Dashing blond actor and singer Jack Wagner appeared in five soap operas, over 15 made-for-TV movies, over 40 musical theatre productions around the country, and recorded five albums. He was also considered one of the best non-professional golfers on the competition circuit, having won the prestigious American Century Club Celebrity Golf Championship in 2006. The blue-eyed charmer first hit overnight stardom in 1983 when he joined the number one daytime soap, “General Hospital” (ABC, 1963- ) as Frisco Jones and scored a #2 pop hit with “All I Need,” a song borrowed from the show. Over the next 25 years the entertainer rarely fell out of sight or out of favor with female fans no matter how evil or melodramatic his characters, including his four-year run as the scheming Dr. Burns on “Melrose Place” (FOX, 1992-99). At the age of 47, he still boasted no less than five fan Web sites devoted to him and his evergreen brand of “soap opera handsome.”Jack Peter Wagner was born on Oct. 3, 1959, outside of St. Louis in Washington, MO. His father was a car salesman and his mother a homemaker and by the time he was 10 years old, their son was set on becoming a professional golfer. He was talented at many sports, playing on the football and basketball teams, but excelled on the green, earning the title of Missouri Jr. Champion when he was still a teen. Outgoing and popular in school, Jack was recruited into acting by a teacher who thought he would be a good addition to a school production of “Oliver.” The teacher was correct, and Wagner quickly became passionate about stage acting. After high school, he was accepted into the University of Missouri Theater Arts Program, attending the school for one year before landing a scholarship to the University of Arizona. While there, he graduated with a BFA in Drama in 1982. One day after receiving his diploma, Wagner packed up his solid foundation in acting, singing and dancing, and moved to Los Angeles with hopes of making it big.
L.A. newcomer Wagner already had a name that sounded like a leading man, so it was not long before he actually lived up to it. Only a short time after taking a job as a tour guide at Universal Studios, Wagner landed a role on the Showtime soap, “A New Day in Eden” (Showtime, 1982-83). The show was short-lived, but Wagner’s Hollywood breakthrough was just around the corner in a place called Port Charles. In 1983, “General Hospital” was enjoying its status as the number one daytime soap and the one with the most hunks per square inch — John Stamos and Rick Springfield among them. Amid concerns over Stamos’ imminent departure, Wagner was cast to boost the babe factor, playing Stamos’ Riff Raff bandmate, Frisco Jones. As part of the band, Wagner’s role required him to do little more than sing. When it required him to sing a song called “All I Need” to an onscreen love interest, a bona fide teen idol was born. “All I Need” was released on Quincy Jones’ label Qwest and soared to number two on the pop charts and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts.
Wagner went on to enjoy his high-profile, over three year-run on “General Hospital”, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Juvenile Male” in 1985. His scripted romance with Kristina Malandro, starring as Frisco’s lover Felicia Jones, evolved into real life love and eventually marriage. He would release several more albums, parlaying his music background into a slot guest hosting for two seasons of “Solid Gold” (Syndicated, 1980-88).
Wagner had accomplished an extraordinary amount of success in a relatively short time, but he was ready to broaden his range. He left “GH” in 1987 and hit the road to play Tony in the touring company of “West Side Story.” Based on his success with that production, he spent the following year touring as Danny Zuko in “Grease.” He also began a long-term relationship with made-for-TV movies, following his debut in 1988’s ”Moving Target” (NBC) followed by 1989’s “Swimsuit.” In 1989, he returned to his “General Hospital” dressing room, spending two more years as Frisco Jones – who had by then, naturally, made the transition from rocker to cop to spy. Frisco fans were shocked when Wagner left Port Charles again in 1991, this time to join the cast of the critically-acclaimed but floundering soap, “Santa Barbara” (NBC, 1984-1993), where he played writer Warren Lockridge until the show’s demise in 1993. Wagner returned to the stage with the Neil Simon play, “They’re Playing Our Song” at the Long Beach Civic Light Opera, and released his fourth album Alone in the Crowd, which included songs he had made popular on “Santa Barbara.”
In 1994, Wagner forayed into prime time as Dr. Peter Burns on the over-the-top Aaron Spelling drama, “Melrose Place.” Viewers loved to hate Wagner as Burns, a slick, icy, foil to Heather Locklear’s manipulative maneater; the pair’s on-again, off-again relationship was a staple during the show’s peak of popularity. During his steady gig with “Melrose,” Wagner began to re-establish his talents as a TV host, first in 1995 and 1996 with the Lifetime series, “Weddings of a Lifetime” and then taking the podium at Miss Universe pageants in 1998 and 1999. His “Melrose Place” shooting schedule also allowed him time to fire off a couple more TV movies, including “Lady Killer” (1995) “Frequent Flyer” (1996) and “Dirty Little Secret” (USA, 1998). Following the 1999 demise of “Melrose Place,” the tireless Wagner headed back on stage, taking the lead role in the Broadway musical, “Jekyll & Hyde.” The ever-loyal Aaron Spelling called upon him again in 2000 to helm the cast of “Titans” (NBC, 2000-01) which he did until the show ended early and unceremoniously.
After taking a shot helming his own golf-based interview show, “Off Course with Jack Wagner” (ESPN, 2002), Wagner starred in the TV film, “Trapped: Buried Alive” (USA, 2002) before joining the cast of “The Bold & the Beautiful (CBS 1983-) in 2003. In his role as sea captain Nick Marone, Wagner was given the opportunity to write and record more music, reviving that part of his career that had been on hold over a decade. In 2005, the same year he garnered an Emmy nom for the show, he released his first album in eons, Dancing in the Moonlight, which like earlier releases, was centered around cuts made popular by his role on a daytime drama.
Throughout his acting career, Jack Wagner remained active in his first love – golfing. He won the Club Championship at his home course, The Bel-Air Country Club, six times. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 1991 and competed at the American Century (Celebrity) Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course eight times, winning first prize in 2006. He also hosted the annual Jack Wagner Celebrity Golf Classic, which raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Los Angeles. His golf handicap was zero.
Jack Wagner had two children with actress Kristina Wagner (Malandro). The seemingly storybook couple, who met while co-starring on “G.H.” and began a relationship in 1985, were married in 1993, but filed for divorce in 2005. In 2007, Wagner made gossip column news for reports that he and former “Melrose Place” love interest – the newly divorced (from Bon Jovi guitarist, Richie Sambora) Heather Locklear – were dating, after the pair were photographed around town holding hands. “Melrose Place” fans tended to be in favor of a Wagner/Locklear pairing, while diehard “General Hospital” devotees pined for the days of Wagner/Malandro bliss. In either case, it was clear that after 25 years on soap operas, Wagner had acted so convincingly that a large percentage of the public were unable to differentiate between his plot lines and his real life.
