Post by phantomdroid on Jun 25, 2006 3:31:01 GMT 10
BIO: Richard Dean Anderson was born on January 23, 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. His father, Stuart Anderson, was a high school teacher and his mother, Jocelyn, was an artist gifted in both sculpting and painting. He and his two younger brothers, Thomas and James grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis called Roseville. During his childhood Richard developed a love for sports, music (particularly jazz) and...of course, acting.
Richard dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player as a teenager, a dream shared by his future "Stargate SG-1" co-star Michael Shanks. However, as fate would have it, this was not to be. At age sixteen, he broke both of his arms in two separate incidents...the second of which was so serious that he was hospitalized for three months. Although his dream became an impossibility, he never lost his love for the sport.
Richard was very much a restless teenager and had many adventures hitch-hiking on the open road. This sense of adventure was most evident when he embarked on a 5,641 mile bicycle trip from his home in Minnesota to Alaska. Accompanied by several friends at the beginning of the trip, Richard eventually found himself travelling the last thirty-three days alone when all of them gave in and dropped out. This experience gave him a more centered sense of direction in his life.
After studying drama at St. Cloud State University and at Ohio University (without completing his degree), he briefly moved to New York before finally settling in Los Angeles where he worked as a juggler, a street-mime and in a renaissance-style cabaret. He also worked for a short time at Marineland where one of his duties included holding fish in his mouth which trained killer whales would leap up and snatch. Subsequently, he began appearing in plays and formed a rock band called "Rick Dean and the Dante" with his friend Carl Dante in which he sang and played the guitar.
Richard's big break came in 1976 when he was cast in the popular daytime drama "General Hospital" as Dr. Jeff Webber. He continued to perform the role for five years until eventually he decided it was time to move on to prime-time drama. He made numerous guest appearances in such series as "The Facts of Life" and "The Love Boat." Richard was also cast as the star in two CBS series, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Emerald Point, N.A.S." however both only lasted for one season.
His next big success came in 1985 when he won the title role in the ABC adventure series "MacGyver". He was later told he got the part because the producers were impressed by the lack of pretension he showed at his audition. The series lasted seven seasons and ran for 139 episodes. It was hugely successful throughout its run and continues to be popular even today. He reprised the role in two TV movies, "MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis" (1994) and "MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday" (1994) both of which were produced by Gekko Film Corp, a production company he co-founded with fellow producer and friend Michael Greenburg.
Having made an impression on his peers, Richard moved on to other TV-movies after "MacGyver" ended appearing in such films as "In the Eyes of a Stranger", "Through the Eyes of a Killer", "Beyond Betrayal", "Past the Bleachers" and "Pandora's Clock." He was particularly impressive in "Past the Bleachers" in which he played a grieving father struggling to come to terms with his young son's death (a role that bears a striking similarity to a certain aspect of Col. Jack O'Neill in "Stargate SG-1".)
He returned to series television in 1995 when he was cast as Ernest Pratt in "Legend" an adventure series which aired on UPN. Richard served as executive producer of the series which also starred his close friend John "Q" De Lancie. His character was a dime novelist (Pratt) who took on the persona of the protagonist in his novels. The series was primarily a comedy but blended Western elements and science fiction with glorious aplomb. It is also Richard's favorite role to date.
He found major success again when cast as Colonel Jack O'Neill in "Stargate SG-1" an adventure/ science fiction series based on the 1994 blockbuster feature "Stargate" starring Kurt Russell and James Spader. The series began filming in Vancouver on February 19, 1997 and premiered on Showtime on July 27, 1997. The show has remained extremely successful since then and eventually resulted in the creation of a spin-off series "Stargate: Atlantis" in 2004 and a video game Stargate SG-1: The Alliance in 2005. Both series currently air on the Sci-Fi Channel. There have been rumors of an SG-1 feature film and another spin-off series in recent years but so far none of these projects have come to fruition. Richard's role in the series was substantially reduced in its seventh and eighth seasons and eventually culminated in his departure from the show in 2005.
Richard is unmarried but has dated some of TV's most beautiful women including: Teri Hatcher, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sela Ward and even German ice-skater Katarina Witt. In 1996 he met his current partner Apryl Prose, the mother of his only child, Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson who was born on August 2, 1998. Like her father and grandfather (who passed away in 2003) she is also fond of jazz.
Currently, Richard has taken a temporary break from acting in order to spend time with his daughter.
FILMOGRAPHY (Includes TV):
Stargate SG-1: The Alliance (2006) (VG) (in production) (voice) .... AF Brigadier General Jack O'Neill
"Stargate: Atlantis"
... aka Porte d'Atlantis, La (Canada: French title: dubbed version)
... aka Stargate: Atlantis (USA: Spanish title)
- The Return: Part 1 (2006) TV Episode .... General Jack O'Neill
- The Real World (2006) TV Episode .... General Jack O'Neill
- The Return: Part 2 (2006) TV Episode .... General Jack O'Neill
- Rising: Part 1 (2004) TV Episode .... Brigadier Jack O'Neill USAF
"Stargate SG-1" .... Colonel/Brigadier General/Major General Jack O'Neill (1997-2005)
... aka Porte des étoiles, La (Canada: French title: dubbed version)
- 200 (2006) TV Episode .... Colonel/Brigadier General/Major General Jack O'Neill (1997-2005)
- Origin (2005) TV Episode .... Colonel/Brigadier General/Major General Jack O'Neill (1997-2005)
- Avalon: Part 1 (2005) TV Episode .... Major General Jack O'Neill
- Moebius: Part 2 (2005) TV Episode .... Colonel/Brigadier General/Major General Jack O'Neill
- Moebius: Part 1 (2005) TV Episode .... Colonel/Brigadier General/Major General Jack O'Neill
(169 more)
Stargate Atlantis: Rising (2004) (TV) .... AF Brigadier General Jack O'Neill
Firehouse (1997) (TV) .... Lt. Michael Brooks
Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game (1997) (VG) (voice) .... Mayor Killian Darkwater
... aka Fallout (International: English title: short title)
Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods (1997) (TV) .... AF Col. Jack O'Neill
Pandora's Clock (1996) (TV) .... Capt. James Holland
... aka Doomsday Virus (UK)
Past the Bleachers (1995) (TV) .... Bill Parish
"Legend" (1995) TV Series .... Ernest Pratt/Nicodemus Legend
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (1994) (TV) .... Angus MacGyver
Beyond Betrayal (1994) (TV) .... Bradley Matthews
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis (1994) (TV) .... Angus MacGyver
Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992) (TV) .... Ray Bellano
... aka The Master Builder
"MacGyver" .... MacGyver
- The Mountain of Youth (1992) TV Episode .... MacGyver
- The Stringer (1992) TV Episode .... MacGyver
- Good Knight MacGyver: Part 1 (1991) TV Episode .... MacGyver
- The Coltons (1991) TV Episode .... MacGyver
- Honest Abe (1991) TV Episode .... MacGyver
(104 more)
In the Eyes of a Stranger (1992) (TV) .... Jack Rourke
Odd Jobs (1986) .... Spud
... aka Summer Jobs (USA)
... aka This End Up (USA)
Ordinary Heroes (1986) .... Tony Kaiser
"Emerald Point N.A.S." (1983) TV Series .... Navy Lt. Simon Adams
"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1982) TV Series .... Adam McFadden (1982-1983)
Young Doctors in Love (1982) (uncredited) .... Drug Dealer
"The Love Boat"
- Isaac Gets Physical/She Brought Her Mother Along/Cold Feet (1982) TV Episode .... Carter Randall
"Today's F.B.I."
- The Fugitive (1981) TV Episode .... Andy McFey
"The Facts of Life"
- Brian and Sylvia (1981) TV Episode .... Brian Parker
"General Hospital" (1963) TV Series .... Dr. Jeff Webber (1976-1981)
Richard Dean Anderson? One word...legend! ;D