Actor Biography - Richard Dean Anderson

Richard Dean Anderson is better known to the world as the popular mullet-haired TV character MacGyver. Despite the popularity of the character, he managed to avoid being typecast and even took on challenging roles on several movies. In his first TV movie ‘Ordinary Heroes’ he played a Vietnam soldier who became blind three days before returning home. Later, as though tired of playing a good guy he started to take on roles as a villain. Before becoming a celebrity, Richard Dean Anderson lived an ordinary life in Minneapolis with his parents and three siblings. He, like most kids in Minnesota, wanted to become a professional hockey player. Unfortunately, at the age of 16 he broke both his arms and made this dream impossible.   Continue reading...Although he did not fulfill that childhood dream, he continues to feel passionate about the sport. In fact he even played a hockey coach in the MacGyver episode ‘Thin Ice’ and was one of the initiators of the Celebrity All Star Hockey team. Aside from hockey, Richard Dean Anderson found a deep love for adventure, which was realized when as a teenager he took a 5,641-mile bicycle trip from Minnesota through Canada and Alaska. After this stint, he pursued his interest in acting and went to study drama at St. Cloud State University and Ohio University where he had a band called Ricky Dean and Dante. However, he left school before finishing his degree and went on taking odd jobs such as a mime, juggler and a performer in marine mammals shows. His first big break was when he played Dr. Jeff Webber in the soap opera ‘General Hospital’, but it was the show MacGyver that made him a TV star. According to him, he was able to get the role because he had asked to wear his reading glasses for the ‘cold read’. The producers found that this act was perfect for the unpretentious character MacGyver and decided to give him the part. The TV series ran for seven seasons and had two made-for-TV movies. After the series ended, Richard Dean Anderson returned to the small screen as Colonel Jack O’Neill in the sci-fi series ‘Stargate SG-1’. He left the show in 2005 when his role in the series had significantly decreased. This allowed him to spend more time with his only child, Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson. Richard Dean Anderson has never married, but has a long-time partner Apryl Prose. He is known to be a private person, but he at times lets people in his personal interests such as his love for his “favorite people’, which in reality are dogs. Learn more about this TV actor in Richard Dean Anderson’s Official Website or MacGyver episode summaries.