AMC’s Chris Stamp

Background:

Tall, dark and hirsutely handsome baseball player-turned-model-turned-actor Jack Scalia has made a name for himself as a fruitful television performer with approximately ten TV shows under his belt, including “The Devlin Connection” (1982), “Remington Steele” (1987), “Tequila and Bonetti” (1992) and its revival in 2000, and “Pointman” (1995). However, he is probably best known for playing Chris Stamp on “All My Children” (2001-2003), for which he took home a Daytime Emmy nomination, and Nicholas Pearce on “Dallas” (1987-1991), which brought him a Soap Opera Digest nomination. His television film credits include Lady Boss (1992), Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story (1993), Silent Predators (1999), Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (2003) and McBride: Anybody Here Murder Marty? (2005). The hunk actor also has acted in many motion pictures, including Act of War (1998), Ground Zero (2000), Red Eye (2005), Taylor (2005), End Game (2006), The Genius Club (2006) and Honeymoon with Mom (2006).

A two-time divorcee, the “Jordache Jeans Man” is the father of two daughters, the 20-year-old Olivia and the 11-year-old Jacqueline, from his second marriage to Karen Baldwin. He also once shared his life outside the spotlight with former wife Joan Rankin.


Pro-Baseball

Childhood and Family:

In Brooklyn, New York, Jack Scalia was born on November 10, 1951. He found his first love on sports and was an All-American athlete in high school. However, he was forced to damn his pro-baseball career due to an injury. He switched to modeling, but soon found acting as his true calling.

The multi-languages Jack (he speaks fluent Spanish and Italian, in addition to English) has two marriages in his life. He first married Joan Rankin, but the bond later ended in divorce. He then tied the knot with Karen Baldwin. The couple had two daughters: Olivia, in 1987, and Jacqueline, in 1990. Unfortunately, his second marriage also ended in separation in 1996.


Dallas

Career:

A Brooklyn native, Jack Scalia tried his hand in modeling when an injury abruptly ended his career as a pro-baseball player. Thanks to his strapping build and macho good looks, he soon found himself working with Armani and then joined the Ford Modeling Agency. He also signed up as the “Jordache Jeans Man” and appeared in a string of newspaper and magazine ads for Eminence Underwear in the late 1970s. After modeling for five years, Scalia made a transformation into acting in early 1980s and got his first job as Vince Martino in the TV film The Star Maker (1981), which starred the late Rock Hudson. Rejoining with Hudson, he experienced a series success in the following year when he was cast as the stubbly, rough-and-tough detective Nick Corsello, who teams up with his professional and refined military intelligence agent father (played by Hudson) in the drama series “The Devlin Connection.” To promote his TV show, Scalia made topless pose, with cigarette in hand, for a pin-up wall poster. Although it had a short life, the series brought Scalia numerous recognitions.

A series of television gigs followed, including in “High Performance” (1983), “Hollywood Beat” (1985), “Berrenger’s” (1985), and in 1987, Scalia joined Pierce Brosnan as a regular cast member in the final season of the 1982 crime series “Remington Steele,” playing Tom Roselli. The same year, he also portrayed Rocco Cipriani in the Emmy-nominated miniseries “I’ll Take Manhattan.” However, it was his role as Nicholas Pearce, Sue-Ellen Ewing’s lover in the drama serial “Dallas” (1987-1991) that once again put the actor on the limelight when he received a 1989 Soap Opera Digest for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role: Prime Time.

After “Dallas,” Scalia starred as Detective Nico “Nick” Bonetti in the short-lived series “Tequila and Bonetti” (1992), which he reprised eight years later in a remake of the series, filmed and aired in Italy, and starred as Constantine ‘Connie’ Harper on the action series “Pointman” (1995). He also acted in many TV films like Lady Boss (1992), Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story (1993), Beyond Suspicion (1994), Tall, Dark and Deadly (1995), Everything to Gain (1996), Sweet Deception (1998), Cane e un poliziotto, Un (1999) and Silent Predators (1999). Meanwhile, on the big screen, he could be seen in such low-budgeted movies as T-Force (1995), Act of War (1998), The Last Leprechaun (1998), Charades (1998) and Ground Zero (2000).

2001 saw Scalia return to series TV as Chris Stamp on the long-running daytime drama “All My Children,” which he played until 2003. For his bright performance, he was handed a 2002 Daytime Emmy nomination in Outstanding Lead Actor category. He next played Michael Scorsinni in Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (2003, TV), Jack in Exit (2005), Charles Keefe in Red Eye (2005), Marty Caine in McBride: Anybody Here Murder Marty? (2005, TV) and Mark Sullivan in Taylor (2005). In director Andy Cheng’s End Game (2006), he appeared as the President along side Cube Gooding Jr. as Alex Thomas, Angie Harmon as Kate Crawford and James Woods as Vaughn Stevens. The same year, he also supported Victoria Pratt and Charlie O’Connell on the made-for-TV film Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, starred as President Halstrom in the Tim Chey-directed-and-written drama/thriller The Genius Club as well as costarred with Shelley Long in the comedy Honeymoon with Mom, for director Paul A. Kaufman.


Awards:
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