John F. Wilkie, also known as "Johnbro," was born in Dearborn, Michigan, to Pam and Ron Wilkie, and was one of three children. His grandparents were local Detroit 'Big Band era' radio stars. John was raised by a stepfather, who was a design engineer for Ford Motor Company, and moved to Taylor, Michigan, during the 1967 Detroit riots.
John's first professional job in entertainment was as a drummer in his grandfather's combo, playing 1940s-era show tunes. He then played in rock bands, performed at community center 'teen dances,' and entered into 'Drum and Bugle corps' competitions on a national level. John was also an athlete in high school, lettering in football and track.
In his senior year of high school, John's drama class instructor convinced him to audition for a co-lead in the annual 'School play.' He discovered a knack for acting and loved working with an ensemble. His first live stage acting performance was portraying 'Matthew Harrison Brady' in the stage version of the classic movie, "Inherit the Wind."
After graduating from high school, John enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, mostly as a way to get away from rural Michigan. He excelled at 'flight line maintenance,' repairing jet engines on the F-15 Eagle fighter jets. After separating from the service, John went back home to Michigan, only to discover that jobs were scarce and low-paying, as the country was in the midst of a deep financial recession.
John packed all of his things into his car and drove south, eventually landing in Houston, Texas. He connected with his older brother and started playing guitar with country musicians in 'Kicker bars.' After a year of that, he drove west, again having no idea where he would end up.
John landed in Las Vegas, had his car towed, and hitchhiked to the west coast, first landing in Huntington Beach, California. He became homeless and broke, taking on temp jobs to earn enough money to buy a bus ticket that dropped him off at Hollywood & Vine.
John got on a bus that dropped him off in front of 'The Roosevelt Hotel' in Hollywood, California, and walked inside to arrange an audition with the entertainment director, Skip E. Lowe, manager of 'The Cinegrill.' John secured a spot in their weekend variety shows, broadcast on local cable television. Soon, he was offered a 'bit-part' in Valerie Bertinelli's made-for-television movie, 'the Seduction of Gena.'
John spent the next 7 years bouncing between the Hollywood underground, working with various bands on the Sunset Strip, and doing non-union 'extra' parts for the studios. His first 'big break' came after recording the original "John Bro's" EP comedy tape with Mike Niles of the legendary band 'Spirit,' and Neil Haywood, lead guitarist for the 'Lindsey Buckingham band.'
John's music started playing on the radio, and he got multiple air plays after that. He met industry people and was invited to join 'Cinex' (non-union side of 'Central Casting'). That got him an audition for 'Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman,' where he became one of the regular 'Townspeople' at the Old Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, California.
John was featured as "John Bro," in the Paramount Studios FOX Network show, "SIGHTINGS," in an episode named after his book of reported paranormal experiences, entitled; "Solar Obliteration." That episode was re-run on a worldwide basis over 1,500 times.
Completely unrelated to that, John attended an audition for up-coming sci-fi show on the FOX network, titled 'SPACE: Above and Beyond.' Pre-emptied by 'Sunday Night Football,' that show was canceled after one season, but gained a phenomenal fan base when the 'SCI-FI' channel bought the syndication rights. John spent the next 5 years doing appearances at the 'SCI FI' conventions across southern California.
Because of 'SPACE: Above and Beyond,' John finally got his SAG card. He is one of those people that truly scraped their way up from the bottom.
John was invited to join an exclusive group of ex-military weapons specialists, turned Hollywood SPFX weapons operators, called 'Alpha Company.' John was later hired on special-ability vouchers for the movies; "Armageddon," "Godzilla," and "The General's Daughter."
Through his affiliation with Paramount Studio producers and directors, John was given an audition and subsequently hired for the network television show, "StarTrek: Voyager," where he played the murderous 'Hirogen Hunter,' also performing minor pyrotechnic stunts.
John spent a couple of months working with that production company, doing everything from prat falls to hand-modeling to working as a 'tand-in' for that series.
