Casper Van Dien

Infobox actor
name = Casper Van Dien


caption = Van Dien at the 2007 Scream Awards
birthdate = birth date and age|1968|12|18
birthplace = Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
birthname = Casper Robert Van Dien, Jr.
deathdate =
othername =
homepage = http://www.caspervandien.com

Casper Robert Van Dien, Jr. (born December 18 1968) is an American actor, best known for his role as Johnny Rico in "Starship Troopers".

Biography

Early life

Van Dien was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, [ [http://caspervandien.com/?q=node/345 Casper Van Dien Official Biography] ] the son of Diane, a retired nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien, Sr., a retired U.S. Navy commander and fighter pilot. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/7/Casper-Van-Dien.html Casper Van Dien Biography (1968-)] ] The name Casper is a family tradition, given to the eldest son of his family for more than 11 generations. There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a Marine during World War II. Van Dien is a descendant of an old Dutch family long settled in the New York area; his other heritage includes Swedish, French, English and Native American. [ [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/CAREER/jobenvy/11/24/casper/index.html Casper Van Dien: Cast in conflict] ]

Van Dien grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The street on which he grew up in New Jersey, Van Dien Avenue, was named after his great great grandfather. He grew up on the same block as actor Robert Sean Leonard, and raced go-carts in their neighborhood.Fact|date=March 2008 In high school, Van Dien was often referred to as "Ken doll" due to his good looks, and got into many fights for that reason. [ [http://www.geocities.com/tvtitans/ppl1113.html "People" Magazine interview] November 13, 2000] Coincidentally, he was later described as a "perfect life-sized Ken doll." [ [http://www.tribute.ca/bio.asp?id=1019 Casper Van Dien bio at Tribute.ca] ] When Van Dien was older, his family returned to Florida, where he enrolled at the St. Petersburg branch of the Admiral Farragut Military Academy, graduating 3rd in command. Next, he went to Florida State University in Tallahassee but never graduated.

Career

Moving to Los Angeles, Van Dien landed a number of small parts in various television series and movies. Two early breaks were recurring roles on the daytime soap opera "One Life to Live" and the prime time drama "Beverly Hills, 90210".

Van Dien starred in the 1997 James Dean biopic "James Dean: Race with Destiny". Soon after, he got the breakthrough role of Johnny Rico in Paul Verhoeven's 1997 science fiction action film "Starship Troopers". This directly led to his being cast as Tarzan in "Tarzan and the Lost City" (1998). [ [http://tarzan-lostcity.warnerbros.com/cmp/prod2.html Tarzan and the Lost City official site] Michael Lake, producer] Van Dien next played Brom von Brunt in Tim Burton's 1999 film "Sleepy Hollow", a reworking of the classic Washington Irving tale. In the film, Van Dien's character is a suitor to Katrina van Tassel (Christina Ricci); in real life, Van Dien's family are cousins to the historical van Tassels.fact|date=September 2008

In 2000 Van Dien appeared in Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC prime time soap "Titans" with Yasmine Bleeth, John Barrowman, Perry King and Victoria Principal. He filmed several scenes as Patrick Bateman in 2002's "The Rules of Attraction", the same character that Christian Bale had played in 2000's "American Psycho". However, the scenes wound up on the cutting room floor.

Van Dien reprised the role of Johnny Rico in "" in 2008.

Personal life

Van Dien was married to Carrie Mitchum (the granddaughter of Robert Mitchum) from 1993 to 1997. They have two children, Casper "Cappy" Robert Mitchum Van Dien and Caroline "Gracie" Dorothy Grace Van Dien, of whom Van Dien holds full custody. Van Dien had co-starred with Robert Mitchum in "James Dean: Race with Destiny".

Van Dien met actress Catherine Oxenberg during the filming of the 1999 TV movie "The Collectors", and they soon worked together again in the 1999 thriller "The Omega Code". On May 8 1999 they married in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2005 the couple appeared in their own reality series, "I Married a Princess", which aired on the Lifetime Television channel in the United States and on LIVINGtv in the United Kingdom; Oxenberg's mother is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. During the 2006-2007 TV season, Van Dien and Oxenberg co-starred in the American drama series "Watch Over Me" on MyNetworkTV.

Van Dien and Oxenberg have two children, Maya (born September 20 2001) and Celeste Alma (born October 3 2003). Oxenberg is the mother of India Riven Oxenberg, (born June 7 1991), whose father has never been publicly identified.

Oxenberg and Van Dien are celebrity ambassadors for the non-profit organization Childhelp. [ [http://www.childhelp.org/about/celebrity-ambassadors Celebrity Ambassadors - ChildHelp.org] Retrieved 6 August 2008.]

Filmography

* "Kill Shot" (1995) ... Randy
* "Lethal Orbit" (1996)
* "Love Notes" (1996) ... Adam
* "Night Eyes 4" (1996) .... Roy
* "" (1996) ... King Tal
* "The Colony" (1996)
* "Night Scream" (1997) ... Teddie/Ray Ordwell Jr.
* "" (1997) .... Bystander
* "" (1997) ... James Dean
* "Starship Troopers" (1997) ... Johnny Rico
* "Tarzan and the Lost City" (1998) ... Tarzan/John Clayton
* "Casper Meets Wendy" (1998) ... Crewcut Man
* "Modern Vampires" (1998) ... Dallas
* "On the Border" (1998) ... Jake Barnes
* "Shark Attack" (1999) ... Steven McKray
* "The Collectors" (1999) ... A.K.
* "The Omega Code" (1999) ... Gillen Lane
* "Thrill Seekers" (1999) ... Tom Merrick
* "Sleepy Hollow" (1999) ... Brom Van Brunt
* "Sanctimony" (2000) ... Tom Merrick
* "The Tracker" (2000) ... Connor Spears
* "Partners" (2000) ... Drifter
* "Python" (2000) ... Bart Parker
* "Cutaway" (2000) ... Delmira
* "Road Rage" (2000) ... Jim Travis
* "Windfall" (2001) ... Ace Logan
* "Chasing Destiny" (2001) ... Bobby Moritz
* "Under Heavy Fire" (2001) ... Capt. Ramsey
* "Danger Beneath the Sea" (2001) ... Commander Miles Sheffield
* "The Vector File" (2002) ... Gerry
* "Big Spender" (2003) ... Eddie Burton
* "Premonition aka The Psychic (USA title)" (2004) ... Jack Barnes
* "Maiden Voyage" (2004) .... Kyle Considine
* "Skeleton Man" (2004) ... Staff Sgt. Oberron
* "What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?" (2004) (uncredited) .... Romantic Moritz
* "Dracula 3000" (2004) ... Capt. Abraham Van Helsing
* "" (2008) ... Johnny Rico

TV work

* "Menu for Murder" (1990) .... Life Guard
* "Dangerous Women" (1991) - Brad Morris
* "Freshman Dorm" (1992) ... Zack Taylor
* "Life Goes On" (1992) - Udder Madness (episode) ... Guest Star
* "The Webbers" (1993) (as Casper Robert Van Dien Jr.) .... Guy Miranda brings home
* "One Life to Live" (1993-1994) ... Ty Moody
* "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (1994) - The Cattle Drive (episode) ... Jesse
* "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1994) ... Griffin Stone
* "Married... with Children" (1994) - Blonde and Blonder (episode) ... Eric
* "Silk Stalkings" (1995) - I Know What Scares You (episode) ... Jeff Chadwick
* "The Outer Limits" (1997) - Heart's Desire (episode) ... Jake Miller
* "Titans" (2000-2001) ... Chandler Williams
* "Rock Me Baby" (2004) - Love at First Flight (episode) ... Michael
* "I Married a Princess" (2005) ... Himself
* "The Fallen Ones" (2005) ... Matt Fletcher
* "Personal Effects" (2005) .... Chris Locke
* "Officer Down" (2005) .... Officer Philip Gammon
* "The Curse of King Tut's Tomb" (2006) .... Danny Freemont
* "Meltdown" (2006) .... Tom
* "Slayer" (2006) .... Hawk
* "Watch Over Me" (2006) ... Andre
* "Monk" (2008) ... Lt. Albright

References

External links

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*
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* [http://www.mynetworktv.com/wom_characters_casper_vandien.html Casper Van Dien's "Watch Over Me" profile at MyNetworkTV.com]
* [http://www.caspervandien.com Casper Van Dien's Official Website]
* [http://tarzan-lostcity.warnerbros.com/index.html Official Tarzan and the Lost City site]
* [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/CAREER/jobenvy/11/24/casper/index.html CNN.com interview with Casper Van Dien]
* [http://www.thecinemasource.com/v3/spotlight.php?id=76&wordcount=0 Casper Van Dien interview at TheCinemaSource.com]
* [http://malibutimes.com/articles/2005/04/13/life_and_arts/art1.txt 'I Married A Princess' article in the Malibu Times]