Jack Wagner

A veritable mainstay on U.S. soap operas, Jack Wagner sported clean-cut, all-American looks that helped him win scores of daytime drama fans. The thespian initially attended the University of Missouri, but later transferred to the University of Arizona, where he studied theater arts and graduated with a BFA in drama, placing equal emphasis on acting, dancing, and vocal performance. That multifaceted nature played an integral role in helping Wagner (in 1983) land his first prestigious acting job: a role on the iconic soap General Hospital as rocker Frisco Jones, which happened to require singing ability. Wagner not only followed suit, handling the vocals on several numbers within the series, but quickly drew the attention of Quincy Jones, and so impressed the mogul that he snagged a contract on Jones' Qwest recording label. Wagner's passionate romantic ballad "All I Need" scored a massive hit in 1984: number two on the pop charts and number one on the adult contemporary charts, and though subsequent singles did chart, they failed to match the popularity of this initial effort. Nevertheless, several additional Wagner albums did ensue.

Subsequent years witnessed Wagner continually alternating between theater -- where his roles included Tony in a national touring production of West Side Story (1987), Danny in a national touring production of Grease (1988), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Broadway production of Jekyll and Hyde (2000) -- and continued soap opera work. Wagner joined the cast of Santa Barbara in 1990, with a run as the Ernest Hemingway-inspired writer Warren Lockridge, and moved to The Bold and the Beautiful in 2003, with a colorful, ongoing turn as the rough-cut but wealthy sea captain Dominick Payne-Marone. Wagner also ventured into prime time soap opera territory with runs on Melrose Place (as Dr. Peter Burns from 1994 to 1999) and Titans (as Jack Williams from 2000-2001). Occasional starring and supporting roles in made-for-tv movies were also part of his repertoire during the 1990s and 2000s. - Sarah Block, All Movie Guide