
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to James and Ida Gaines. His early theatre training began at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, California, where his talent and rich baritone voice were showcased in leading roles in plays, musicals, and opera. He attended the Juilliard School as a member of the Drama Division's Group 8 (1975–1979).
He has appeared Off-Broadway, starting in 1978 with Spring Awakening and recently The Grand Manner by A. R. Gurney at Lincoln Center in 2010.
Only two male and three female performers have been nominated for all four Tony performance awards, the others being Raúl Esparza, Angela Lansbury, Jan Maxwell, and Audra McDonald. Gaines was the first performer to be nominated for each of Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1989 for The Heidi Chronicles, Best Actor in a Musical in 1994 for She Loves Me, Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2000 for Contact, and again in 2008 for Gypsy and Best Actor in a Play in 2007 for Journey's End. Gaines won in three of the categories (and four of the five nominations), missing only for the performance in Journey's End. His four wins are for The Heidi Chronicles, She Loves Me, Contact, and Gypsy.
Gaines has appeared in a number of films and television shows, including Fame, L.A. Law and Law & Order, Piece of Cake (1990), but perhaps he is best known for playing a dental student and dentist Mark Royer, who married Valerie Bertinelli's Barbara Cooper on TV's One Day at a Time and as Coach Brackett from the 1981 movie Porky's. He also played Lt Ring in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge and Jason in The Sure Thing (1985).
Gaines was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play in 2007, for Journey's End, making him the first actor to be nominated in each of the four Tony categories for which an actor is eligible.
In regional theatre, Gaines appeared in Our Town at the George Street Playhouse, New Jersey, in April 2014.
