Starting out in the CBS daytime drama "The Young and the Restless" as well as froth such as "B.J. & The Bear" and its "Lobo" spin-offs, Brian Kerwin developed into a leading man of numerous TV miniseries and a fine supporting actor to many of Hollywood's leading ladies. In fact, one might say Kerwin is one of the 'kings of the miniseries'. His first was the "The Chisholms" (CBS, 1979), a Western, and since then he has appeared in "Power" (NBC, 1980), loosely based on the life of Jimmy Hoffa, the Civil War drama "The Blue and the Gray" (CBS, 1982), Simon Wincer's "Bluegrass" (CBS, 1988), about the elite horse-breeding society, and "Switched at Birth" (NBC, 1991), as one of the fathers whose children were mistakenly swapped in a hospital nursery. He has also graced numerous TV-movies, notably opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in the PBS' drama "Natica Jackson" (1987), "Challenger" (NBC, 1990) as Mike Smith, pilot of the doomed space shuttle and as a prosecutor who clashes with a rape crisis counselor in "Sins of Silence" (CBS, 1996). Kerwin had a recurring role as a fiance of Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) on "Roseanne" (ABC, 1990) and headlined the short-lived CBS drama "Angel Falls" (1993) as the earnest town sheriff.
Kerwin's blond, well-proportioned good looks have served him on the big screen, particularly in support of strong leading ladies. He was Sally Field's charmingly errant husband in Martin Ritt's "Murphy's Law" (1985), Sissy Spacek's stable but unexciting fiance in "Hard Promises" and Michelle Pfeiffer's domineering husband in "Love Field" (both 1992). Yet Kerwin has sought to take chances with his "white boy" looks, often appearing in "stretching" roles in theater as well as turns in such films as "King Kong Lives" (1986), as a mercenary transporting a female beast, and "Torch Song Trilogy" (1988), in which he essayed the confused, bisexual married lover of Harvey Fierstein. After appearing as another law officer in "Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain" (1995), Kerwin went on to support Robin Williams in Francis Ford Coppola's "Jack" (scheduled for release in 1996), about a boy who begins to mature and grow at an alarming rate.