Was fired from Matlock (1986), due to his serious drug and alcohol abuse in 1989.
Had missed 7 episodes or had limited appearances during the third season of Matlock (1986), because he was sent to a rehabilitation clinic for his drug and alcohol abuse, where he stayed on an outpatient basis.
At Copiague High School, he was the star of the track team, with the encouragement of his mother.
Before he was a successful actor, he worked with the inaugural theater group at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., where he conducted workshops as a founding member of the D.C. Black Repertory Company.
After he married Linda Copling, he became a traveling evangelist, and he and his wife spent the next decade preaching in gospel musicals.
Had lost his father when he was only 12.
Graduated from Copiague High School in Copiague, Suffolk County, New York, in 1967.