Casper Van Dien (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor Caspar is perhaps best known for his roles as Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers, Johnny Cage in the TV series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, where he replaced actor Matt Mullins in the second season, and actor James Dean in the biopic, James Dean: Race with Destiny.
On Married... with Children, he played Eric "Nine Toes" Waters, a former nerdy classmate of Kelly Bundy whom she stood up after asking her for a date and eventually costing him one of his toes due to frostbite. At the 5 year reunion, Eric, now handsome and rich, teams up with Bud to get revenge the Season 10 episode, "Blonde and Blonder".
Early life[]
Van Dien was born and grew up in Milton, Florida, the son of Diane (née Morrow), a nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien, Sr., a U.S. Navy Commander and fighter pilot.[1] There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a Marine during World War II. Van Dien is descended from an old Dutch family long settled in the New York State area; his other heritage includes Swedish, French], English, and Native American .[2]
The street on which Van Dien grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Van Dien Avenue, was named after his great great grandfather.[3] When Van Dien was older, his family moved to Florida, where he enrolled at the St. Petersburg campus of the Admiral Farragut Academy, graduating 3rd in command. While in the Florida prep school, Van Dien was often referred to as "Ken doll" due to his good looks, and got into many fights for that reason.[4] Even some writers later described him as a "perfect life-sized Ken doll."
After high school, Van Dien went to Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and trained under boxing coach Eric Johnson.
Career[]
Moving to Los Angeles, Van Dien landed a number of small parts in various television series and movies. Two early breaks were recurring roles as Ty Moody on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live and the prime time drama Beverly Hills, 90210. Keen to expand his acting talents, Van Dien took a bit part in the video game, Wing Commander IV.
Caspar then starred in the 1997 James Dean biopic James Dean: Race with Destiny. Soon after, he got the breakthrough role of Johnny Rico in Paul Verhoeven's 1997 science fiction/action film Starship Troopers (which also featured MWC guest star Dean Norris as Johnny's commanding officer). This directly led to his being cast as Tarzan in Tarzan and the Lost City (1998). He then played Brom von Brunt in Tim Burton's 1999 film Sleepy Hollow, a reworking of the classic Washington Irving tale. In 2000 Van Dien appeared in Cutaway as well as Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC prime time soap Titans with Yasmine Bleeth, John Barrowman, Perry King and Victoria Principal. He filmed several scenes as Patrick Bateman in 2002's The Rules of Attraction, the character that Christian Bale had played in 2000's American Psycho. However, the scenes wound up on the cutting room floor.
In 2008, he returned to the role of Rico in Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, a direct-to-video sequel to Starship Troopers.
He then would replace Matt Mullins as the new Johnny Cage for the second season of the YouTube webseries Mortal Kombat: Legacy.[7]
References[]
- ↑ Staff. "Tarzan of Tarzana", Daily News of Los Angeles, April 22, 1998. Accessed September 22, 2011. "When I was growing up in Ridgewood, NJ, we lived on Van Dien Avenue, which was named after my great-great-great grandfather."
- ↑ Casper Van Dien: Cast in conflict
- ↑ Staff. "Tarzan of Tarzana", Daily News of Los Angeles, April 22, 1998. Accessed September 22, 2011. "When I was growing up in Ridgewood, NJ, we lived on Van Dien Avenue, which was named after my great-great-great grandfather."
- ↑ People Magazine interview
External links[]
- http://www.twitter.com/CasperVanDien Casper Van Dien at Twitter
Casper Van Dien at the Internet Movie Database
