10 Actors unables to capitalise on their TV success/popularity in the movies
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Thomas William Selleck is an American actor and film producer, best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator "Thomas Magnum" on the 1980s television series, Magnum, P.I. (1980).
Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Martha (Jagger), a homemaker, and Robert Dean Selleck, a real estate investor and executive. He is of mostly English descent, including recent immigrant ancestors. Selleck has appeared extensively on television in roles such as "Dr. Richard Burke" on Friends (1994) and "A.J. Cooper" on Las Vegas (2003). In addition to his series work, Selleck has appeared in more than fifty made-for-TV and general release movies, including Mr. Baseball (1992), Quigley Down Under (1990), Lassiter (1984) and, his most successful movie release, Three Men and a Baby (1987), which was the highest grossing movie in 1987.
Selleck also plays "Jesse Stone" in a series of made-for-TV movies, based on the Robert B. Parker novels. In 2010, he appears as "Commissioner Frank Reagan" in the drama series, Blue Bloods (2010) on CBS.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Luke Perry was an American actor, primarily remembered as a teen idol throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s. Perry was born in Mansfield, Ohio in 1966. Mansfield was known at the time as a center for the home appliances and stove manufacturing industries. The city's largest employer used to be the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Perry's parents were the steelworker Coy Luther Perry Jr. (1944-1980) and his wife Ann. Perry's parents divorced in 1972, when he was 6-years-old. Ann gained custody over her children, and later married construction worker Steve Bennett. Luke was mostly raised by his mother and stepfather, and did not have a close relationship with his biological father. Coy Perry suffered a heart attack in 1980 and died, when Luke was 14-years-old. Luke attended his funeral.
Perry was mostly raised in the village of Fredericktown, Ohio, and attended the Fredericktown High School. In his high school years, Perry served in the role of the school mascot, the "Freddie Bird".
In 1984, the 18-year-old Perry moved to Los Angeles, with the intention of becoming a professional actor. For several years, Perry kept auditioning for various roles without ever being hired. He supported himself financially by working at odd jobs, and serving as an extra for music videos. His most notable role in this period was in the 1986 music video for the song "Be Chrool to Your Scuel" (1985) by the heavy metal band "Twisted Sister".
Perry's first successful audition landed him the role of a recurring character in the soap opera Loving (1983) (1983-1995). From 1987 to 1988, he played the character of Ned Bates. In Perry's own words: "Ned was a dirt-poor mechanic from Tennessee who always got taken advantage of".
Perry next received a recurring role in another soap opera, Another World (1964) (1964-1999). From 1988 to 1989, he played the character of Kenny, the manager of aspiring model and actress Josie Watt (played by Alexandra Wilson).
In 1990, Perry landed the most significant role of his career, depicting the character of Dylan McKay in the teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) (1990-2000). He played the character for a total of 199 episodes. Dylan was the teenage rebel son of business tycoon Jack McKay and hippie ex-wife Iris McKay. He started the series as a loner, but he offered help to nerdy schoolmate Scott Scanlon (played by Douglas Emerson) against the local bullies. This act of bravery gained him new friends and the romantic attention of Brenda Walsh (played by Shannen Doherty).
Perry's success in his new role gained him a huge following among teenage girls, and guaranteed that he would receive more job offers. His first starring role in a film was the drama Terminal Bliss (1990) (1992), where he played the self-destructive rich kid John Hunter. The film was a box-office flop.
Perry had a more memorable role in the horror comedy film Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), as the character Oliver Pike. Pike was a hard-drinking slacker youth in Los Angeles, and had a hostile relationship with high school girl Buffy Summers (played by Kristy Swanson). After Pike's best friend gets turned into a vampire, Pike assists Buffy in her battles with the vampire lord Lothos (played by Rutger Hauer) and his subordinate vampires. Pike is Buffy's sidekick and main love interest in the film, and has appeared in various adaptations, though not in the spin-off television series.
Perry had his first voice acting role in the episode, Krusty Gets Kancelled (1993) of the animated sitcom The Simpsons (1989). He played a parody version of himself as a sidekick of the character Krusty the Clown in a show-within-the-show. Perry had more voice acting roles in other animated television series of this era. He played the Detroit-based crime lord Napoleon Brie in Biker Mice from Mars (1993) (1993-1996), the master ninja Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (1995) (1996), Bruce Banner's best friend and sidekick Rick Jones in The Incredible Hulk (1996) (1996-1997), and Nicky Little's boyfriend Stewart Waldinger in Pepper Ann (1997) (1997-2000).
In live-action films, Perry played the starring role of professional bull-rider Lane Frost (1963-1989) in the biographical drama 8 Seconds (1994). He played a version of himself in the Italian comedy film Vacanze di Natale '95 (1995) ("Christmas Vacation '95", 1995), where he is the love interest of infatuated teenager Marta Colombo (played by Cristiana Capotondi). Perry played the police officer and bank robber Chris Anderson in the crime drama Normal Life (1996), while his wife and partner-in-crime Pam Anderson was played by Ashley Judd. He played the suicidal character Johnny in the comedy-drama American Strays (1996), which features the character hiring a professional hit-man to provide him with an assisted suicide.
In 1997, Perry played a small role in the science fiction film The Fifth Element (1997). In a scene set in 1914, Perry plays the assistant archaeologist Billy Masterson. Masterson sees his mentor being knocked out by Mondoshawan aliens, and reacts by shooting one of the aliens. Masterson's fate is left uncertain in the film, though the novelization features him as the victim of a poisoning plot.
In the late 1990s, Perry appeared frequently in television films and various direct-to-video films. He had guest roles in several television series, but mostly playing one-shot characters. Following the end of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) in 2000, his first major role was the recurring character Jeremiah Cloutier in the crime-drama Oz (1997) (1997-2003). Introduced in 2001 episodes of the series, Jeremiah was an Evangelical preacher who was imprisoned for embezzling funds from his church. He used his charisma and preaching skills to convert fellow prisoners to Evangelical Christianity, He was eventually assassinated by his own convert Timmy Kirk (Sean Dugan) and several of Kirk's friends, after Jeremiah denounced Kirk using Christianity as an excuse to murder people.
Perry next gained a starring role in the post-apocalyptic series Jeremiah (2002) (2002-2004). The series is set c. 2021, 15 years after a plague killed nearly everyone over the age of thirteen. Most of the adult characters of the show were children at that time, and survived the event. Now they are troubled adults, trying to survive in a harsh world. Perry's character Jeremiah is a wanderer who finds himself recruited into a Colorado-based secretive organization. He fights a war against a West Virginia-based organization which seeks to either conquer or wipe out all remaining outposts of humanity. The series lasted two seasons. A third season was planned, but plans for it were aborted due to disagreements between the production companies co-financing the series.
Perry returned to playing mostly guest star roles in television. In 2006, he was cast as one of the main characters in the short-lived drama series Windfall (2006). Only 13 episodes were produced, as the series failed to find an audience and one of the show's co-creators had left before the season's completion.
In 2007, Perry played businessman Linc Stark in the surf-themed series John from Cincinnati (2007). Despite relatively high ratings, the series only lasted for one season.
In the late 2000s, Perry played guest roles in police procedural a series: the rapist Noah Sibert in Trials (2008) and the cult leader Benjamin Cyrus in Minimal Loss (2008).
For much of the 2010s, Perry continued mostly appearing in guest roles and relatively obscure films. In 2015, a colonoscopy test revealed pre-cancerous growths in Perry's body, that could have developed into colorectal cancer. Perry received medical treatment, and became a spokesperson for campaigns requiring early testing for cancer.
In 2017, Perry returned to prominence in a live-action adaptation of a comic book series, Riverdale (2017) (2017-2019). It was an adaptation of Archie Comics' characters, but in a mystery series instead of their traditional comedy setting. Perry played Frederick "Fred" Andrews, Archie Andrews's father, depicted here as the owner of a successful construction company. Fred is depicted as a single father, as his wife Mary Andrews abandoned him and moved to Chicago. The series also depicts Fred as the ex-boyfriend of Hermione Gomez-Lodge (Veronica Lodge's mother).
On February 27, 2019, Perry suffered a massive ischemic stroke within his home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. He was hospitalized, but suffered a second stroke days later. He died on March 4, 2019, having never recovered from the two strokes. He was only 52 years old. His body was buried near his home in Vanleer, Tennessee, where he had bought a farm and the associated house in 1995, and spent time living there when not working on film or television projects.
Perry's will reportedly left his son Jack Perry (b. 1997) and daughter Sophie Perry (b. 2000) as the only heirs to his estate. The press noted that the will excludes Perry's mother, his stepfather, his siblings, his ex-wife, and his last fiancée from having inheritance claims, and there was some speculation on Perry's motivation for this decision. His net worth was estimated at over $10 million.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Matt LeBlanc was born on 25 July 1967 in Newton, Massachussetts. His mother, Patricia, is of Italian origin, and worked as an office manager, and his father, Paul LeBlanc, who was from a French-Canadian family, was a mechanic. After graduating from high school, he spent some time as a photo model in Florida before moving to New York where he took drama classes. After a few small roles on stage and on TV, he became famous for his role as Joey in Friends (1994), and in a less successful spin-off, Joey (2004), which only aired for two seasons. After the show got canceled he took a break and didn't return until 2011 where he stars as a fictional version of himself on Episodes (2011).
From 2003 to 2006, he was married to Missy McKnight, with whom he had one child, Marina Pearl (born 2004).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Noah Wyle was born in Hollywood, California, to Marjorie (Speer), an orthopedic head nurse, and Stephen Wyle, an entrepreneur and electrical engineer. He is one of six children. His father's family was Russian Jewish. Noah had early support for his acting ambitions from his stepfather, film restorationist James C. Katz. He had small parts in high school productions (and won an award for a play he wrote).
He participated in a Northwestern University theater program, and was hooked - acting rather than college after high school. After graduation he learned from acting teacher Larry Moss while living in a small apartment on Hollywood Boulevard. His first part was at age 17, in Blind Faith (1990), but after a few good roles he hit a dry spell for two years (no acting, waiting on tables). Then came A Few Good Men (1992) followed by another dry spell in which a return to restaurant work looked like a good option. Television shows seemed possible but Noah steered clear of these because of the 5-year contract commitment. Then came the script for the pilot of ER (1994), and the part of Dr. Carter looked very good. Three auditions later, he had the role.- Actor
- Producer
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The son of a legendary actress (Mary Martin) and a district attorney, Larry Martin Hagman was born on September 21, 1931 in Fort Worth, Texas. After his parents' divorce, he moved to Los Angeles, California to live with his grandmother. When he was 12, his grandmother died and he moved back to his mother's place, who had remarried and was launching a Broadway career. After attending Bard College in New York State, he decided to follow his mother's acting road. His first stage tryout was with the Margo Jones Theatre-in-the-Round in Dallas, Texas. He then appeared in the New York City Center production of "Taming the Shrew", followed by a year in regional theater. In his early-to-mid twenties, Larry moved to England as a member of the cast of his mother's stage show, "South Pacific", and was a member of the cast for five years. After that, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he produced and directed several series for members of the service.
After completing his service in the Air Force, Larry returned to New York City for a series of Broadway and off-Broadway plays, esp. "Once Around the Block", "Career", "Comes a Day", "A Priest in the House", "The Beauty Part", "The Warm Peninsula", "The Nervous Set" among many others. He began his television career in 1961 with a number of guest appearances on shows as "The ALCOA Hour". He was later chosen to be in the popular daytime soap opera The Edge of Night (1956), in which he starred for two years. But that was his start, he later went on to become the friendliest television star in the NBC sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1965), in which he played the amiable astronaut Anthony Nelson. In the series, his life was endangered by this gorgeous blonde bombshell genie played by Barbara Eden. The series ran for five years and after that, he continued his success in The Good Life (1971) and Here We Go Again (1973), as well as a number of guest-starring roles on many series. He was also with Lauren Bacall in the television version of the hit Broadway musical Applause (1973).
In 1977, the soap opera Dallas (1978) came aboard and Larry's career was secured. He credits "Superchick" for convincing him to do the show. This program of an excessively rich Texas family, was one of the best, beloved, most-watched shows of all time as he portrayed the role of the evil yet perverted millionaire J.R. Ewing, the man who loved to be hated. The series ran for an amazing 14 1/2 seasons and the "Who shot J.R.?" episode remains the second highly-rated television show in the history of the satellite. Since his name was familiar with Texas, it was suiting that he hosted "Lone Star" (1985), an eight-part documentary series related to the history of Texas, for the Public Television Stations. That aired while celebrating the 150th anniversary of Texas as an independent republic. In the spring of 1987, Kari-Lorimar released "Larry Hagman--Stop Smoking for Life". Proceeds from this home video were donated to the American Cancer Society.
In July 1995, he needed a liver transplant in order for him to regain his life back after years of strong drinking that led to cirrhosis. He went over to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for this where he spent seven weeks in the hospital, and an operation took 16 hours but saved his life. In July 1996, one year after he had a new liver, he served as the National Spokesperson for the 1996 U.S. Transplant Games presented by the National Kidney Foundation and, on November 2, he later received the Award for his efforts in escalating public awareness of the concept of organ donation. He continued to serve as an advocate of organ donation and transplantation until his death. In November 1996, he starred in Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996), a 2-hour movie in which the ratings were a huge success for CBS, as well as in the network's drama series Orleans (1997) when his role of Judge Luther Charbonnet gave him some of the best reviews of his 36-year-career.
When he was feeling better than he had for so many years, he completed his two movie projects: The Third Twin (1997), a four-hour miniseries based on the author's best-selling novel, that aired on CBS, and Mike Nichols's Primary Colors (1998), a film based on the best-selling book by a journalist, Joe Klein. Starring in that film were John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates and Adrian Lester. Larry played Governor Picker, an antipolitics politician who stands a grave danger crisis to the governor's bid for office. Primary Colors was his second presidential film having also appeared in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995). Following these movies, his second Dallas reunion movie, Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998), aired on CBS. He also served as executive producer.
Away from films, Larry was actively involved in a series of civic and philanthropic events. An adamant non-smoker, he served as the chairperson of the American Cancer Society's "Great American Smokeout", from 1981 to 1992. Larry Hagman died at age 81 on November 23, 2012 at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas from complications of throat cancer.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jason Priestley was born on 28 August 1969 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), Call Me Fitz (2010) and Cas & Dylan (2013). He has been married to Naomi Lowde-Priestley since 14 May 2005. They have two children. He was previously married to Ashlee Petersen.- Actor
- Producer
Daniel Benzali is an internationally renowned actor who has astonished and delighted audiences worldwide for over 30 years with his powerful performances in a wide range of film, television and theatre roles. He received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his magnificent performance as superstar attorney Ted Hoffman in the groundbreaking, highly acclaimed television series, Murder One (1995). He received the honor of being invited to become a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Other major London Theatre work includes starring as Juan Domingo Perón in the global hit musical, Evita, and starring opposite Patti LuPone in the world premiere of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical, Sunset Boulevard. Benzali's singing can be heard on the world premiere cast recording of Sunset Boulevard and on his own album, Benzali.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Lee Majors was born on 23 April 1939 in Wyandotte, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Six Million Dollar Man (1974), The Fall Guy (1981) and Scrooged (1988). He has been married to Faith Majors since 9 November 2002. He was previously married to Karen Velez, Farrah Fawcett and Thelma Kathleen Robinson.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
David Hasselhoff has become one of the most recognizable faces on television and throughout the world. Aside from starring in Knight Rider (1982) and Baywatch (1989), he is also an accomplished singer and popular recording artist.
David Michael Hasselhoff was born on July 17, 1952 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Dolores Therese (Mullinex) and Joe Hasselhoff (Joseph Vincent Hasselhoff), a business executive. He is of German (from his paternal grandfather), English, and Irish descent. The acting bug first hit when David was seven and so he took acting, singing and dancing lessons. He was very shy off stage in front of girls because he was tall and thin, but when he was on stage he was in his element. Due to his father's work, his family (he has four sisters) moved around frequently. He initially thought his career was going to go in the direction of musicals and Broadway.
American audiences first came to know Hasselhoff when he portrayed the popular "Dr. Snapper Foster" for six seasons on CBS's soap opera, The Young and the Restless (1973). Lured by NBC's Brandon Tartikoff to move from daytime to prime time, Hasselhoff went on to star as "Michael Knight" in NBC's hit series Knight Rider (1982). The role garnered him a "People's Choice Award" for most popular actor and the show became a huge success overseas. The success of Knight Rider (1982) resulted in Hasselhoff's first major international following. When the show ended, Hasselhoff launched a successful recording career in Europe. In 1989, "Looking for Freedom" remained in the number one spot on the German charts for eight consecutive weeks. He has continued to perform regularly in concert and has released nine albums to date.
Hasselhoff returned to episodic television as Mitch Buchannon on Baywatch (1989) when the show debuted on NBC in 1989. Though it enjoyed good ratings, the network canceled the series after only one season. Undeterred, Hasselhoff and his partners acquired the rights to the show and, based on Hasselhoff's popularity overseas, they were able to secure financing and revive "Baywatch" in 1991. Now a piece of American pop culture and an international television phenomenon, Baywatch (1989) was at its peak seen in 140 countries by over one billion viewers each week. During his lengthy career, Hasselhoff has flexed his acting muscles in numerous other projects. He starred in the epic miniseries Shaka Zulu (1986), shot on-location in Morocco.
Hasselhoff is an outdoor sports enthusiast whose interests include scuba diving, hiking, white water rafting, tennis, and jogging. In addition, he has parachuted with the US Army Parachute Demonstration Team, The Golden Knights, and flown with the US Navy's Blue Angels. He is an avid sports fan, and has attended the World Cup Soccer Finals, the NBA Finals, the Olympics, the Indy 500, and the Kentucky Derby. Hasselhoff has traveled throughout Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. He spends many hours visiting children's hospitals throughout the world. His charity, "Race For Life", works with the terminally ill and handicapped children in America.
He was married to the beautiful actress Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff, with whom he has two daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley Amber.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
David was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Patti, a travel agent, and weatherman Dave Roberts (Boreanaz). His father is of Italian descent and his mother is of half Slovak ancestry. At the age of seven he decide to be an actor, which eventually led him to study cinema and photography at Ithaca College in New York. After graduating from college, David moved to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in the movies. After some uncredited roles he received his first important role as Kelly's boyfriend in the series Married... with Children (1987). After three seasons of playing Angel in the hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), he received his own spin-off show titled Angel (1999).