Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American film and television actor, known for his role as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans, and as Michael Kuzak in the legal drama series L.A. Law.
Biography
Early life
Hamlin was born in Pasadena, California, the son of Bernice (née Robinson) and Chauncey Jerome Hamlin, Jr., an aeronautical engineer who once worked with scientist Wernher von Braun.[1][2] As a teenager, he attended Flintridge Preparatory School, near Pasadena, and The Hill School, a private boarding school in Pennsylvania, where he played soccer and lacrosse and acted in the school's musicals and plays. Hamlin attended University of California, Berkeley and is an alumnus of the Theta Zeta chapter of the national fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon.
Career
Hamlin appeared in the 1976 television production of Taming of the Shrew and also had the title role in the 1979 television mini-series Studs Lonigan. He had a role in Movie Movie with George C. Scott in 1978, but his big-screen break was a starring role in the 1981 Greek mythology fantasy epic Clash of the Titans. Afterwards, his career faltered somewhat with such box office flops such as Making Love (1982) and Blue Skies Again (1983), and he returned to television appearing in the mini-series Master of the Game in 1984 and Space (based on the novel by James A. Michener) in 1985.
Following this, Hamlin's popularity skyrocketed when he starred on the highly popular NBC TV drama L.A. Law. Playing principled attorney Michael Kuzak, he remained on the series from 1986 to 1991, during which time he was voted as People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1987. Hamlin decided to leave the series at the end of the fifth season and tried to revive his movie career. However, this was unsuccessful and so far he has only starred in B movies and direct-to-video features.
In early 1991, Hamlin appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care", which was made in support of U.S. troops who were stationed in the Middle East and involved at that time in Operation Desert Storm. He then appeared in two 1992 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, in each episode as a separate character. In the episode "Joker's Wild", Hamlin played the role of Cameron Kaiser, a ruthless businessman who sinks all his money into a casino, then counts on the Joker to destroy it in order to collect on the insurance policy from a reputable company, and in the other episode, "Moon of the Wolf", he provided the voice of Anthony Romulus, a greedy athlete who takes a potion to enhance his skills, only to realise too late that it has transformed him into a werewolf. In 2001 he starred in the television comedy Bratty Babies, and in 2002 he reprised the role of Michael Kuzak in an L.A. Law reunion television movie.
In 2004, Hamlin began a recurring role on the television series Veronica Mars. He played fading action hero Aaron Echolls, father to central show character Logan Echolls. Hamlin's character states that he (like the real-life Hamlin) was People magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive' in 1987. Aaron's wife, Lynn, was played by Hamlin's real-life wife, Lisa Rinna. On August 14, 2006, Rinna announced that Hamlin would be performing on the third season of Dancing with the Stars. On September 27, 2006, Hamlin was voted off the program.
Hamlin reprised the role of Perseus in the 2007 video game God of War II. In the game, Perseus was trapped in a room while searching for the Sisters of Fate to revive his dead lover, and believes Kratos to be sent by the gods to test him.
In 2009, Hamlin starred in the series Harper's Island as Uncle Marty.
Personal life
In 1980, Hamlin had a son (Dimitri Alexandre Hamlin) with Swiss actress Ursula Andress, his co-star in the film Clash of the Titans. From 1985 to 1989, he was married to actress Laura Johnson and between 1991 and 1993 to actress Nicollette Sheridan.
Since 1997, Hamlin has been married to former Days of our Lives actress and television host Lisa Rinna. They have two daughters: Delilah Belle Hamlin and Amelia Gray Hamlin.
On December 4. 2008, TV Guide reported that Hamlin and Rinna have signed a deal to create a reality TV series based around their family life. The series is being developed by TV Land.[3]
All three of Hamlin's wives have been prominent primetime soap-opera actresses: Rinna starred on Melrose Place, Sheridan was a regular on Knots Landing and more recently on Desperate Housewives, whereas Johnson was a regular on Falcon Crest (which even Andress later made guest appearances on).
References
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