Tom Wopat

Tom Wopat
Tom Wopat (1979)
Born	Thomas Steven Wopat (1951-09-09) September 9, 1951 Lodi, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, singer
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Vickie Allen (divorced) Kathy Wopat (present)

Thomas Steven "Tom" Wopat (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Luke Duke in the long-running 1979 television series The Dukes of Hazzard, along with John Schneider. He also played Jeff, one of Cybill Shepherd's ex-husbands on the sitcom Cybill.

Life and career

Thomas Steven Wopat was born in Lodi, Wisconsin, the fifth of eight siblings born to Albin Carl Wopat (December 10, 1919 – January 27, 1983) and his wife, Ruth Arlene (née Skarda) Wopat (May 20, 1920 – September 23, 1959).^[1]His father, a devout Roman Catholic,^[2] who raised his children in that faith, was a dairy farmer of Czech descent.^[3]

Wopat attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and made his television debut on One Life to Live. He achieved television fame in the popular television series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–85), then embarked on a music career. He has recorded eight albums. Musically, he switches between rock and roll and country music styles, though his last two albums have been of classic pop standards. His 1980s albums were on EMI Nashville. The latter recording, Dissertation on the State of Bliss, is a collection of Harold Arlen songs. Wopat first appeared on the Broadway stage as a replacement in the 1977 musical I Love My Wife, as "Wally". He later appeared as a replacement in the stage musicals City of Angels, and Guys and Dolls. In 1981 he played the main character, Billy Bigelow in the musical, Carousel, at the Augusta Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan. He appeared in the opening cast of the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun as "Frank Butler", opposite Bernadette Peters, Susan Lucci and Crystal Bernard, who played Annie Oakley (in consecutive order); he was nominated for a Tony Award in 1999 for his performance as Butler. He later appeared in revivals of Chicago and 42nd Street.^[4][5]

In 1996, Wopat served as the first host of Dick Clark's new country music performance show on The Nashville Network, "Prime Time Country". However, his time on the show was short-lived. Before the end of the first season, Wopat was replaced by Gary Chapman as host.

In 2005, Wopat appeared in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross as James Lingk. He starred in the North Carolina Theatre's production of The Music Man as Harold Hill in November 2006.^[6]

In 2008, Wopat starred on Broadway as the father in A Catered Affair, written by Harvey Fierstein (book) and John Bucchino (score), which opened on April 17, 2008 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.^[7] He received his second Tony nomination for that performance.

Wopat and Nathan Lane took part in a workshop of a new musical, Catch Me If You Can, in July 2007, based on the film directed by Steven Spielberg (2002).^[8]

In July 2009, he originated the role of Frank Abignale, Sr. in the musical Catch Me if You Can (based on the film of the same name) in July and August 2009 at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington.^[9]

Wopat was featured in the new musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim, conceived and directed by James Lapine, presenting the life and works of Stephen Sondheim. The revue premiered on Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre's Studio 54 on March 19, 2010 in previews and closed on June 27.^[10]

Wopat had a small role, as U.S. Marshal Gil Tatum, in the Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained (2012).^[11] Wopat portrayed Ryan Hutton in the musical Lovestruck in 2013.

In 2014 he returned to the role of Luke Duke in a commercial for Autotrader.com. John Schneider returned to play Bo Duke.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

• Tom Wopat's Official Site
• Tom Wopat at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Wopat at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tom Wopat at the Internet Off-Broadway Database