Lorenzo Lamas

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Lorenzo Lamas

Lorenzo Lamas at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989.
Born Lorenzo y de Santos Lamas
January 20, 1958 (1958-01-20) (age 50)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Years active 1976 ─ present
Official website
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Lorenzo Lamas (born on January 20, 1958 in Santa Monica, California) is an American television and film actor, television personality and martial artist, primarily on soap operas, movies and television, playing mostly villainous roles, primarily of Mediterranean and Norwegian descent. He is also sometimes called Lorenzo Lamas y de Santos (or Lorenzo de Santos Lamas), based on his Argentine father's full name, Fernando Alvaro Lamas y de Santos.[1] The naturally brown-headed Lamas is best-known for playing the role of Jane Wyman's irresponsible grandson, Lance Cumson, on the popular 1980s soap opera, Falcon Crest, the falsely accused cop, Reno Raines, the main character on the 1990s crime drama, Renegade, and as firefighter Hector Ramirez on The Bold and The Beautiful. He also served as judge on Are You Hot?.

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[edit] Early life

Lamas is the son of the late Argentine actor Fernando Lamas and U.S.-born actress of Norwegian descent, Arlene Dahl. He was brought up in Pacific Palisades, California and moved to New York City when he was 13 years old, around 1971. He graduated from the Admiral Farragut Academy in 1975, in Pine Beach, New Jersey, and then returned to Southern California. Lamas grew to the height of 1.85 m (5 foot. 10.5 inches) tall.

A moment in Lamas's life which has since become famous is when he approached his mother as a child and told her, "Mother, I want to be a star..." Then he corrected himself, "...I mean, an actor." She smiled at him and said, "I heard you the first time."

[edit] Acting career

He studied in Tony Barr's Film Actors Workshop. His first TV acting role was in 1976. Lamas is an accomplished martial artist, having studied karate and taekwondo since 1979 and acquired a number of black belts. In 1978's Grease, he played the "dumb jock" that Sandy goes out with to make John Travolta's character, Danny, jealous.

In 1980, he auditioned and won the role as Angela Channing's playboy grandson and henchman, Lance Cumson, on the pilot of an episode entitled The Vintage Years, which was retooled for the hit prime time soap, Falcon Crest. He had an unusual connection to series matriarch Jane Wyman, having been a 3 month old infant at the time his father, Fernando Lamas, guest-starred on Wyman's dramatic show 23 years prior. During his Falcon Crest days, Lamas actually had a lot of interaction with Wyman, and even spent a lot of time with her away from the set. For a time after Wyman became ill, he was also her caregiver. He received much of his screen-time in the ninth and final season, despite his series' lead's (Wyman) medical leave from the show. Lorenzo Lamas was nominated for two Soap Opera Digest Awards in 1986 and a Golden Globe a few years after, but took no trophies. An item of trivia from Falcon Crest is that Lamas was the only actor to appear in all 227 episodes. He didn't keep in touch of Wyman over the years after Falcon Crest, except on September 10, 2007, he received word that his best friend and mentor had died.

In 1984, he was nominated for worst actor in the Golden Raspberry Awards for the movie Body Rock. Curiously, he also performed a song on the soundtrack for this movie, and the track, "Fools Like Me" became his only single to date to crack the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In 1992, two years after Falcon Crest ended, Lamas played the role of the falsely accused cop Reno Raines in the syndicated series, Renegade. Like his first show, Falcon Crest, the show was also an instant success, where it was seen in over 100 countries, and during the final season, it moved from first-run syndication to USA Network, and ratings were still increasing. The show ended in 1997 after a run of five seasons.

From February 2004 until February 2007 Lamas played the role of Hector Ramirez on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.

His son, A.J. Lamas, continuing the family acting tradition, starred as Rafael Ortega on As the World Turns from October 2004 to February 2005, when the role was recast.

In August 2007, Lorenzo starred as the King of Siam in The King and I at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine. That fall, he performed at Kean University Premiere Stages in Union, NJ in the title role in Steven Dietz's Dracula. Lamas is scheduled to appear as El Gallo in The Fantasticks at Casa Mañana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas from June 3 - 8, 2008.

Lamas began appearing in the Zaxby's restaurant chain television advertisements in May 2008.

[edit] Personal life

Lamas has been married four times. His first was to Victoria Hilbert from 1981-82. His next marriage was to Michele Smith in 1983, resulting in two children: son A.J. Lamas, and daughter Shayne. Shayne can be seen on General Hospital in flashback scenes as a young Carly Corinthos; also appeared in the MTV reality show Twentyfourseven. Shayne was also the winner of the 2008 version of The Bachelor. Lamas and Smith split in 1985. He wedded Kathleen Kinmont (Kinmont was the daughter of his Falcon Crest costar Abby Dalton) in 1989; they were divorced in 1993. Lamas married his fourth wife, Playmate of the Month Shauna Sand, in 1996. Lamas and Sand have three daughters: Alexandra Lynne Lamas (b. November 22, 1997), Victoria Lamas (b. April 24, 1999), and Isabella Lorenza Lamas (b. February 2, 2001). Lamas divorced Sand in 2002.

Lamas fathered daughter Paton Lee with Daphne Ashbrook, to whom he was not married. He was engaged to Playmate of the Month Barbara Moore, but Lamas suddenly called off the wedding under questionable circumstances (he reportedly discovered his fiancée at her bachelorette party in the company of a male stripper[2]). He was romantically linked to The Bold and the Beautiful co-star Hunter Tylo in 2006, after splitting with musician Debbie Gibson.[3]

Lamas has raced automobiles in the IMSA and Skip Barber Formula Dodge Series racing series. Lorenzo Lamas himself drove a Ford convertible Thunderbird in all his races.

He is a co-chair on several children’s charities, including Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television work

[edit] References

  1. ^ International Directory of Performing Arts Collections and Institutions. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  2. ^ Lamas Wedding Blows Up. Page Six (2005-07-18). Archived from the original on 200. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
  3. ^ http://www.deborah-gibson.com/press/debstarb.jpg

[edit] External links