Early life

Bakula was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Sally (née Zumwinkel) and J. Stewart Bakula, a lawyer. He has a younger brother and a younger sister. His surname comes from partial Czech ancestry. He attended Jefferson College, followed by the University of Kansas for a time, but left, saying,

because I was offered a tour of Godspell, a national tour that was from St. Louis. I thought that sounded great and I went to my parents and I said I want to do this tour and they said go ahead, maybe it will get it out of your system. And you come back to school in a year or two, you come back. The tour was gonna start in August and the tour never started and school did, and then the tour fell apart and there I was sitting at home. So I was left holding the bag, basically, and then had to decide where to go from there. And I applied, was applying to other schools, I was gonna go to a Mormon theatrical kind of school and the more I looked at it more I spent time examining the school side of it. I just realized what I really needed to do was just pick up, pack up and go to New York.

Career

Bakula moved to New York City in 1976, where he made his Broadway debut playing baseball legend Joe DiMaggio in Marilyn: An American Fable, and appeared in the well-received Off-Broadway production Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down; he would later appear in its Pasadena Playhouse production. The success of Three Guys Off-Broadway brought him attention, and when his next show, the musical Nightclub Confidential, which co-starred his wife Krista Neumann, moved to Los Angeles, he moved there at the urging of his California agent, Maggie Henderson, and his New York agent, Jerry Hogan. As Bakula recalled in 2000,

I call up and said I got a show, I'm gonna be out there, I'm coming out in January. So it'll work out because it's time for pilot season and I'll be doing something so people can come and see me. ... And then I coincidentally had done a Disney Sunday Night ABC movie that was gonna come out some time in the winter. It was the time to go. Came out here on New Year's Day, 1986. The show I did turned out to be a big hit out here. It got me a lot of attention out here and I jumped onto the TV sitcom Designing Women in the beginning and was able to do that pilot ... and things kind of took off.

He was cast in two short-lived series: Gung Ho and Eisenhower & Lutz. During a Hollywood writers' strike, he returned to New York to star in Romance/Romance, and then afterward landed the lead role opposite co-star Dean Stockwell in the science fiction television series Quantum Leap. Bakula played time traveler Dr. Sam Beckett, who was trapped by a malfunction of his time machine to correct things gone wrong in the past. His performance in this program would earn him a Golden Globe Award (along with three nominations) and four Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor as well as five consecutive Viewers for Quality Television Awards for Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series.

In 1995, Bakula appeared on the cover of Playgirl. He voiced Danny Cat in the animated film, Cats Don't Dance (1997), singing in one number with Natalie Cole. Bakula played the aging veteran pitcher Gus Cantrell in Major League: Back to the Minors (1998), the final movie in the Major League trilogy. He also played Jim Olmeyer, same-sex partner of Sam Robards' Jim Berkley, in the film American Beauty (1999). As Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise, Bakula played the captain of Earth's first long-range interstellar ship. In 2006, he reprised the role of Archer for the Star Trek: Legacy PC and Xbox 360 video games as a voice-over. Bakula starred in the musical Shenandoah, a play which also provided his first professional theatrical role in 1976, at Ford's Theatre, in 2006. Bakula is heard singing "Pig Island" on Sandra Boynton's children's CD Philadelphia Chickens, which is labeled as being "For all ages except 43." Scott Bakula said that he might be starring as Sam in a Quantum Leap film as stated in TV Guide Magazine along with Dean Stockwell. At Comic Con 2010, he announced that a script was being worked on and that while he would be in the movie, he would not be in the main role.

Bakula performed various songs from his career for a one-night-only performance entitled An Evening with Scott Bakula at Sidney Harman Hall on January 18, 2008, as a benefit for the restoration of the historic Ford's Theater. Bakula had three appearances in 2008. He appeared as Atty. Jack Ross in an episode of Boston Legal, "Glow in the Dark", which aired on February 12, 2008 on the ABC network. From March 4 - April 20, he starred as Tony Hunter in the world premiere of Dancing in the Dark at The Old Globe in San Diego, California. Dancing in the Dark is based on the movie The Band Wagon (1953), which starred Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. Bakula appeared as the character Chris Fulbright in the five episode run of the Tracey Ullman sketch comedy series State of the Union on Showtime.

Bakula appeared in the dark comedy film The Informant! (2009) as Brian Shepard, an FBI agent working with the title character, Mark Whitacre, (played by Matt Damon). In April 2009, he began a recurring role on the television series Chuck as Stephen J. Bartowski, the eponymous character's long-lost father. From July 31 to August 2, 2009, he starred as Nathan Detroit in three performances of Guys and Dolls at Hollywood Bowl. Beginning in December 2009, Bakula began appearing as Terry, one of the three lead characters, along with Ray Romano (Joe) and Andre Braugher (Owen), in TNT's hour-long comedy/drama Men of a Certain Age. In 2011, he performed a voice cameo in the film Source Code as a slight nod to his character on Quantum Leap, with his catchphrase of "Oh, boy." and appeared in the feature-length documentary The Captains, which was written and directed by William Shatner, Bakula is interviewed by the original Star Trek captain about his life and career leading up to his performances as Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise. In the movie, Shatner interviews Bakula at his ranch in California where the pair ride horses and discuss the pitfalls that come with a career in television. In September 2011, Bakula starred in Terrible Advice by Saul Rubinek at the Menier Chocolate Factory. In April to May 2012, he guest starred in the last five episodes of Desperate Housewives as Bree Van de Kamp's criminal defense lawyer and third husband. In April 2013, he made a guest appearance on Two and a Half Men as a car dealer.In August 2013, it was announced Bakula would have a recurring role in the first season of HBO's new series, Looking. He also appeared in the film Geography Club (2013).

In February 2014, Bakula was cast as the lead in a backdoor pilot for the NCIS spin-off series, NCIS: New Orleans, which began as a two-part episode of its parent series in the spring season of 2014. NCIS: New Orleans has officially been renewed for a second season.

Personal life

Bakula married Krista Neumann in 1981 and had two children, Chelsy and Cody. They divorced in 1995. He married actress Chelsea Field in 1996 and they have two children, Wil Botfield and Owen Barrett.

Bakula says he was "...hardly ever home for four and a half seasons" of Quantum Leap, so he chose to prioritize his family life on later projects. His Star Trek: Enterprise contract required that filming be completed by 6 PM every Wednesday so he could have dinner with his family. During filming of NCIS: New Orleans, he returns home to Los Angeles every weekend to spend time with his wife.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Sibling Rivalry	Harry Turner
1991	Necessary Roughness	Paul Blake
1993	Flight from Hell	Jay
1994	Color of Night	Bob Moore
	A Passion to Kill	Dr. David Lawson
1995	Lord of Illusions	Harry D'Amour
	My Family	David Ronconi
1997	Cats Don't Dance	Danny	Voice
1998	Major League: Back to the Minors	Gus Cantrell
1999	American Beauty	Jim Olmeyer
2001	Life as a House	Officer Kurt Walker
2009	The Informant!	FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard
2011	Source Code	Colter's Father	Voice
	The Captains	Himself
2013	Geography Club	Carl Land
	Enter the Dangerous Mind	Kevin
2014	Elsa & Fred	Raymond Hayes
2016	Me Him Her	Mr. Ehrlick
TBA	Basmati Blues	Ben	Completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color	Jeffrey Wilder	Episode: "I-Man"
	My Sister Sam	Peter Strickland	Episode: "Teacher's Pet"
1986-87	Gung Ho	Hunt Stevenson	9 episodes
1986-88	Designing Women	Ted Shively	5 episodes
1987	CBS Summer Playhouse	Dr. Sanderson	Episode: "Infiltrator"
	Matlock	Jed Palmer	2 episodes
	The Last Fling	Drew	Television film
1988	Eisenhower and Lutz	Barnett M. 'Bud' Lutz, Jr.	13 episodes
1989-93	Quantum Leap	Dr. Sam Beckett	97 episodes
1993-96	Murphy Brown	Peter Hunt	13 episodes
1994	Dream On	Aaron Hendrick, Kidnapper #1	2 episodes
1995	The Invaders	Nolan Wood	Miniseries
1996	The Bachelor's Baby	Jake Henry	Television film
1996-97	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Mr. Smith	13 episodes
1999	NetForce	Alex Michaels	Television film
2000	In the Name of the People	John Burke
	The Trial of Old Drum	George Graham Vest
2001	A Girl Thing	Paul Morgan
2001-05	Star Trek: Enterprise	Captain Jonathan Archer	98 episodes / reprises role in video games Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek Online
2006-10	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Jeff Hunter	4 episodes
2007	American Body Shop	Maury	Episode: "Juicy Lou's"
	Blue Smoke	John Minger	Television film
2008	Boston Legal	Jack Ross	Episode: "Glow in the Dark"
	State of the Union	Chris Fulbright	4 episodes
2009-10	Chuck	Stephen J. Bartowski	7 episodes
2009-11	Men of a Certain Age	Terry Elliott	22 episodes
2012	Desperate Housewives	Trip Weston	5 episodes
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Kent Webster	Episode: "Vanity's Bonfire"
	Family Guy	Quagmire's reflection in mirror	Episode: "Burning Down the Bayit"
2013	Behind the Candelabra	Bob Black	Television film
	Two and a Half Men	Jerry	Episode: "Bazinga! That's From a TV Show"
2014-15	Looking	Lynn	8 episodes
2014-present	NCIS: New Orleans	Dwayne Pride	38 episodes
2014, 2016	NCIS		Pilot episodes: Crescent City (Part I & II) Crossover: Sister City (Part I)

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1990	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Quantum Leap	Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series		Won
1991	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series		Won
1992	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series		Won
1993	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series		Won
1994		Best Specialty Player	Murphy Brown	Won
2002	Saturn Awards	Best Actor on Television	Star Trek: Enterprise	Nominated
2003				Nominated
2004				Nominated
2013	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Behind the Candelabra	Nominated
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Actor in a New TV Series	NCIS: New Orleans	Nominated

Charities

Scott Bakula supports the following charitable causes: Underprivileged Children, Children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]