Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he was rapidly relocated to the vast, expansive plains of Kansas, whose broad fields forever unfolded before him the joys of openness and freedom. His mother, Mary, born in 1915, instilled in him the best of Irish values and upbringing, while his father, Neil, born in 1917, brought a German sensibility and humor to their family dynamics. He received a Catholic education for 12 years, working in his father's corner grocery store from the age of 12 for a modest five cents an hour, gradually increasing to a more substantial rate of $2.75 an hour at the age of 18. During his spare moments, he found solace in swimming and exploring the surrounding woods and creeks, which became an integral part of his childhood and adolescence.
His wife, Karen, played a pivotal role in catalyzing his career in acting. She revealed to him that he was, in fact, a lazy individual with limited ambition, content to spend his days playing rather than pursuing any meaningful goals. Following their divorce, he returned to college, eventually finding himself in acting classes, driven by a desire to prove Karen's assessment correct. This serendipitous turn of events ultimately led him to a prestigious position within the acting community, a testament to the transformative power of perseverance and self-discovery.
