Born and raised in Wisconsin, this individual was an all-around athlete in high school, excelling in football, basketball, and baseball, and was also a member of the National Honor Society.
In 1973, on a whim, he tried out for a community theater production and got the part, which led to 30 productions over the next 25 years. Starting in small roles and learning "on the job," the parts got bigger, and eventually, he performed with many community theater groups as well as the Madison Repertory Theater.
Developing his acting skills, he tackled drama, comedy, and musicals and eventually was introduced to TV commercials, training films, and TV drama. He and his wife moved to Hawaii in 1995 and soon got work in local TV commercials, which led to a national TV spot for Nike in 2000, an audition for Michael Bay, who cast him in "Pearl Harbor" in 2001, only to be edited out in the final version.
He co-starred in "Tides of War" in 2005 with Adrian Paul and Kent McCord and also did background work on "Lost" in 2004 and "Special Delivery" in 2008 with Lisa Edelstein, as well as Japanese TV commercials.
In 2011, he appeared as a background actor in "The Descendants" and also stood in for Milt Kogan. He landed a principal role as "Old Salt WO" in Peter Berg's summer blockbuster "Battleship" from Universal, starting as an extra but being upgraded by military advisor Captain Rick Hoffman and director Peter Berg to the principal role as the boss of the CEC.
In April 2013, he co-starred on Hawaii Five-O Episode 20, Season 3 as McGarrett's commanding officer, Vice Admiral Janderman in Iraq, appearing with Terry O'Quinn, Alex O'Loughlin, and Robert Picardo, directed by Joe Dante.
In 2014, he was cast as Admiral Wells for Warner Bros/Legendary Films' "Godzilla," directed by Gareth Edwards, but scenes filmed on board the U.S.S. Missouri were deleted in the finished film.
He met his wife, Dawn, while appearing in a theatrical production in which she was a "techie" running sound. She is an accomplished dancer, and they have performed together, dancing hula, and also appeared in a musical variety production.
Proud grandparents of eight grandchildren, one of which has caught the acting bug and appeared in their first production in 2008.
