Casper Van Dien - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile

Biography

This page uses content from the Casper Van Dien biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Casper Van Dien (born December 18 1968, in Milton, Florida) is an American actor, best known for his role as Johnnie Rico in Starship Troopers.

Biography

Early life

Casper grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey. His mother is a retired nursery school teacher, and his father a retired U.S. Navy pilot. There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Besides his father, his grandfather was a marine during WW II. Van Dien is a descendant of an old Dutch family long settled in the New York area; his other heritage includes Swedish, French, English and Native American. When he was older, his family returned to Florida, where he enrolled at the St. Petersburg branch of the Admiral Farragut Military Academy, graduating 3rd in command.

Next, he went to Florida State University in Tallahassee, enrolling in pre-med. Looking for college electives, he began taking theater classes. Soon acting began to overshadow medicine, and he dropped out of FSU to pursue a career in the field.

Career

Moving to L.A., he landed a number of small parts in various television series and movies. Two early breaks were recurring roles on One Life To Live and Beverly Hills 90210. This was followed by parts in several straight-to-video releases, including Night Eyes 4, Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus, Night Scream and, ironically, Casper: A Spirited Beginning.

He achieved more notice as the lead in the biopic James Dean: Race with Destiny. Soon after, he got the breakthrough role of Johnnie Rico in Paul Verhoeven's science fiction action film Starship Troopers. This directly led to his being cast as the "Lord of the Jungle" in Tarzan and the Lost City Tarzan and the Lost City official site Michael Lake, producer Soon following was the role of Brom von Brunt in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, a reworking of the classic Washington Irving tale.

Returning to his television roots, in 2000 he appeared in the Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC series Titans with Yasmine Bleeth, John Barrowman, Perry King and Victoria Principal.

In 2005, he produced and appeared in the reality series I Married a Princess, about his professional and personal life with Catherine Oxenberg, whose mother is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia.

Personal life

He was married to Carrie Mitchum (the granddaughter of Robert Mitchum) from 1993 to 1997. They had two children: Cappy (Casper Robert Mitchum Van Dien) and Gracie. The only time the couple worked together was near the end of their marriage, in James Dean: Race with Destiny, which also starred Robert Mitchum.

He dated Denise Richards for a short time, while they were making Starship Troopers.

During the filming of The Collectors, he met Catherine Oxenberg. They worked together again in the Christian thriller The Omega Code. The two married in May of 1999. Oxenberg had a daughter, India, from a previous marriage. Van Dien and Oxenburg now have two daughters of their own, Maya and Celeste.

In 2006, Van Dien was a guest on Larry King Live, where he admitted that he was sexually abused by a female babysitter at the age of eight. The abuse was a secret he kept until he was 32.

Trivia

General

The name Casper is a family tradition, given to the eldest son of his family for more than 11 generations.
Mark Twain is his great great great uncle.
He learned the box step, the jitterbug, and ballroom dancing from his parents.
He grew up on the same block as actor Robert Sean Leonard, and raced go-carts in their neighborhood.
He was a published poet at 17 years old.
In high school, he was often referred to as "Ken doll" due to his good looks, and got into many fights for that reason. People Magazine interview November 13, 2000
Coincidentally, he was later described as a "perfect life-sized Ken doll." Casper Van Dien bio at Tribute.ca
He was an extra in two 1989 episodes of Saved by the Bell.
People magazine gave him the title "Sexiest Soap Star" in November 2000.
He played the trumpet for 7 years, and played the bugle for "Taps" and "Reveille" during boot camp for Starship Troopers.
He filmed several scenes as Patrick Bateman, Sean's brother, in 2002's The Rules of Attraction. This was the same character that Christian Bale played in American Psycho. However, the scenes wound up on the cutting room floor.
Among his good friends are Bailey Chase (who lived in Van Dien's house in 1998 for a year) and Kenny Johnson.

Coincidences

The street on which he grew up in New Jersey, Van Dien Avenue, was named after his great great grandfather.
The last name of James Dean (whom he portrayed in a biopic) is a derivative of Van Dien.
Starship Troopers was filmed primarily in Casper, Wyoming.
He played a suitor of Katrina van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow. In fact, Van Dien's family are cousins to the van Tassels.

References

Filmography

Slayer (2006) (post-production) .... Hawk
Meltdown (2006) (post-production) .... Tom
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) .... Danny Freemont
Officer Down (2005) .... Officer Philip Gammon
Personal Effects (2005) .... Chris Locke
Starship Troopers (VG) (2005) .... General Juan "Johnnie" Rico
Hollywood Flies (2005) ... Zach
Dracula 3000 (2004) ... Capt. Abraham Van Helsing
What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004) (uncredited) .... Romantic Moritz
Skeleton Man (2004) ... Staff Sgt. Oberron
Maiden Voyage (2004) .... Kyle Considine
The Psychic (2004) ... Jack Barnes
Big Spender (2003) ... Eddie Burton
The Vector File (2002) ... Gerry
Danger Beneath the Sea (2001) ... Commander Miles Sheffield
Under Heavy Fire (2001) ... Capt. Ramsey
Chasing Destiny (2001) ...
Windfall (2001) ... Ace Logan
Road Rage (2000) ... Jim Travis
Cutaway (2000) ... Delmira
Python (2000) ... Bart Parker
Partners (2000) ... Drifter
The Tracker (2000) ... Connor Spears
Sanctimony (2000) ... Tom Merrick
Sleepy Hollow (1999) ... Brom Van Brunt
Thrill Seekers (1999) ... Tom Merrick
The Omega Code (1999) ... Gillen Lane
The Collectors (1999) ... A.K.
Shark Attack (1999) ... Steven McKray
On the Border (1998) ... Jake Barnes
Modern Vampires (1998) ... Dallas
Casper Meets Wendy (1998) ... Crewcut Man
Tarzan and the Lost City (1998) ... Tarzan/John Clayton
Starship Troopers (1997) ... Johnny Rico
James Dean: Race with Destiny (1998) ... James Dean
Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997) .... Bystander
Night Scream (1997) ... Teddie/Ray Ordwell Jr.
The Colony (1996)
Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus (1996) ... King Tal
Night Eyes 4 (1996) .... Roy
Love Notes (1996) ... Adam
Lethal Orbit (1996)
Kill Shot (1995) ... Randy

TV Work

The Fallen Ones (2005) ... Matt Fletcher
I Married a Princess (2005) ... Himself
Rock Me Baby (2004) - Love at First Flight (episode) ... Michael
Titans (2000-2001) ... Chandler Williams
The Outer Limits (1997) - Heart's Desire (episode) ... Jake Miller
Silk Stalkings (1995) - I Know What Scares You (episode) ... Jeff Chadwick
Married... with Children (1994) - Blonde and Blonder (episode) ... Eric
Beverly Hills, 90210 (1994) ... Griffin Stone
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1994) - The Cattle Drive (episode) ... Jesse
One Life to Live (1993-1994) ... Ty Moody
The Webbers (1993) (as Casper Robert Van Dien Jr.) .... Guy Miranda brings home
Life Goes On (1992) - Udder Madness (episode) ... Guest Star
Freshman Dorm (1992) ... Zack Taylor
Dangerous Women (1991) - Brad Morris
Menu for Murder (1990) .... Life Guard

External links

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