Jack Wagner (actor)
Encyclopedia
Peter John "Jack" Wagner, II (born October 3, 1959, Washington, Missouri
Washington, Missouri
Washington is a city on the Missouri River in Franklin County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,243 at the 2000 census. It is the corn cob pipe capital of the world, with Missouri Meerschaum located in Washington.-Geography:...

) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor and singer, best-known for his roles on the soap operas General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

, The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....

, and Melrose Place.

Early years

Raised Catholic, Wagner attended St. Gertrude's parochial school and St. Francis Borgia Regional High School in his hometown, where he played football and basketball. He attended the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

 for one year, then junior college before eventually enrolling at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

, where he tried out for the golf team and drama department. The drama department offered him a full scholarship.

Acting career

Wagner first appeared on the scene in 1982 in the role of Clint Masterson in Douglas Marland
Douglas Marland
Douglas Marland was an American actor and writer of soap operas.-Career:He began his soap opera career as an actor, appearing on the Irna Phillips series The Brighter Day and As the World Turns. He also did odd jobs on the side as a director for small theatre groups...

's short-lived cable soap opera, A New Day In Eden (co-produced by Susan Flannery
Susan Flannery
Susan Flannery is an American soap opera actress. She is known for her role Stephanie Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful and for her role as Dr. Laura Spencer Horton on Days of our Lives ....

, who would later be Wagner's co-star on The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....

).

His most famous role has been Frisco Jones on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

(1983–1988, 1989–1991, 1994–95). He was half of a supercouple
Supercouple
A supercouple or super couple is a popular or financially wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or even obsessive fashion...

 with Kristina Wagner's Felicia and played the father of Georgie
Georgie Jones
Georgianna "Georgie" Jones is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. She is the daughter of supercouple Frisco and Felicia Jones. Georgie was portrayed by actress Lindze Letherman, who first appeared on the show in September 2002 and left in December 2007...

 and Maxie Jones
Maxie Jones
Mariah Maximilliana "Maxie" Jones is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital currently portrayed by Kirsten Storms. She is the oldest daughter of supercouple Frisco and Felicia Jones. In 2009, Storms was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her role of Maxie Jones...

. He played Warren Lockridge
Warren Lockridge
Warren Lockridge was a fictional character on the American soap opera Santa Barbara. He was one of the original characters, first portrayed by American actor John Allen Nelson from August 1, 1984 to April 29, 1986, then briefly by Scott Jenkins, from January 7 to March 24, 1987...

 on Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara (TV series)
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...

(1991–93).

He appeared in several made for television films including Moving Target with Jason Bateman
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...

, Lady Killer
Lady Killer (1995 film)
Lady Killer is a 1995 drama film directed by Steven Schachter, and stars Judith Light as a married woman who breaks off an affair with a younger man, Jack Wagner, who doesn't react well and targets her daughter, Tracey Gold.-Plot:...

with Judith Light
Judith Light
Judith Ellen Light is an American actress. Her television roles include Karen Wolek on the soap opera One Life to Live, Angela Bower on the sitcom Who's the Boss?, Claire Meade on ABC's TV series Ugly Betty and Judge Elizabeth "Liz" Donnelly on Law & Order Special Victims Unit.-Early life:Light...

, Frequent Flyer with Joan Severance
Joan Severance
-Early life:Severance was born in Houston, Texas to John and Martha Severance. Her father was an IBM Systems Manager that had to move frequently around the world. According to Severance "by the time I was 11, we'd lived in 12 different places". Severance and her family also lived in Libya, but in...

, Nicole Eggert
Nicole Eggert
Nicole Elizabeth Eggert is an American actress. Notable roles include Jamie Powell in the television series Charles in Charge and Summer Quinn in the TV Series Baywatch. She was most recently a contestant on the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club.-Early life:Eggert was born in Glendale,...

 and Shelley Hack
Shelley Hack
Shelley Marie Hack is an American supermodel, actress, producer, and political & media advisor. Hack is best remembered for her role as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of the ABC Television Drama Charlie's Angels ; replacing the departing Kate Jackson...

, and Dirty Little Secret opposite Tracey Gold
Tracey Gold
Tracey Gold is an American actress and former child star best known for playing Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains. In early 2009, she co-hosted with Fred Roggin on the live show GSN Live.-Early life:...

.

He appeared for many years on the nighttime soap Melrose Place as Dr. Peter Burns (1994–1999), and directed episodes as well. Since early 2003 he has played Dominick Marone
Dominick Marone
Dominick "Nick" Marone is a fictional character on CBS soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. The character has been played by Jack Wagner since his introduction on March 28, 2003.-Nick Payne:...

 on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....

. He appeared in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 TV series Titans with Yasmine Bleeth
Yasmine Bleeth
Yasmine Amanda Bleeth is an American actress. Her television roles include Caroline Holden in the long-running series Baywatch.-Early life and career:...

 in 2000, and in Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach (TV series)
Sunset Beach was an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on January 6, 1997, and last airing on December 31, 1999. The show followed the loves and lives of the people living in a fictional coastal city named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California...

in 1997.

In 1985, Wagner was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...

 for "Best Younger Actor
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series
The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series has been given every year at the Daytime Emmys since the 12th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony in 1985. The award category was originally called the Outstanding Young Man in a Drama Series...

" for his work on General Hospital, but he lost to Brian Bloom
Brian Bloom
Brian Keith Bloom is an American actor, voice actor, and screenwriter.Bloom was born in Merrick, New York, the brother of producer/actor Scott Bloom and musician Mike Bloom....

 from As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

. He was nominated again in 2005 for "Best Lead Actor
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series is an award which has been given every year at the Daytime Emmys ceremony since 1974.In the lists below, the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees....

" for The Bold and the Beautiful, but lost to Christian LeBlanc
Christian LeBlanc
Christian Jules LeBlanc is an American actor.LeBlanc currently plays Michael Baldwin on The Young and the Restless. He first played the role from 1991 to 1993, and then resumed the role in 1997. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for the role six times, and won for Outstanding Lead Actor...

 from The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...

.

Singing and Stage Career

Wagner has recorded five albums. In 1985 he topped the Billboard charts with the ballad "All I Need
All I Need (Jack Wagner song)
"All I Need" is a 1984 song by American actor and singer Jack Wagner.Wagner became known for his role as Frisco Jones on the soap opera General Hospital prior to recording the song; he has since had roles on other television programs, such as The Bold and the Beautiful and Melrose Place...

". The single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

.

His albums include:
  • 1984: All I Need
    All I Need (Jack Wagner album)
    All I Need is the debut studio album from General Hospital star Jack Wagner. Quincy Jones protegees Glen Ballard and Clif Magness oversaw the...

    #44 Peak Billboard 200
  • 1985: Lighting Up the Night #150 / Peak Billboard 200
  • 1987: Don't Give Up Your Day Job #151 Peak Billboard 200
  • 1993: Alone in the Crowd
  • 2005: Dancing in the Moonlight


He has had the following Hot 100 singles:
  • 1984: "All I Need" #2 US (2 weeks) behind Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' - January 12, 1985 (#1 AC - 2 weeks)
  • 1985: "Lady of My Heart" #76 US - Jun 15, 1985
  • 1985: "Too Young" #52 US - Dec 7, 1985 (#15 US Hot Adult Contemporary)
  • 1986: "Love Can Take Us All The Way" - #15 US Hot Adult Contemporary - April 26, 1986
  • 1987: "Weatherman Says" #67 US - May 30, 1987


Although Wagner had been playing the guitar since he was 14, his initial audition for the role of "Frisco Jones" on General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

with producer Gloria Monty did not include any singing. Wagner had five auditions with ABC before ultimately winning the role of "Frisco Jones". His final audition in 1983 included performing the Kenny Loggins song "Wait a Little While." ABC musical honcho Kelli Ross hooked Wagner up with her good friend in legendary producer Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...

  who oversaw his initial 5 song EP "All I Need". Eventually, they would release a full ten song LP of "All I Need" once the song "All I Need
All I Need (Jack Wagner song)
"All I Need" is a 1984 song by American actor and singer Jack Wagner.Wagner became known for his role as Frisco Jones on the soap opera General Hospital prior to recording the song; he has since had roles on other television programs, such as The Bold and the Beautiful and Melrose Place...

" began to rise the charts. Quincy Jones proteges Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...

 and Clif Magness produced Wagner's first two albums on Qwest Records
Qwest Records
Qwest Records is the American record label started by Quincy Jones in 1980 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, and owned byWarner Music Group. although Quincy was still under contract with A&M records through 1981. George Benson's 1980 Give Me the Night LP was the first release on Qwest,...

/Warner Brothers. Wagner's singing talents led him to appearances on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

, Solid Gold
Solid Gold (TV series)
Solid Gold is an American syndicated music television series that debuted on September 13, 1980. Like many other shows of its genre, such as American Bandstand, Solid Gold featured musical performances and various other elements such as music videos...

, Soul Train
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...

and The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...

.

Eventually, his musical theater talent led to the title role(s) in a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 run of Jekyll & Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde (musical)
Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...

, making him the first celebrity casting. Wagner has stated this was "a role of a lifetime" and performing the dual characters on Broadway was his most fulfilling professional experience. Wagner says "the role I had the most fun playing, TV-wise, would be Dr. Peter Burns (Melrose Place). He was sort of an evil character who could redeem himself. Theatrically, it was when I played Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway." He also appeared in a national theatre tour in 1987 in the role of Tony in West Side Story, and a national tour of Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...

in 1988.

While he toured as a rock/pop performer in concert consistently from 1985–1988, Wagner did not perform in the 1990s except for an occasional benefit appearance. In 2005, Wagner resumed performing in concert sporadically. His more recent concerts have included a diverse blend of songs from his own catalog, cover songs from artists such as Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

, Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...

, and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, and originals. His most recent concert performance was November 13, 2010 at the Mohegan Sun Casino Wolf Den in Connecticut.

Personal life

He was married to actress Kristina Wagner, who played opposite him on General Hospital as his love interest Felicia Cummings. After marital troubles, they filed for divorce twice, and it was finalized in 2006. The Wagners have two sons, Peter (born 1990) and Harrison. He has been dating his Melrose Place love interest Heather Locklear
Heather Locklear
Heather Deen Locklear is an American actress best known for her television roles as Sammy Jo Carrington on Dynasty, Officer Stacy Sheridan on T.J...

 since 2007. They became engaged in August 2011. Wagner said of his relationship with Locklear and the prospect of marriage: "[W]e're not rushing into anything - we're really focusing on being good parents". In November 2011, Jack met his 23 year old daughter Kerry for the first time at a concert in Florida. Kerry had been placed up for adoption at birth by her mother and recently hired a private investigator to find her biological parents.

Wagner is an avid golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

er, ranking as one of the leading celebrity golfers. He is the only non-professional athlete to have won the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic
American Century Celebrity Golf Classic
The American Century Championship is the premier celebrity golf tournament, held during the second full week of July at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada, on the shores of Lake Tahoe...

, the annual competition to determine the best golfers among American sports and entertainment celebrities. Wagner first won the event in 2006 and repeated as champion in 2011 when he bested Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo by 3 strokes. Wagner also won the Missouri junior college championship in 1980, and at one point considered a career in pro golf. He has a Celebrity Golf Classic named after him that raises funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society , founded in 1949, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. LLS's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of...

. Wagner created the event to support the Society's mission to cure such cancers as leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

, lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...

, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. The Golf Classic raised more than $600,000 in its first two years to fund critical cancer research and patient services.

Miscellaneous

  • Wagner hosted the Miss Universe
    Miss Universe
    Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....

     Pageant twice: in Honolulu, Hawaii
    Hawaii
    Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

     in 1998; and in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago
    Trinidad and Tobago
    Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

     in 1999.

Selected Stage Work Highlights

  • Butterfly - Pink (1987) East Haddam Playhouse, Connecticut
  • West Side Story - Tony (1987) National Touring Company
  • Grease - Danny Zuko (1988) National Touring Company
  • They're Playing Our Song (1992) Long Beach Civic Light Opera, California
  • Jekyll & Hyde - Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde (2000) Broadway

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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