Corbin Bernsen

Corbin Bernsen
Corbin Bernsen, 2013
Born	Corbin Dean Bernsen (1954-09-07) September 7, 1954 North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1967–present
Known for	LA Law LA Law: The Movie
Spouse(s)	Amanda Pays (1988–present; 4 children)

Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and director, known for his work on television. He is known for his roles as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series L.A. Law,^[1] as Dr. Alan Feinstone in The Dentist, as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych, and as Roger Dorn in the films Major League, Major League II, and Major League: Back to the Minors. He has also appeared regularly on other shows, including General Hospital and Cuts.

Early life

Bernsen was born in North Hollywood, California, the son of Harry Bernsen, Jr., a Hollywood producer, and veteran soap actress Jeanne Cooper, who appeared on The Young and the Restless.^[1][2] He graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1972. Bernsen is also a "double Bruin," having received both a BA in Theatre Arts in 1977 and an MFA in Playwriting in 1979 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).^[3][4]

Career

Acting

After a two-year appearance on the soap opera, Ryan's Hope,^[1] Bernsen was cast as lawyer Arnold Becker on the new Steven Bochco television series, L.A. Law in 1986. The series became a huge hit, and the role earned him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, appearances on dozens of magazine covers, and guest-starring roles on shows such as Seinfeld and The Larry Sanders Show.^[1] He was one of the few actors to remain on L.A. Law for the entire run of the show, until it ended in 1994.

Bernsen appeared with the British actor Bruce Payne in the films Kounterfeit and Aurora: Operation Intercept. He starred as the title character, Dr. Alan Feinstone, in the horror film The Dentist and its sequel. Bernsen was also cast as primadonna 3rd baseman, Roger Dorn, in the sports comedy Major League and appeared in both of the film's sequels. Bernsen appeared on General Hospital, where he portrayed John Durant from September 2004 until the character was murdered in May 2006.

Bernsen played Jack Sherwood on Cuts, appeared twice on Celebrity Mole, and played a lawyer on Boston Legal. He appeared as Q2 on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also had a recurring role as Captain Owen Sebring on the military drama JAG and played a Republican senator on two episodes of The West Wing. He directed, produced and appeared in the horror film Dead Air. Bernsen also co-starred in USA's Psych, playing the role of Henry Spencer, the father of the main character, Shawn Spencer (James Roday). In the film Rust, Bernsen played a former minister who returns to his hometown.

Corbin Bernsen also appears in the official music video of "Howlin' For You", by The Black Keys.

Bernsen at the 39th Emmy Awards in 1987

Bernsen appeared in a film he produced, directed and wrote titled 25 Hill, which is centered around the All-American Soap Box Derby, and is planning a baseball movie about zombies, called "Three Strikes, You’re Dead."^[5]

He also appeared as a guest star in Switched at Birth, the ABC Family television series in season 1, episode 22 (2012), "Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time".

Producing

Bernsen was president and co-owner of Public Media Works, a new media company that develops entertainment for targeted fan bases.^[6] He directed and starred in Carpool Guy, the company's first film; it was targeted at soap opera fans^[7] and released on DVD in 2005.

Bernsen then went on to form Team Cherokee Productions led him to follow up with Kyle MacDonald, the blogger behind one red paperclip. According to the book One Red Paperclip, in June 2006, Bernsen traded a role in the Team Cherokee Productions film Donna on Demand to the book's author, blogger Kyle MacDonald, for a snow globe of the band KISS. It was for this role that MacDonald eventually traded for a two-storey farm house.^[8]

In recent years, Bernsen has focused on making Christian-themed films. His first such film was RUST, released in 2010 by Sony Pictures. Bernsen, along with producing partner Chris Aronoff, formed Home Theater Films, an independent production company that, develops, produces, and markets films and television shows for the Christian market. 25 Hill, the company's first title, was released in July 2012. This was followed by 3 Day Test (2012) , Beyond the Heavens (2013), and Christian Mingle (2014).

Writing

In October 2015 Bernsen's debut novel was released by Pelican Book Group. The book, Rust: the Novel, is an adaptation of Bernsen’s 2010 feature film, Rust, in which Bernsen played the main character as well as served as writer and director.^[9]

Personal life

Bernsen has been married to British actress Amanda Pays since 1988.^[10] They have four sons.^[11][12]

In 2008, Bernsen and his family appeared on the NBC show Celebrity Family Feud, defeating the Margaret Cho family before losing to the crew from American Chopper.

Bernsen has one of the largest snow globe collections in the world. Bernsen said in an interview on Marie by Marie Osmond on January 21, 2013 that he had 8000 snow globes in his collection.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Corbin Bernsen at the Internet Movie Database
• Corbin Bernsen at AllMovie