Schultz's breakthrough role was the character of Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on The A-Team. Schultz has also appeared in films including The Fan (1981), and starred in Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), as J. Robert Oppenheimer. In the early 1990s, he had a recurring role as Lieutenant Reginald Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Schultz reprised the role in Star Trek: Voyager and the film Star Trek: First Contact. Schultz played a dramatic change of pace role in the 1992 television film Child of Rage, starring opposite Mel Harris as a compassionate couple who adopt a troubled girl who has been sexually abused. In November 2009, he confirmed that he and former A-Team co-star Dirk Benedict would have a cameo in the feature film The A-Team; however, both Schultz's and Benedict's parts were ultimately cut from the film, but placed after the credits as an easter egg.