Kevin Bernhardt

Kevin Bernhardt
Born Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Years active 1985–present
Spouse(s) Apollonia Kotero (1987–1997)

Kevin Bernhardt is an American screenwriter, film actor, television actor, and producer. Bernhardt is best known as a screenwriter, with over 20 screenplays produced since the mid-1990s. His dozen lead actor/film roles before that included J.P. Monroe and his Cenobitic alter-ego in the 1992 Action/Horror film Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, Dean in Top of the World (1997), and Billy Knox in "The Immortals" (1995). Bernhardt started in TV with SERIES REGULAR roles on Dynasty as Father Tanner McBride and General Hospital (1985–1987) as lady-killer (literally) Kevin O'Connor.

Early life and education

Bernhardt was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he was adopted by Navy Damage Control Officer 'Red' Bernhardt and wife Beverly. Years there were spent at an African-American elementary school (Turie T. Small), as part of the integration which continued in the late 1960s. His family relocated to a trailer park in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where he completed high school and became an Eagle Scout.

Bernhardt attended college at Binghamton University on a National Merit Scholarship sponsored by the Eureka tent factory, where his mother worked. He supplemented his income in the Kroehler furniture factory and moving appliances for Happy Baer.

Career

After completing a bachelor's degree in economics in the winter of 1984, he immediately traveled to Los Angeles, where he passed the Series 7 exam and was hired by Robert Brandt and Company, the only fourth market securities trading firm in the country. But his true passion was the theater, and after six months successfully trading stocks between institutional investors, Bernhardt left it behind for a career as a screenwriter/actor.

Two weeks later he landed a contract role on General Hospital , replacing then-popular daytime actor Jack Wagner during a contract dispute – in his coveted role as singer Frisco Jones. Wagner of course returned, but ABC then took the unprecedented step of creating another entirely different role for Bernhardt on the same show. He was the center of attention in the newly created 'Laurelton Murders' storyline, and with it General Hospital led the ratings for two years.

Though he preferred screen-writing, Bernhardt took acting seriously enough to study in the small master class taught by Stella Adler. And he continued to work steadily as an actor for several years; in TV with another contract role as a priest (with love interest Heather Locklear) on Dynasty, as well as several mostly 'bad-guy' leads in films such as Hellraiser III. His personal life also flourished with a marriage to Purple Rain star Apollonia. But once he saw his first screenplay produced – he decided to devote his undivided attention to screenwriting.

Since then his writing has attracted a diverse array of well-known actors, ranging from Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, to Chris Rock and Orlando Bloom. This work also resulted in the first few breakthrough films for companies including Avi Lerner's NuImage-Millennium and Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures. Most recently he has been lured back to acting, with lead roles in two films which were shot in 2015 – HEARTLAND and SHINER.

Writer – film

Producer

Actor – film

Actor – television

Miscellaneous crew

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.