Life and career

Early life

King was born in Alliance, Ohio; his father was a physician. His maternal grandfather was Maxwell Perkins, a well-known editor for the publishing house Charles Scribner's Sons. Through Perkins, King is the great-great-grandson of U.S. Senator William M. Evarts and the great-great-great-great-grandson of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of independence. King received a degree in drama from Yale University, and also studied at Juilliard.

Career

King made his film debut in the 1972 film Slaughterhouse-Five and in 1975 portrayed Hammond Maxwell in the exploitation film Mandingo. Since the 1970s, he has appeared in dozens of feature films, television series and television movies. He auditioned for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars, but the role ultimately went to Harrison Ford. However, he played the character in the radio adaptations of Star Wars and both its sequels. In 1984, King was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his role in the TV movie The Hasty Heart. That same year, he landed the role of Cody Allen on the series Riptide. In 1993, he starred in the television adaptation of Sidney Sheldon's novel A Stranger in the Mirror, which is a roman à clef on Groucho Marx. In 1995, he portrayed the role of Hayley Armstrong on Melrose Place. He also appeared as Richard Williams in the NBC TV series Titans with Yasmine Bleeth in 2000 and as the President of the United States in the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow.

King has made guest appearances on TV shows including Spin City, Will & Grace, Eve, and Cold Case. He has also worked as a voice actor, voice-acting for Samson in the 1985 animated feature Samson & Delilah and the character of Randall in an episode of SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron.

Personal life

Married and divorced twice, King has two daughters, Louise and Hannah, and one granddaughter.

An avid motorcyclist, King was featured on Huell Howser's California's Gold where he spoke about his collection of motorcycles and sidecars. On December 1, 2008, the AMA issued a press release stating that, effective immediately, King had been appointed to its Board of Directors.

Filmography

• Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
• The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972)
• The Lords of Flatbush (1974)
• The Wild Party (1975)
• Mandingo (1975)
• Lipstick (1976)
• Andy Warhol's Bad (1977)
• The Choirboys (1977)
• A Different Story (1978)
• Search and Destroy (1979)
• Class of 1984 (1982)
• The Clairvoyant (1982)
• The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible: Samson & Delilah (VHS, 1985) - Samson (voice)
• Switch (1991)
• The Adventures of Ragtime aka Barclay's Big Adventure (1997)
• The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Television

• Deadly Visitor (1973)
• Medical Center (1 episode, 1973)
• Cannon (1 episode, 1974)
• Apple's Way (1 episode, 1974)
• Hawaii Five-O (2 episodes, 1974)
• Foster and Laurie (1975)
• Captains and the Kings (Miniseries, 1976)
• The Hemingway Play (1977)
• Aspen (Miniseries, 1977)
• The Cracker Factory (1979)
• Love's Savage Fury (1979)
• The Last Convertible (Miniseries, 1979)
• City in Fear (1980)
• Inmates: A Love Story (1981)
• Golden Gate (1981)
• The Quest (Unknown episodes, 1982)
• The Hasty Heart (1983)
• Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues (1984)
• Riptide (56 episodes, 1984-1986)
• Stranded (1986)
• I'll Take Manhattan (Miniseries, 1987)
• The Man Who Lived at the Ritz (1988)
• Perfect People (1988)
• Shakedown on the Sunset Strip (1988)
• Disaster at Silo 7 (1988)
• Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer (1989)
• The Hitchhiker (1 episode, 1989)
• The Knife and Gun Club (1990)
• Kaleidoscope (1990)
• Cacciatori di navi (1991)
• A Cry in the Night (1992)
• Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (1992)
• Almost Home (33 episodes, 1991-1992)
• Country Estates (1993)
• The Trouble with Larry (Unknown episodes, 1993)
• A Stranger in the Mirror (1993)
• Tales From the Crypt (1 episode, 1993)
• Jericho Fever (1993)
• SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron (Voice, 1 episode, 1994)
• Good King Wenceslas (1994)
• She Led Two Lives (1994)
• Burke's Law (1 episode, 1995)
• The Outer Limits (episode, "Birthright", 1995)
• Melrose Place (14 episodes, 1995)
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers-Ray Who Gives a Hoot (1995)
• Hijacked: Flight 285 (1996)
• Face of Evil (1996)
• Their Second Chance aka The Keller/Keller Story (1997)
• The Sentinel (1 episode, 1998)
• The Cowboy and the Movie Star aka Love on the Edge (1998)
• Her Married Lover aka A Clean Kill (1999)
• Will & Grace (1 episode, 2000)
• Titans (5 episodes, 2000)
• The Perfect Wife (2001)
• Spin City (3 episodes, 2002)
• Another Pretty Face (2002)
• Stranger at the Door (2004)
• Eve (1 episode, 2004)
• The Perfect Neighbor (2005)
• Home for the Holidays (2005)
• Without a Trace (1 episode, 2006)
• Cold Case (1 episode, 2007)
• Framed for Murder (2007)
• Brothers & Sisters (1 episode, 2007)
• Experience El Dorado (2009 TV Series)
• River Raft Nightmare (2015)

Award nominations

Golden Apple Award

• Nominated: Male New Star of the Year (1975)

Golden Globe Awards

• Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, The Hasty Heart (1984)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]