Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Bogardus graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1972 and Princeton University in 1976, where he was a member of the Princeton Nassoons and the Princeton Triangle Club.

He made his first New York City appearance in a stage adaptation of the film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in 1979. His additional off-Broadway credits include March of the Falsettos (1981), In Trousers (1985), Falsettoland (1990), and Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997), which transferred to Broadway the following year, and Man of La Mancha (2002). He received both Obie and Tony Award nominations for his performance in Love! Valour! Compassion!, and reprised his role in the 1997 film. He was featured in the City Center concert series Encores! in Sweet Adeline (1997) and Allegro as Joseph Taylor Jr. (1994).

Bogardus is married to dancer Dana Moore. In 1998, they appeared opposite each other in Chicago, with Bogardus as lawyer Billy Flynn and Moore as Velma Kelly. In 2002, they appeared together in Damn Yankees as Lola and Mr. Applegate at the Boston Center for The Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. They have an adopted son, Jackson Bogardus.

In 2008, he starred as Bob Wallace in the Broadway and U.S. touring productions of White Christmas, a role he had performed in 2005 at the Wang Center in Boston and in 2006 in St. Paul.

In June 2020 he unsuccessfully ran for the presidency of the labor union Actors’ Equity Association, challenging incumbent Kate Shindle.