Born in Mound, MN on Sept. 28, 1958, Sorbo attended Moorhead State College. Quickly finding himself the center of attention, thanks to his athletic prowess and good looks, Sorbo quickly fell into the role of “big man on campus” quite naturally. A self-admitted stereotypical jock, Sorbo admitted to having spent most of his collegiate career lifting weights, playing basketball and “running back and forth to happy hours.” Despite his academic shortcomings, the future television star’s future seemed solidly rooted by his early twenties. By junior year, Sorbo was already working steadily as a print and commercial model. Though he secretly wished to study drama, Sorbo later admitted that he feared ridicule from his peers and so, chose marketing as his major instead. Nevertheless, the allure of performing proved too powerful to ignore, prompting Sorbo to quit school in the late 1970’s to pursue his acting dream by joining a theatre group in Dallas, before heading to Europe.

His first work in front of the cameras came in European TV commercials and, after his 1987 move to Hollywood, in the US ads as well. Over the next decade, Sorbo found steady work in commercials and print ads, quickly becoming a recognizable commodity on Madison Avenue, with spots for Budweiser, BMW, Diet Coke, Jim Beam, Lexus and numerous other products. Not satisfied with being just another pretty face, however, Sorbo studied acting in Los Angeles, auditioning only for roles that he felt would challenge him. His integrity paid off.

In 1992, Sorbo landed his first major score – the lead in a nationally televised public service announcement, for of all things, heterosexual H.I.V. awareness. Taking what could have been a sickeningly sentimental monologue on the joys of monogamy, Sorbo delivered his lines and then some. Infusing his performance with flashes of unexpected (but quite manly) sensitivity, the 30-second spot struck a powerful chord with viewers, particularly among single women. The PSA became a hit practically overnight and was credited w/ helping propel heterosexual awareness of the disease. Now that he’d proved his acting chops, Sorbo next set his sights on series television. He won a key role in the 1992 NBC TV-movie "Condition Critical," as part of a team trying to find the cure for a deadly disease. The following year, he began to win guest-starring parts in TV episodics, including "Murder, She Wrote" and "The Commish." Also in 1993, he lost the role of Superman in "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" to Dean Cain after seven auditions. Ironically, the role that wound up changing his life forever was the role he very nearly passed up.

In 1994, acclaimed producer/director Sam Raimi got the green-light to develop a syndicated action series for television based on the mythological Greek, demi-god, Hercules, to be filmed in New Zealand. Taking a firmly tongue-in-cheek slant on the mythos, Raimi sought an actor who could convey over-the-top, heroic gravitas with a balance of humorous self-awareness. Of the dozens of actors who unsuccessfully auditioned for the role, Raimi credited Sorbo as the only one who instinctively and instantly “got it.” According to Raimi: “Given the nature of the material, it’s easy to be lazy and just play the part for laughs… [Kevin] was the only one who had the courage to deliver it straight and he nailed it.”

Sorbo’s earnest conviction paid off. “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” (1994-2000) ran for six years and spawned five made-for-TV movies. Consistently landing at the top of the ratings, “Hercules” became one of the highest rated syndicated shows in the history of television and remained a powerhouse in reruns. So strong were the show’s ratings, in fact, that it spawned a mega successful spin-off entitled “Xena: Warrior Princess,” which not only outlived the original series, but eclipsed it in the public imagination.

Following the cancellation of “Hercules” in 2000, Sorbo cut off his legendary blond locks and announced his next project – the syndicated sci-fi epic, “Andromeda” (2000-05). Based on an unproduced concept by the late, legendary “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, “Andromeda” was the story of an advanced starship and its ragtag crew. Cast in the role of the stalwart Captain Dylan Hunt, Sorbo once again played another larger-than-life hero. Far less cheeky than “Hercules,” however, the grimmer space operatic tone of “Andromeda” contributed to making Hunt a more rounded and serious character.