Kevin Sorbo

Kevin Sorbo
Sorbo at Gatecon, 2005
Born	Kevin David Sorbo September 24, 1958 (1958-09-24) (age 51) Mound, Minnesota
Spouse(s)	Sam Jenkins (1998–present)
Official website

Kevin David Sorbo^[1] (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Captain Dylan Hunt on Andromeda.

Early life

Sorbo was born in Mound, Minnesota, where he attended Mound Westonka High School. He is the son of Ardis, a nurse, and Lynn Sorbo, a junior high school mathematics and biology teacher.^[1] He is of Norwegian descent and was raised in a Lutheran family.^[2] Sorbo attended at Minnesota State University Moorhead and worked as a model for print and television advertising in the 1980s.

Career

Sorbo started his acting career in the late 1980s making guest appearances in several television series such as 1st & Ten, Murder She Wrote and The Commish. He was considered for and lost out to Dean Cain as Superman in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and was a possible contender for the role of Agent Mulder in The X Files which went to David Duchovny.

In 1994 he shot to fame for playing the role of Hercules in the television film Hercules and the Amazon Women. This was the first in a series of television films that served as pilots for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys which ran from 1995 to 1999. The series was a huge ratings success throughout different countries becoming one of the most popular syndicated shows in television history and becoming Sorbo's most well-known role. He also guest-starred as Hercules in episodes of the spin-off series Xena: The Warrior Princess and provided the voice of Hercules in the animated film Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus which released in 1998. Other voice over work followed, with Sorbo providing the voices of Reiko and Quan Chi in Mortal Kombat 4. In between the years playing Hercules he played his first leading film role in Kull the Conqueror (1997).

After Hercules came to an end he played the starring role of Captain Dylan Hunt in the science-fiction drama series Andromeda from 2000 to 2005. In 2006 he played a recurring role on the final season of The O.C and guest-starred in the sitcom Two and a Half Men. In 2007 he appeared in the direct-to-video film Walking Tall: The Payback which is a sequel to the 2004 film Walking Tall . He reprised his role in the second sequel Walking Tall: Lone Justice which released later that year. He also starred in the Lifetime Channel film Last Chance Café, the Hallmark Channel film Avenging Angel, co-starring his real life wife Sam Sorbo and guest starred as a bounty hunter in the season two episode "Bounty Hunters!" of the series Psych. Most recently, he has appeared in the spoof film Meet the Spartans which was a box office success^[3] despite being universally negatively reviewed by critics^[4].

Personal life

Sorbo married actress Sam Jenkins, whom he met when she had a guest role on Hercules, on January 5, 1998. They have three children.

He is also the spokesman and chair of A World Fit For Kids! (AWFFK!), a non-profit organization that trains teenagers to become mentors to younger children.

Video games

Sorbo voiced one of the main protagonists, Prometheus, in the Wii First Person Shooter video game, The Conduit.

Filmography

Starring roles

Guest-starring roles

Producer

Director

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kevin Sorbo

• Kevin Sorbo Official Web Site
• Kevin Sorbo at the Internet Movie Database