Dan Ziskie, House of Cards actor, dies at 80: All about his family, career and net worth

Dan Ziskie, the House of Cards actor, passed away on July 21, 2025 (Monday), aged 80, in New York due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, his family announced in an obituary published on Legacy.com. He is survived by his brother David and his wife Cynthia, his nephews Jesse, Brett, and Austin, and their six children. Ziskie essayed the role of Vice President Jim Matthews on six early episodes of Netflix’s political thriller House of Cards.

“Dan was a man of remarkable talent and a keen observer of life,” the actor’s family wrote in his obituary. “He was as vibrant and multifaceted as the characters he portrayed on stage and screen,” it read. “His was a life lived with passion, a life that exemplified the beauty of pursuing one's dreams and the importance of cherishing every moment,” they continued. “Dan will be profoundly missed, yet he will forever remain in the hearts of those who knew him, like a cherished character in the timeless narrative of their lives,” the obituary further stated.

Dan Ziskie: Career education and net worth

Born on August 13, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, Ziskie was an accomplished photographer besides being an actor. Before stepping into the world of acting, the ‘Treme’ actor was an athlete throughout college and went on to be a crewman on a Great Lakes freighter. He enjoyed nothing short of a familiar presence on the screen. He is perhaps best remembered as Vice President Jim Matthews in seasons one and five of House of Cards (2013) and as shrewd, politically connected banker C. J. Liguori in HBO's series Treme (2010), set in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, according to IMDb.

Dan Ziskie also made guest appearances as US senators in Person of Interest (2011) and The Blacklist (2013) and as Attorney General Bates (who presided over the dismissal of President Logan in the season five final of 24 (2001)). Other appearances include supporting roles in, among other top-rated shows, The Equalizer (1985), L.A. Law (1986), Quantum Leap (1989), The West Wing (1999), Law & Order (1990), and Gotham (2014).

Ziskie studied at the University of Michigan, from where he graduated with a B.A. in English. According to IMDB. During his college days, he excelled at sports, notably football and relay races. Before venturing into the field of performing arts, he worked as a crewman on a Great Lakes freighter and then had a brief fling with journalism. In the early 70s, Ziskie joined Chicago's improvisational Second City comedy troupe.

Later, he moved to New York, where he acted on stage both on and off-Broadway. His first foray to 'the Great White Way' was as an understudy in a 1980 revival of 'Morning's at Seven.' Ziskie transitioned into screen acting that very same year, playing a bartender in two episodes of The Edge of Night (1956).

The actor also sharpened his photography skills thanks to an uncle who operated a camera store in Detroit and gifted him his first camera, a Brownie. Residing in New York, Ziskie particularly enjoyed taking photos of everyday people on the streets, publishing a collection of these in a 2017 monograph entitled Cloud Chamber. There is no authentic and reliable information available about Ziskie’s net worth.