Early life

Zmed was born in Chicago, the youngest of three sons of George Zmed, later known as George Zmed-Smith (1916-2010), a Romanian Orthodox archpriest, who served from 1952 until his retirement in 1983, and his wife, Preoteasa Persida (née Golub) Zmed, later known as Sadie Smith (1923-2015). George Zmed was a first-generation American born in Chicago, to Romanian parents, Nicolae and Paraschiva (née Bălan), who had immigrated from Comloşu Mare, Timişoara in the early 20th century. At the age of five, George and his family returned to Romania, where he was educated, and lived there until returning to the United States in November 1952. George married Romanian-born Persida Golub on October 15, 1942 in Timisoara. The couple had three sons, in the following order: Cornel, Walter, and Adrian.

Adrian Zmed graduated from Lane Tech High School in Chicago. He began playing football as halfback for the Lane Tech High School team until he broke a bone in his leg, which in turn punctured a major artery, while playing. He quit sports and began acting, appearing in his high school's production of Guys and Dolls. After being featured on a local TV show as one of Chicago's top high school performers, Zmed transferred to the Goodman School of Drama and began studying voice at the Chicago Conservatory of Music.

He graduated with a BFA from the famed Goodman School of Drama. His first major acting gig was the role of the male lead, Danny Zuko, in the national touring company production of Grease. He later appeared in the Broadway stage musical three times, twice in the role of Zuko. At 40, Zmed revived the role of Zuko in the 1995 Broadway revival.

Early TV career

In 1978, Zmed made his television debut, appearing as "Marty Decker" in two episodes of ABC's Starsky and Hutch. From there, he won the role of "Socks Palermo" in the short-lived CBS television series Flatbush (1979), based upon the Sylvester Stallone & Henry Winkler film, The Lords of Flatbush. Following the show's cancellation, he was cast as "Frankie Millardo" in Goodtime Girls, which lasted one season (1980). He had guest roles on such series as Angie, I'm a Big Girl Now and Bosom Buddies, and made a guest appearance in 1982's An Evening at the Improv.

T.J. Hooker

Zmed reached celebrity status as "Officer Romano" in ABC's T.J. Hooker. He played "Fred Feliciano" in Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story (1984) and made guest appearances on a number of television shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including Hotel, Empty Nest, Murder, She Wrote and Caroline in the City. He left T.J. Hooker in 1985 when the show moved to CBS, choosing instead to replace Deney Terrio as host of Dance Fever for its final two seasons.

Movies

Following the huge success of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the movie version of Grease, Paramount Pictures quickly secured the rights to a sequel, and cast Zmed as "Johnny Nogerelli", the new leader of the "T-Birds", in Grease 2. Zmed's performance in his first motion picture led to other movie roles, including The Final Terror (1983) and Bachelor Party (1984).

Return to theatre

Zmed returned to stage work in the 1990s. He headlined the musical Children of Eden at the Paper Mill Playhouse, and starred in three shows on Broadway: Falsettos, Blood Brothers, and Grease. He most recently appeared as Noah in the musical The Ark in New York City, and in the film The Craving Heart (2006).

Current work

Zmed provided the voiceover for "Toth" in the 2002 video game, Star Wars Jedi Starfighter. He was also under contract until April 2009 with Princess Cruise Lines to perform Adrian Zmed, In Concert... aboard the Coral Princess and the Island Princess, debuting June 25, 2008. He has appeared as himself on VH1's I Love the 80s, Saturday Night Live and also filled in on The Bozo Show. He appeared as Basil (the "floating head") on the NBC soap opera Passions and participated in VH1's Confessions of a Teen Idol. In 2006, he filmed a 30-second PSA for the humane non-profit Dogs Deserve Better organization.

Personal life

Zmed has two sons, Zachary and Dylan, with his first wife and high school sweetheart, Barbara Fitzner, whom he married in 1976. Zmed married New Zealand actress/singer Susan Wood; that marriage also ended in divorce. He has been married to Lyssa Lynne since October 5, 2012. Zmed speaks Romanian.

Filmography

Film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Starsky & Hutch	Marty Decker	Episode: "Discomania"
1979	Flatbush	Socks Palermo	6 episodes
1979-1980	Angie	Maxie	3 episodes
1980	Goodtime Girls	Frankie Millardo	13 episodes
1980	For the Love of It	Fernando	TV film
1981	Revenge of the Gray Gang	Jimmy Steinbrenner	TV film
1981	I'm a Big Girl Now		Episode: "There's No Business Like Joe Business"
1981	Bosom Buddies	Joseph Raybonz	Episode: "Best Friends"
1982-1985	T.J. Hooker	Officer Vince Romano	72 episodes
1982	Grease 2	Johnny Nogerelli
1983	The Final Terror	Marco Cerone
1984	Bachelor Party	Jay O'Neill
1984	Glitter		TV pilot
1984	Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story	Fred Feliciano	TV film
1986	The Love Boat	Eddy Conrad	Episode: "The Matadors/Mrs. Jameson Comes Out/Love's Labors Found/Marry Me, Marry Me"
1986	Hotel	Bob	Episode: "Shadows of Doubt: Part 1"
1987	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Edgar Kraft	Episode: "When This Man Dies"
1987	You Are the Jury	Stanley Manning	Episode: "The State of Oregon vs. Stanley Manning"
1987	Hotel	Scott Osborne	Episode: "Dark Horses"
1988	Empty Nest	Gary	Episode: "Your Check Isn't in the Mail"
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Bert Firman	Episode: "From Russia... with Blood"
1989	Eyewitness to Murder	Tyler
1993	The Other Woman	Greg Mathews	Direct-to-video film
1994	Silk Stalkings	Calvin	Episode: "Judas Kiss"
1994	Improper Conduct	Doug
1998	The Steve Harvey Show	Derrick Love	Episode: "White Men Can Funk"
1998	Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister	Smitty	TV film
1998	Caroline in the City	Jonathan	Episode: "Caroline and the Rotten Plum"
1999	Unconditional Love	Mario
2000	Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show	Hook	Episode: "Hook, Whodunit?"
2000	Running from the Shadows	Sasch
2000	Little Insects	Sir Sneekleberry (voice)	Animated film
2002	Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter	Toth (voice)	Video game
2002	Until Morning	Kyle
2004	The Drone Virus	Frank Schmidt
2005	Shira: The Vampire Samurai	Kristof	Direct-to-video film
2005	Sex Sells: The Making of Touché	Lance Long
2006	The Craving Heart	Phil Jorgenson
2007	Passions	Basil	2 episodes
2007	Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular	Dirty Caroler Dad	TV film
2013	Outside the Box	Jack Torrence	Episode: "The Shining"
	Spring Break '83	Billy's father	Unreleased film

[ Source: Wikipedia ]