Corbin Bernsen
 |
Corbin Bernsen | |
|---|---|
 Corbin Bernsen, April 18, 2009 | |
| Born | Corbin Dean Bernsen September 7, 1954 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouse(s) | Amanda Pays (1988-present) 4 children Brenda Cooper (1983-1987) (divorced) |
Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor, known for his work on television. He is best known from his role of Arnold Becker on L.A. Law during the late 1980s and early 1990s,[1] and has appeared regularly on other shows, including General Hospital, Cuts, and Psych.
Early life
Bernsen was born in North Hollywood, California, to Harry Bernsen, a Hollywood producer, and veteran soap actress Jeanne Cooper, who appeared on The Young and the Restless.[1] He graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1971. Bernsen is also a "double Bruin," having received both a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[2]
Acting career
After a two-year appearance on the soap opera, Ryan's Hope,[1] Bernsen was awarded the role as lawyer Arnold Becker on the hit Steven Bochco television series, L.A. Law in 1986. The role earned him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, appearances on dozens of magazine covers, and guest-starring roles on shows such as Seinfeld and The Larry Sanders Show.[1] He was one of the few actors to remain on L.A. Law for the entire run the show, until it ended in 1994.
Bernsen appeared with the British actor Bruce Payne in the films Kounterfeit and Aurora: Operation Intercept. He starred as the title character, Dr. Alan Feinstone, in the horror film The Dentist and its sequel. Bernsen appeared on General Hospital, where he portrayed John Durant from September 2004 until the character was murdered in May 2006.
Bersen played Jack Sherwood on Cuts, appeared twice on Celebrity Mole, and played a lawyer on Boston Legal. He appeared as Q2 on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also had a recurring role as Captain Owen Sebring on the military drama JAG and played a Republican senator on two episodes of The West Wing. He directed, produced and appeared in the horror film Dead Air. Bernsen currently co-stars in USA's Psych, playing the role of Henry Spencer, the father of the main character, Shawn Spencer (James Roday). In the film RUST, Bernsen played a former minister who returns to his hometown.
Bernsen is currently directing a film tilted 25 Hill, which is centered around the All-American Soap Box Derby, and is planning a baseball movie about zombies, called "Three Strikes, You’re Dead."[3]
Producing career
Bernsen is president and co-owner of Public Media Works, a new media company that develops entertainment for targeted fan bases.[4] He directed and starred in Carpool Guy, the company's first film; it was targeted at soap opera fans[5] and released on DVD in 2005.
Bernsen's role at Public Media Works led him to follow up with Kyle MacDonald, the blogger behind one red paperclip. According to the book One Red Paperclip, in June 2006, Bernsen traded a role in the Public Media Works film Donna on Demand to the book's author, blogger Kyle MacDonald, for a snow globe of the band KISS. It was for this role that MacDonald eventually traded for a two-story farm house.[6]
Bernsen is the founder and head of Team Cherokee Productions, an independent production company that, similar to Public Media Works, develops, produces and markets films and television shows for targeted fan bases. Along with Bernsen, the company is run by James Greilick, who is in charge of development. The company's latest Film RUST, was released in 2010.
Personal life
Bernsen is married to British actress Amanda Pays. The couple have four sons. In 2008, Bernsen and his family appeared on the NBC show Celebrity Family Feud, competing first against the Margaret Cho family and then against the crew from American Chopper, but lost to them. Bernsen has one of the biggest snow globe collections in the world, with more than 7,000 snowglobes.[7]
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | Clambake | Boy | uncredited |
| 1974 | Three the Hard Way | Boy | |
| 1976 | Eat My Dust | Roy Puire | |
| 1987 | Dead Aim | Webster | |
| Hello Again | Jason Chadman | ||
| 1988 | Mickey's 60th Birthday | Arnie Becker | TV film |
| 1989 | Bert Rigby, You're a Fool | Jim Shirley | |
| Major League | Roger Dorn | ||
| Disorganized Crime | Frank Salazar | ||
| Breaking Point | Pike | TV film | |
| 1991 | Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story | Morris Dees | TV film |
| Shattered | Jeb Scott | ||
| Dead on the Money | Carter Matthews | TV film | |
| 1992 | Grass Roots | Will Lee | TV film |
| Frozen Assets | Zach Shepard | ||
| Ring of the Musketeers | Harry | TV film | |
| Love Can Be Murder | Nick Peyton | TV film | |
| 1993 | Fatal Inheritance | Woodward Dawes | |
| Ghost Brigade | Col. Nehemiah Strayn | ||
| Beyond Suspicion | Stan | TV film | |
| 1994 | Guns of Honor | Brent Mallick | TV film |
| The Soft Kill | Martin Lewis | ||
| A Brilliant Disguise | Dr. Martin | ||
| Trigger Fast | Brent Mallick | ||
| I Know My Son Is Alive | Dr. Mark Elshant | TV film | |
| Final Mission | General Morgan Breslaw | ||
| Major League II | Roger Dorn | ||
| Savage Land | Quint | ||
| The New Age | Kevin Bulasky | ||
| Where Are My Children? | Tom Scott | TV film | |
| Radioland Murders | Dexter Morris | ||
| 1995 | Someone to Die For | Jack Davis | |
| Cover Me | Andre Solloway | ||
| Dangerous Intentions | Tom Williamson | ||
| In the Heat of the Night: By Duty Bound | Frank Cole | TV film | |
| Aurora: Operation Intercept | Flight Engineer Murphy | ||
| Tales from the Hood | Duke Metger | ||
| Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead | Neil Jones/Roy Francis Netter | TV film | |
| Murderous Intent | Brice | TV film | |
| Temptress | Nick | ||
| 1996 | Bloodhounds | Harrison Coyle | TV film |
| Murder on the Iditarod Trail | Alex Jensen | TV film | |
| Baja | John Stone | ||
| The Dentist | Dr. Alan Feinstone | ||
| The Great White Hype | Peter Prince | ||
| Inhumanoid | Foster Carver | TV film | |
| Bloodhounds II | Harrison Coyle | TV film | |
| Full Circle | Harrison Winslow | TV film | |
| 1997 | An American Affair | Dist. Atty. Sam Brady/Sen. John Crawford | |
| Menno's Mind | Felix Medina | ||
| Tidal Wave: No Escape | John Wahl | TV film | |
| Kounterfeit | Marty Hopkins | ||
| Spacejacked | Barnes | ||
| 1998 | The Fairy King of Ar | Rob Preston | a.k.a. Beings |
| Loyal Opposition: Terror in the White House | Secret Service Agent John Gray | TV film | |
| Major League: Back to the Minors | Roger Dorn | ||
| The Dentist 2 | Dr. Alan Feinstone | ||
| Riddler's Moon | George | TV film | |
| Recipe for Revenge | Dr. Chester Winnifield | TV film | |
| The Misadventures of Margaret | Art Turner | ||
| Young Hearts Unlimited | Brian | TV film | |
| 1999 | Kiss of a Stranger | Mason | |
| Two of Hearts | Bruce Saunders | TV film | |
| 2000 | Borderline Normal | Benjiman Walling | |
| Rangers | The Senator | ||
| 2001 | Apocalypse IV: Judgment | Mitch Kendrick | |
| Fangs | Carl Hart | ||
| The Tomorrow Man | Larry | ||
| Final Payback | Mayor Richardson | ||
| Killer Instinct | Jennings Wilhite | ||
| Raptor | Dr. Hyde | ||
| 2002 | I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus | David Carver | |
| Gentle Ben | Fog Benson | TV film | |
| L.A. Law: The Movie | Arnie Becker | TV film | |
| Atomic Twister | Sheriff C. B. Bishop | TV film | |
| Dead Above Ground | Mark Mallory | ||
| The Santa Trap | Chief Tom Spivak | TV film | |
| 2003 | Gentle Ben 2 | Fog Benson | TV film |
| Love Comes Softly | Ben Graham | TV film | |
| The Commission | Rep. Gerald R. Ford | ||
| 2004 | Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss | Steve | TV film |
| They Are Among Us | Norbert | TV film | |
| Nightmare Boulevard | Jerry Martin | ||
| 2005 | Raging Sharks | Capt. Riley | |
| Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | Harlan Dexter | ||
| Ordinary Miracles | David Woodbury | TV film | |
| Carpool Guy | Michael | ||
| 2006 | Submission | Max | |
| The Naked Ape | Mr. Feldman | ||
| Paid | William Montague | ||
| Last Sunset | John Wayne | ||
| 2008 | House of Fallen | Rowland | |
| Depth Charge | Captain Richards | TV film | |
| Vipers | Burton | TV film | |
| Confessions of a Go-Go Girl | Nick Harvey | TV film | |
| For the Love of Grace | Captain Washington | TV film | |
| 2009 | Donna on Demand | Ben Corbin | Also director |
| Dead Air | Dr. F | Also director | |
| 2010 | Rust | James Moore | Also director, writer, & producer |
| 25 Hill | Roy Gibbs | Also director, writer, & producer | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1979 | Flying High | Dan Ellison | 1 episode |
| 1980 | The Waltons | Casey | 1 episode |
| 1984–1985 | Ryan's Hope | Ken Graham | |
| 1986–1994 | L.A. Law | Arnie Becker | |
| 1990 | Saturday Night Live | Himself | 1 episode |
| Star Trek: TNG | Q (2) | Ep: "Deja Q" | |
| Dear John | Blake McCarron | 1 episode | |
| 1991 | Out of This World | Chad | 1 episode |
| 1992 | Seinfeld | Himself | 1 episode |
| 1993 | Roc | Jim Larson | 1 episode |
| 1994 | The Nanny | Glen Mitchell | 1 episode |
| 1995 | A Whole New Ballgame | Brett Sooner | |
| 1996–1997 | The Cape | USAF Col. Henry 'Bull' Eckert | |
| 1997 | Touched by an Angel | Eric Weiss | 1 episode |
| 1999 | Tracey Takes On... | Jack Dayton | 1 episode |
| 7th Heaven | Ted Grant | 1 episode | |
| Twice in a Lifetime | Roger Stovall/Bill Water | 1 episode | |
| Nash Bridges | Edward Jansen | 1 episode | |
| 1999–2004 | JAG | Captain Owen Sebring | Multiple Episodes |
| 2000 | Battery Park | Michael | 1 episode |
| The Outer Limits | Virgil Nygard | 1 episode | |
| Son of the Beach | Big Red Johnson | 1 episode | |
| Beggars and Choosers | Sandy Peretz | 1 episode | |
| Yes, Dear | Gary Walden | 1 episode | |
| Baywatch | Barry Poe | 1 episode | |
| 2001 | The West Wing | Henry Shallick | 2 episodes |
| V.I.P. | Zack Henley | 1 episode | |
| Jack & Jill | Paul Barrett | 2 episodes | |
| Citizen Baines | Nicholas Tassler | 1 episode | |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Stu 'Dr. Love' Scott | 1 episode |
| L.A. Dragnet | Richard Atkins | 1 episode | |
| 2004 | Third Watch | Carter Savage | 1 episode |
| NYPD Blue | Bob Cavanaugh | 1 episode | |
| 2004, 2009–2010 | The Young and the Restless | Father Todd Williams | Multiple Episodes |
| 2004–2006 | General Hospital | John Durant | |
| 2005 | Palmetto Pointe | Old Ballplayer | 1 episode |
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | William Hendry | 1 episode | |
| 2005–2006 | Cuts | Jack Sherwood | |
| 2006 | Boston Legal | Eli Granger | 1 episode |
| 2006–Present | Psych | Henry Spencer | |
| 2007 | Masters of Horror | Ira | 1 episode |
| 2009 | The New Adventures of Old Christine | Howard | 1 episode |
| Video Games | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | Blue Heat: The Case of the Cover Girl Murders | Andre Solloway | |
References
- ^ a b c d Biography from a USA Network website for Psych
- ^ MSN Bio
- ^ Corbin Bernsen planning zombie baseball movie
- ^ Summary of Public Media Works from the OTC Bulletin Board website
- ^ Interview with Bernsen from Soap Opera Digest
- ^ Podcast featuring in its second-half an interview with Bernsen (in MP3 format) by a "new marketing" podcaster
- ^ Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine The Celebrity Collector: Corbin Bernsen