Tall, pleasant-looking and affable romantic leading man of TV-movies ("The Last Convertible" 1979, "Passion Flower" 1986), miniseries ("John Steinbeck's 'East of Eden'" 1981) and westerns ("Wild Times" 1980, "I Married Wyatt Earp" 1983). Boxleitner is best known as the star of the TV series "How the West Was Won" (ABC, 1978-79) in which he played James Arness's nephew, a fugitive from the law in the Old West. He went on to headline the short-lived period action show "Bring 'Em Back Alive" (CBS, 1982-83), and was a secret agent opposite Kate Jackson in the tongue-in-cheek espionage series "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" (CBS, 1983-87). In 1994, he joined the syndicated series "Babylon 5" as the space station commander. Since his feature debut in the mid-70s, Boxleitner has specialized in playing likable good guys and adventure heroes; he portrayed Jumpin' Joe Dugan, teammate and best friend to the legendary ballplayer in "The Babe" (1992).
Family
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Son: Lee Davis Boxleitner. born on November 16, 1985 in Los Angeles; mother, Kathryn Holcomb
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Son: Michael Garrett Boxleitner. born 2 1/2 months prematurely on October 6, 1995; mother, Melissa Gilbert; named in honor of actor Michael Landon
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Son: Sam Boxleitner. born in 1980; mother, Kathryn Holcomb
Education
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The Goodman School of Drama, Chicago, Illinois, acting
Milestones
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1971 Broadway debut in Status Quo Vadis (lasted one performance)
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1971 Professional acting debut, cast as the understudy to the lead in a Chicago production of Status Quo Vadis ; assumed role when original actor quit
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1972 Began acting career with walk-on parts in Hawaii Five-O and Police Woman and with five lines on a Mary Tyler Moore Show episode
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1972 Moved to L.A.
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1975 Feature film debut in Six Pack Annie
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1976 First major TV-movie role as James Arness s nephew in The Macahans (ABC)
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1979 Co-starred in the NBC miniseries The Last Convertible
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1980 Made first appearance as Billy Montana in The Gambler (CBS); reprised role in three of the four sequels
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1981 Played Charles Trask in the ABC miniseries John Steinbeck s East of Eden
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1982 Starred with Jeff Bridges in the Disney film Tron
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1988 Starred with James Arness in the CBS remake of Red River
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1989 Hosted the Disney Channel series Backstage at the Zoo
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1992 Executive produced and starred in the Showtime TV movie Double Jeopardy
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1993 First starred opposite Melissa Gilbert in NBC s House of Secrets , a loose remake of Diabolique
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1994 Joined the cast of the TV science-fiction series, Babylon 5 , in its second season in the role of John Sheridan; show moved to TNT for its final season in 1997-1998
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1995 Co-starred with Melissa Gilbert in Danielle Steele s Zoya (NBC)
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Co-starred opposite Kate Jackson in the romantic spy series Scarecrow and Mrs. King (CBS)
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Played Frank Buck in the CBS action series, Bring Em Back Alive
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Starred as regular in first TV series, How the West Was Won (ABC)