Cast Bios Richard Thomas

CAST BIOS RICHARD THOMAS (Bob) – Richard Thomas was born in New York City. Performing was in his genes – both of his parents were dancers with the New York City Ballet and were owners of the New York School of Ballet. Even as a child, Thomas had a Broadway show under his belt, as well as several appearances on television. But he catapulted to fame when he was cast as aspiring writer John-Boy in the long-running drama series “The Waltons,” a role that earned him an Emmy® Award. Among Thomas’ other television credits are the miniseries “Glory! Glory!,” and the TV movies “The Red Badge of Courage,” “Roots: The Next Generations,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Johnny Belinda,” Stephen King’s “It,” “Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus,” “Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232,” “Death in Small Doses,” “What Love Sees” and the upcoming “Nightmares and Dreamscapes – From the stories of Stephen King.” He had the title role in “Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story,” which he also co-produced. Thomas appeared on stage in New York in the world premier of Steven Tesich’s Square One and earned a rave review from The New York Times for his performance in the Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Richard II. After moving back to New York two years ago with his wife and 10-year-old son, his career in the theater has been non-stop. He starred in The Stendahl Syndrome, Democracy, (which was nominated for a Tony Award) and is about to embark on a 19 city national tour of Twelve Angry Men. # # # NANCY McKEON (Emily) - Nancy McKeon was born in Westbury, New York and began modeling baby clothes at the age of two. After moving to Los Angeles at 12, McKeon got her first TV role on the ABC hit series “Starsky and Hutch.” In 1980, McKeon joined the cast during the second season of NBC’s long-running series, “The Facts of Life,” and endeared herself to audiences as Jo Polniaczek. Some of her additional television credits include the “Category 6: Day of Destruction,” “Comfort & Joy, the (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL / “Wild Hearts” Cast Bios – Page 2 sitcom “Style and Substance,” "Cry For Help," the Tracy Thurman story, "Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage", "A Mother's Gift" and "In the Child's Name." Along with her plaudits for directing, she has produced multiple projects for television. McKeon helped develop the sitcom “Can’t Hurry Love” for CBS. In addition to starring in the series, McKeon was credited as a producer. She has also produced and starred in two telefilms for NBC: "Firefighters," about the first female firefighter in Los Angeles and "Strange Voices," in which she portrayed a woman suffering from schizophrenia. McKeon starred as Jinny Exstead for four seasons in the Lifetime original series, “The Division.” McKeon, her husband and two-year-old daughter divide their time between their ranch in Austin, Texas and their home in Los Angeles. # # # HALLEE HIRSH (Madison) – Hallee Hirsh was born at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. Her mother is a Captain in the United States Navy and her father is a retired United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. By the time she was three, Hirsh had starred in her first television commercial for Disney Cruise Lines and landed a recurring role on the ABC Soap “Loving,” just months after moving to New York. After moving to Los Angeles at 13, she found herself playing Anthony Edwards’ daughter on the hit show “ER.” A year later she landed another recurring role on the long running series “JAG,” playing Mattie Grace Johnson. Her other television credits include guest roles on “Judging Amy,” “Six Feet Under” and “Nip Tuck.” Currently, she is starring in the Discovery Kids Network series “Flight 29 Down,” which just began production for the second season. Hirsh’s feature film credits include “You’ve Got Mail” with Tom Hanks, “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Taking Back Our Town,” “Manna from Heaven,” “Incest” and “Happy Endings” with Lisa Kudrow. # # # GEOFFREY LEWIS (Hank ) – Geoffrey Lewis grew up in Rhode Island on a farm that had been in the Lewis family since the 1600’s. In college, a professor recommended him to the Plymouth Summer Theatre Festival and from there he went to New York to work in numerous Off-Broadway productions. (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL / “Wild Hearts” Cast Bios – Page 3 After reading Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road, Lewis hit the road traveling around the world for the next 10 years. Upon returning to the United States he was cast in his first film, “The Culpepper Cattle Company.” Several television roles followed until he was cast by Clint Eastwood in “High Plains Drifter” and went on to do six more Eastwood films, including “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,” “Every Which Way But Loose,” “Bronco Billy” and “Any Which Way You Can.” He starred in two John Milius films, “Dillinger” and “The Wind and The Lion” as well as roles in the blockbuster films “Lucky Lady” and “Heaven’s Gate.” He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his starring role in the TV series “Flo.” Lewis was recently seen in Rob Zombie’s “Devil’s Rejects” and Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “Plainsong” and “A Painted House.” He just completed a role in “Down in the Valley” with Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood. He is the father of 10 children including actress Juliette Lewis. --HALLMARK CHANNEL-- .

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