Metcalf was born in Findlay, Ohio. He attended Westfield High School in Westfield, New Jersey and is a graduate of the University of Michigan (BA 1968).
Metcalf is well-known for his role in the 1978 college comedy Animal House, where he played the sadistic ROTC leader Douglas C. Neidermeyer. He played a similar character in the Twisted Sister music videos "We're Not Gonna Take It", as the father, and "I Wanna Rock", as a high school Teacher.
He portrayed another similar character in the 1996 movie The Stupids and the sitcom Teen Angel. His other films included Julia (1977), Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), Where the Buffalo Roam (1980), The Final Terror (1983), The Heavenly Kid (1985), One Crazy Summer (1986), Mr. North (1988), Oscar (1991) and Sorority Boys (2002).
In the 1997–2003 television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff, Angel, Metcalf played the ancient vampire supervillain, identified in the "BuffyVerse" as "The Master". Coincidentally, he also played a character called "the Maestro", whose real name was Robert "Bob" Cobb, on two episodes of Seinfeld.
