Born in England to an American father and an Italian mother, lived in Georgia as a baby but later moved to California, where he has lived since. (No other extra-curricular activities and he reportedly ducked every student picture day after his freshman year.) A graduate of Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California (Class of 1974), he was never a high-profile student. Worked such odd jobs including washing postal trucks, crew foreman, and dishwasher, before getting his start in acting. His first job was a small part in the pilot episode of
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977).