Scott Bakula

Scott Stewart Bakula is an American actor born in St. Louis, Missouri on October 9th, 1954. Initially, Bakula followed in his father Stewart J. Bakula's footsteps and began studying law at the University of Kansas. After graduation, he turned his sights towards music and theater. His first major theater work was the leading role in the off-Broadway production of Godspell. However, the production tour for the musical was cancelled before it had even truly begun, so Bakula moved to New York City. He made his broadway debut in 1983 playing Joe DiMaggio in Marilyn: An American Fable.

Scott Bakula's first professional film role also happened to be in a science fiction feature. He played the leading role of Jeffrey Wilder in the 1986 television movie I-Man. From 1986 to 1987, Bakula had a recurring role on the TV series Gung-Ho (based on the film of the same name) playing Hunt Stevenson. His following major television roles included playing Doctor Theodore "Ted" Shively on five episodes of the sit-com Designing Women and the starring role on the legal sitcom Eisenhower & Lutz, playing Barnett M. "Bud" Lutz, Jr.

In 1989, Scott Bakula received the role that would make him a staple of the sci-fi genre. He played the main character of Sam Beckett in the critically acclaimed NBC time-travel seris Quantum Leap. Bakula appeared in all 97 episodes of the series, which aired from 1989 to 1993.

In 1995, he played a character named Nolan Woods in the television movie The Invaders. This was followed shortly thereafter with a co-starring role on the short-lived adventure/spy series Mr. & Mrs. Smith, playing the character Mister Smith. Over the next ten years, Scott appeared in a variety of film, most notably the 1999 Academy-award winning drama American Beauty, where he played the part of homosexual neighbor Jim Olmeyer.

In 2001, the sci-fi lignting bolt struck for a second time and Bakula landed another leading role, this time, as a member of the ever-growing Star Trek television franchise. Bakula played the character of Jonathan Archer, Captain of the starship Enterprise NX-01 on the UPN television series Star Trek: Enterprise. Bakula appeared in all 98 episodes of the series and even had the opportunity to play an evil version of the Archer character in the two-part season four episode, "In a Mirror, Darkly". Bakula also provided the voice for Captain Archer in the 2006 video game Star Trek: Legacy.

In 2008, Bakula made a guest appearance on the "Glow in the Dark" episode of the law comedy Boston Legal playing a character named Jack Ross. The star of the series was William Shatner, more infamously known for playing the role of Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek television series and the first seven Star Trek feature films.

In 2009, Scott Bakula became a series regular on the TNT original series, Men of a Certain Age, playing the role of Terry Elliott.

Notes & Trivia

 * Scott Bakula believed that his character, Jonathan Archer, should have the middle name of Beckett. The name is taken from Sam Beckett, Bakula's character on Quantum Leap.


 * On Quantum Leap, Bakula's character had the trademark phrase, "Oh, boy". His character spoke this whenever Sam Beckett "leaped" into a new body.


 * There are few actors who can lay claim to being the leading man in multiple science fiction programs. Another would be Ben Browder, best known for playing the role of astronaut John Crichton in the sci-fi television series Farscape. Browder also took on the role of Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell on the SyFy series Stargate SG-1 replacing Richard Dean Anderson's character General Jack O'Neill.