Best known by the public for his starring role as Tyler Hudson on "Matlock" .
Was fired from "Matlock" , due to his serious drug and alcohol abuse in 1989.
Was approached by Fred Silverman and Dean Hargrove as their first choice for a co-starring role opposite Andy Griffith in the long-running drama "Matlock" . He accepted and won the role.
Worked with Dick Van Dyke twice on "Matlock" and "Diagnosis Murder" .
Graduated from Copiague High School in Copiague, Suffolk County, New York, in 1967.
Had lost his father when he was only 12.
At Copiague High School, he was the star of the track team, with the encouragement of his mother.
After he married Linda Copling, he became a traveling evangelist, and he and his wife spent the next decade preaching in gospel musicals.
Before he was a successful actor, he worked with the inaugural theater group at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., where he conducted workshops as a founding member of the D.C. Black Repertory Company.
Had missed 7 episodes or had limited appearances during the third season of "Matlock" , because he was sent to a rehabilitation clinic for his drug and alcohol abuse, where he stayed on an outpatient basis.
Acting mentors were Andy Griffith and Victor French.
(September 2007) Lives in Amityville, New York
[on his firing from "Matlock" (1986) ]: I was still drinking and,drugging. There is just so much of that they are going to tolerate on a,multimillion-dollar show.
