Classic WASP leading man material, and the prince consort of the TV miniseries, Stephen Collins has to some extent been limited by his looks and manner. Beginning in the mid-1970s, he has frequently been cast as the decorative male supporting dynamic and more established female stars; his roles designed to make them look good and not filch too much of their spotlight. He has, though, proved a durable and likable performer, especially on TV, managing to find some variety whenever possible in his established type.
A tall, hearty, extremely handsome actor with dirty-blond hair, a cleft chin and firm, regular features, Collins began acting professionally while still in college. Joseph Papp saw him performing in a rock musical and engaged him for a small part in a New York summer Shakespeare production of "Twelfth Night". Before long, Collins had appeared on TV and on Broadway in "Moonchildren" (1971). Later Broadway success in "The Ritz" (1975) led to his feature debut in "All the President's Men" (1976). He was soon cast as clean-cut preppies in several films, but the old-fashioned, cliched romance "The Promise" (1979) and the smarmy sex farce "Loving Couples" (1980) failed to establish him as a feature lead. Collins did receive wide exposure in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979), as the commander whose role is temporarily usurped by Capt. Kirk, but all the attention went to the old series' cast and the special effects.
Collins was keeping busier, though, on the small screen, if often in rather routine material. He made his TV-movie debut as an FBI agent in "Brink's: The Great Robbery" (1976) and followed up with his first miniseries, "The Rhinemann Exchange" (1977). Cast in roles which evoked American Everymen of yore, he reprised Lew Ayres' old role in a TV-movie remake of "The Dark Mirror" (1984); ventured into Harrison Ford territory with ABC's "Tales of the Gold Monkey" (1982-83), a modest adventure series imitating "Raiders of the Lost Ark"; and played Henry Fonda's character as a younger man in the moving "Summer Solstice" (1981). (He had done likewise in features, playing William Holden's character at age 25 in Billy Wilder's "Fedora" 1978). Later TV-movies ranged from "Weekend War" (1988) to "A Family Divided" (1995), and Collins again tried series TV with NBC's "Tattinger's" (1988-89; revamped as "Nick & Hillary" 1989), the saga of a family restaurant, and CBS's "Working It Out" (1990), a sitcom pairing him with Jane Curtin. Though neither series lasted long, they did suggest an untapped talent for comedy, which was not sufficiently exercised in Collins' returns to the big screen for a poor remake of "Brewster's Millions" (1985) or the unpopular Whoopi Goldberg vehicle "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1986).
Where Collins seemed to do best was in the TV miniseries. "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" (1987), admittedly, showcased dueling divas Ann-Margret and Claudette Colbert, but Collins, suitably cast as the hapless bone of contention between them, won an Emmy nomination for his good work. "Scarlett" (1994) returned him to movie memories of yore, with Collins stepping into Leslie Howard's shoes as the pallid Ashley Wilkes, but the result was at least high profile. "A Woman Named Jackie" (1991), meanwhile, again focused on a strong woman, but Collins gave a very detailed and sincere performance in the difficult role of JFK. By now regularly trying to, as director John Erman put it, "create a character who wasn't just a sort of Arrow collar ad", Collins worked hard to add some edge to the well-to-do dullard who marries beneath his social class in Erman's feature remake "Stella" (1990), showcasing Bette Midler, but audiences didn't turn out for the result. Collins continued in similar vein with "The First Wives Club" (1996), contending with Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton. He also ventured back to series TV as a progressive minister in "7th Heaven" (The WB, 1996-).
Family
daughter:Kate Collins
father:Cyrus S Collins
mother:Madeleine Collins
Education
Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts BA 1969
Companion
Faye Grant.wife,
Marjorie Weinman.wife,
Awards
Milestones
1999 Had cameo in "Drive Me Crazy" as Melissa Joan Hart's father; real-life wife Faye Grant played his estranged on screen spouse
1998 Directorial debut with an episode of his series "7th Heaven"
1996 Starred on The WB drama series, "7th Heaven"
1994 Wrote first novel, "Eye Contact"
1990 Played David Stuart on the NBC sitcom, "Working It Out"
1985 Returned to feature films in "Brewster's Millions"
1982 - 1983 First TV series: played Jake Cutter on the ABC adventures series, "Tales of the Gold Monkey"
1980 Last film for five years, "Loving Couples"
1979 Played first male lead in a feature film in "The Promise"
1977 First TV miniseries, "The Rhinemann Exchange"
1976 Made feature film debut in "All the President's Men"
1976 First TV-movie, "Brinks: The Great Robbery", in which he played a leading role
1975 Performed on Broadway in "The Ritz"; led to his being cast in his first film
1971 Acted the role of Dick on Broadway in the play, "Moonchildren"
1970 Made TV debut in a guest spot on the ABC detective drama, "Dan August"
1969 Went to New York to play the small role of Valentine in a Joseph Papp production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", staged at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park in New York
1968 Made professional stage debut in the title role of "Baal", at the Island Repertory Theater in Edgartown, Massachusetts
Raised in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
Performed onstage on tour with the First National Company in a production of "Forty Carats"
Played Nick Tattinger on NBC's short-lived, hour-long comedy-drama series, "Tattinger's", and its even shorter-lived, half-hour sitcom revamp, "Nick & Hillary"
