‘SHADOW ON THE MESA’
CAST BIOS
KEVIN SORBO (Ray Eastman) – For seven years, Kevin Sorbo played the hulking, heroic lead in USA Network’s “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” a role that made him a star. But the self-described jock from Minnetonka, Minnesota (the home of Tonka Toys), the fourth of five kids, got the acting bug at age 11 seeing something quite different – the musical Oklahoma and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice at Minneapolis’s famed Guthrie Theater. Though he made his first commercial - for Target - while attending the University of Minnesota, Sorbo graduated from Moorehead State University in Fargo, North Dakota, with a dual degree in advertising and marketing.
In 1982, after college, Sorbo moved to Texas, where he began studying acting in earnest. A model friend there convinced him to travel to Europe, where he stayed for three years, building a tremendous commercial reel, with spots shot in cities from Milan and Munich to Paris and London. Within days of his return to the States in 1985, he shipped off to Australia for new commercial assignments, returning to L.A. six months later. Sorbo remained in demand through the early 90s, for both television and commercial work – he estimates appearing in 57 spots in the three years prior to being cast as Hercules.
After appearing in such series as “Murder, She Wrote,” “Cheers” and “The Commish,” and after seven call backs with producer Sam Raimi, Sorbo was given the role of Hercules. The character appeared first in a series of two hour movies as part of USA Network’s “The Action Pack,” alongside William Shatner’s “Tek Wars” and others – Hercules being the sole survivor of the group and landing its own series. The show was filmed in New Zealand over the next seven years, producing over 100 one hour episodes and launching several spinoffs.
Not long after leaving the show in 1999, Sorbo returned to the U.S. and was asked by “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry’s widow, Majel Barrett, if he might be interested in appearing in one of her husband’s unproduced series, “Andromeda,” which he accepted. Sorbo spent the next five years playing the heroic Captain Dylan Hunt, whose ship was locked in a time warp for 303 years and finally set free in the future. Sorbo also served as executive producer for the series. Through his tenure on “Andromeda,” he also made TV appearances in such series as “Dharma and Greg,” “Two and Half Men,” and a recurring role on “The O.C.” He also starred in two direct-to-video feature film releases for Sony, “Walking Tall 2” and “Walking Tall 3” and the Hallmark Channel Original Movie “The Santa Suit.”
Sorbo lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Sam Jenkins, and their three children.
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WES BROWN (Wes Rawlins) – Wes Brown was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and raised in
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Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he attended Louisiana State University. Prior to graduating from LSU, Brown got his first role in his home state, filming the 2006 sports drama “Glory Road” on location in Southern Louisiana. Soon after, he relocated to Los Angeles and landed another supporting role in the Warner Bros. feature, “We Are Marshall,” in which he played actor Ian McShane’s son.
Brown is perhaps best known for his role on HBO’s Emmy winning vampire series, “True Blood,” in which he had a recurring role as Luke, a former football player with a vengeance against vampires. That season won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. From there, Brown went on to do a four episode arc on “Private Practice” as the drug-addicted love interest to Dr. Amelia Shepard.
Most recently, Brown had a recurring role on “90210” and has guest starred on “Scandal,” “Desperate Housewives,” “CSI: Miami,” “Criminal Minds” and “NCIS.” In addition, he's had recurring roles on the CW’s “Hart of Dixie” and the NBC medical drama “Trauma.” Brown was a series regular in the Lifetime Network’s miniseries, “Beach Girls” starring Rob Lowe and has starred in the Hallmark Channel Original Movies “Love Begins” and “Love’s Everlasting Courage.”
Currently, Brown is a series regular on the new NBC drama “Deception,” starring alongside Victor Garber, Tate Donovan and Meagan Good, which will premiere in 2013.
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MEREDITH BAXTER (Emily Rawlins) – Born in Los Angeles, California, Meredith Baxter was the only daughter born to aspiring actress Whitney Blake and radio announcer Tom Baxter. After her parents divorced, when she was five, her mother wed Hollywood producer Jack Fields.
Baxter attended Hollywood High School, where she found her niche in the highly esteemed drama department. Bit by the acting bug, she went on to train at Michigan's Interlochen Arts Academy. While developing her acting skills, she met Bob Bush, to whom she was married from 1966-69. After their divorce, Baxter became a 22-year-old struggling actress and a single mother of two. With the help of her stepfather, she began her professional career with supporting roles in the critically panned horror film “Ben” (1976), and in the political thriller “All the President's Men” (1976), which starred Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.
During the 1970s, Baxter found more lucrative work on the small screen. In 1972, she and actor David Birney (whom she married in1974) starred as the title characters in the CBS sitcom “Bridget Loves Bernie.” The series failed to find a wide audience and was cancelled after one season. As the decade progressed, Baxter made a name for herself in the role of Nancy Lawrence Maitland on the dramatic series “Family” (1976-80). Her performance as the eldest daughter of a single mother earned her respect from her peers, as well as two Emmy® nominations.
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Baxter also had enormous success when producer Gary David Goldberg handpicked her to play hippie mom Elyse Keaton on the NBC sitcom “Family Ties” (1982-89), which introduced her to a whole new generation of viewers. Baxter and actor Michael Gross were cast as the liberal parents of conservative children played by Michael J. Fox, Justine Bateman and Tina Yothers.
After the series' acclaimed seven-year run, Baxter returned to television movies in an attempt to land more serious roles. She shattered her wholesome image with dramatic turns as a psychotic kidnapper in “The Kissing Place” (1990), as a murderer in “A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story” (1992), and as a member of the Donner Party in “One More Mountain” (1994). For the remainder of the 1990s, Baxter settled into a routine of dozens of TV appearances. In 2006, she appeared as a temporary co-host on the “Today show” with regular host Matt Lauer. The next year, she made a guest appearance on the ABC drama “What About Brian” and on the TV series “Cold Case.” In 2009, she starred in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “Bound By a Secret,” opposite of Lesley Ann Warren.
Most recently, Baxter has starred in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie “Naughty or Nice” during the holiday season 2012, and will appear in the upcoming Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “Reading, Writing & Romance” in 2013. She has also had recent roles on ABC Family’s “Switched at Birth,” “Dan Vs.,” “Brothers” and a voice role on “Family Guy.”
In addition to her work as an actress, Baxter works as an entrepreneur. She launched her own line of beauty and skin products, called Meredith Baxter Simple Works, which helps raise funds for her breast cancer research foundation.
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GAIL O’GRADY (Mona Eastman) – Gail O’Grady is an award-winning actress who is best known for her acclaimed role as Donna Abandando on the hit series, “NYPD Blue.” O’Grady starred in the series for three years, from 1993 to 1996, garnering her three Primetime Emmy® Award Nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 1995.
Originally hailing from Detroit, Michigan, O’Grady got her start in acting with commercials, including a famous Pepsi commercial she filmed with Michael J. Fox in 1989. Some of her early television work included roles on “Werewolf,” “China Beach,” “Cheers,” “Matlock,” “Murder She Wrote,” “Designing Women,” “Silk Stalkings,” “Burke’s Law” and “Promised Land.”
After finding success on “NYPD Blue,” O’Grady went on to star in several other series, receiving acclaim for her many varied roles and performances. Most notably, she (more)
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starred for three seasons on the Emmy®-Award winning drama “American Dreams,” in which she played matriarch Helen Pryor alongside Tom Verica and Brittany Snow. O’Grady also had recurring roles on “Monk,” “Boston Legal” and “Desperate Housewives,” and guest-starring roles on numerous hit series, including “Las Vegas,” “CSI,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Hellcats,” “Drop Dead Diva,” “Necessary Roughness” and “Hawaii Five-O.”
O’Grady is also no stranger to film. She has starred in several made-for-TV movies, including the Hallmark Channel Original Movies “All I Want for Christmas” and “Living Out Loud,” the Hallmark Movie Channel Original “After the Fall, CBS’s “Mayday,” Lifetime Network’s “While the Children Sleep” and “Swimming Lessons,” and USA’s “The Hostage Negotiator,” among many others. Her feature film credits include “Three Amigos,” “Blackout,” “The Josephine Baker Story,” “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,” “Hope Ranch” and “An American Carol.”
In 1996, People magazine named O’Grady as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. She has one child, a son, and resides in Los Angeles.
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GREG EVIGAN (Philip Danville) – Greg Evigan has enjoyed success as an actor, singer, songwriter and musician. He is known around the world for his character portrayals of B.J. McKay on the hit television series “B.J. and the Bear” and Joey Harris in “My Two Dads.”
Born in South Amboy, New Jersey, Evigan, who has been successful in both drama and comedy, started his talented career in music, performing in local New Jersey bands. At age 17, he got his first job as a singer in the original Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Two years later, he continued his stay on the Broadway stage in the leading role of Danny Zuko in the original production of Grease.
After Evigan’s back–to-back hit shows on Broadway, music and television producer Don Kirschner brought him to California. Evigan recorded an album with Paul Shaffer, the notorious band leader of “Late Night with David Letterman.” Evigan and Shaffer supplied original music for the TV series “A Year at the Top” and were signed to Casablanca Records. They recorded an album together as the duet Greg & Paul.
Evigan went on to star in thirteen television series, twelve films and more than 56 different television shows including “Desperate Housewives,” “Cold Case,” “CSI: Miami,” “JAG,” “Reba,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Melrose Place,” “7th Heaven,” “Pacific Palisades” and “Family Rules.” In 2009, he executive produced the made-for-TV movie, “Phantom Racer,” for the Sy-Fy Network, in which he also had a starring role as J.J. Sawyer. In October 2010, Evigan starred in the Hallmark Movie Channel Original film, “After the Fall.”
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Evigan has sung the theme songs for many of the series that he has appeared in, including the “B.J. & the Bear” theme. In addition, he co-wrote and sang the theme for the hit series "My Two Dads," called “You Can Count On Me,” and sang a duet with Sheryl Crow for the "P.S. I Love You" soundtrack.
A musician who plays the piano, drums, saxophone and writes in a variety of different styles of music, Evigan is currently mixing a new CD, with more original pieces, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, featuring Evigan at the piano. Evigan has his own recording studio in Woodland Hills, California where he produced and sang on his pop album, “Slow Down” featuring ten of his original pieces.
His latest projects include NBC’s “The Finder” and A&E’s “The Glades.” Evigan and his daughter Vanessa recently co-wrote and produced the pilot of a half-hour comedy called “UnReal,” which is completed and in the pitching stages.
Evigan considers his greatest achievement raising three children with his wife Pam—Briana, an actress, Jason, a musician and Vanessa Lee, an actress.
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