Brooker

Background:

Actor and singer Richard Grieco is probably best known for playing Detective Dennis Booker on “21 Jump Street” from 1988-1989 and on the spin-off show “Brooker” from 1989 to 1990. The winner of the 1991 ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow first gained notice as Rick Gardner in the soap opera “One Life to Live,” a role he played from 1986 to 1987. He later starred in the short lived UPN series “Marker” in 1995 and had a recurring role on “Veronica Mars” between 2006 and 2007. Grieco has also appeared in a number of television films and motion pictures, including “Mobsters” (1991), “A Night at the Roxbury” (1998), “Michael Angel” (2000), “Forget About It” (2006) and “Almighty Thor” (2011). In addition, Grieco has enjoyed a successful singing career in Europe and his debut album, “Waiting For the Sky to Fall” (1995), was a smash hit in Germany. Prior to becoming an actor, Grieco was a fashion model.

Grieco has a son named Dylan with ex-companion Kimber Sissons. He has been romantically involved with actresses Stephanie Niznik (born May 20, 1967) and Yasmine Bleeth (born June 14, 1968). He is currently single and resides in Los Angeles.

Football

Childhood and Family:

Richard John Grieco Junior was born on March 23, 1965, in Watertown, New York, to an Italian father (Richard Grieco Sr.) and an Irish mother (Carolyn Grieco). The oldest child of four, he has one brother, David, and two sisters, Elizabeth and Laura. He first became interested in acting in high school where he also played various sports, including football, lacrosse and hockey. Richard graduated from General Brown Junior/Senior High School in Dexter, New York, and majored in political science at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. At Central Connecticut, he was a successful linebacker and fullback for their football team before he gave up sports because of several knee operations. Richard quit school after two years and embarked on a career as a male model. Richard also developed an interest in music when he was younger and participated in several musicals and joined the chorus group in junior high.

On April 28, 1999, Richard had a son named Dylan Justice Sissons with his former girlfriend, actress and model Kimber Sissons.

One Life to Live

Career:

After leaving school, Richard Grieco moved to New York and signed with Elite Modeling Agency. He spent time working for noted clients like Calvin Klein, Armani and Chanel before training two years with acting coaches Alice Spieack, Warren Robertson and Wally Strauss. Grieco got his first break in acting in 1986 when he landed a role on the ABC daytime soap opera “One Life to Live.” Playing Rick Gardner, he stayed with the soap until 1987. Later that same year, he headed to Los Angeles to pursue further opportunities.

Upon his arrival in L.A., Grieco began working as a guest star in television series like “Rags to Riches” (1987, as Billy Gallento), “Who's the Boss” (1988, as Maurizio), “The Facts of Life” (1988, as Ben) and “The Bronx Zoo” (1988). It was also in 1988 that he made a notable guest appearance as Detective Dennis Booker in the third season of the Johnny Deep popular TV series “21 Jump Street.” He was subsequently recruited as a series regular and remained with the series until 1989, the year he was given his own TV show, the spin-off “Brooker.” Co-created by Stephen J. Cannell, “Booker” ran from September 24, 1989, to May 6, 1990.

In 1991, Grieco made his feature film acting debut in the James Bond spoof “If Looks Could Kill,” where he starred as Michael Corben. The film, which was directed by William Dear and scripted by Darren Star, was critically panned by critics. He followed it up with the crucial role of Bugsy Siegel in the Michael Karbelnikoff directed film “Mobsters” (1991), opposite Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey, Costas Mandylor, Michael Gambon, Anthony Quinn, F. Murray Abraham, Chris Penn and Lara Flynn Boyle. He then starred with Maryam D'Abo in the erotic thriller “Tomcat: Dangerous Desires” (1993), which went straight to video, and had a supporting role as Mad Dog Burne in the movie “The Demolitionist” (1995), starring Nicole Eggert, Bruce Abbott and Susan Tyrrell.

Grieco had his television movie debut in the Fox thriller “Born to Run” (1993), in which he starred with Jay Acovone and Shelli Lether. He went on to appear in such TV films as “Nick's Game” (1993), “Sin & Redemption” (1994) and “A Vow to Kill” (1995). In 1994, he began the recurring voice role of Tony Dracon in the animated TV series “Gargoyles,” a role he kept until 1996. Grieco returned to series television as a regular in 1995 when he was cast as Richard DeMorra in the UPN show “Marker.” The show lasted for 13 episodes. Still on TV, he also provided the voice of Ghost Rider in an episode of “Fantastic Four” and starred as Gene Shepard in the TV film “It Was Him or Us” (both also 1995).

While working as an actor, Grieco launched a side career as a singer in 1994. He was a member of the Dunmore Band and acquired an ample following among clubs in Los Angeles. In 1995, he signed a record deal with the German label Edel Records and released his debut album, “Waiting For the Sky to Fall,” in Germany. It was a smash hit in Europe.

In 1996, Grieco received a supporting role in the action thriller “Suspicious Agenda,” which was directed by Clay Borris and starred Borris, Mark Acheson and Scott J. Ateah. He then starred with Lara Harris and Corbin Bernsen in the Showtime horror film “Inhumanoid.” He also did voiceover work in an episode of the cartoon series “The Incredible Hulk” (1996). The next few years saw roles in such films as “Against the Law” (1997), “The Journey: Absolution” (1997, with Mario López and Jaime Pressly), “Mutual Needs” (1997), “Blackheart” (1998, opposite Christopher Plummer and Fiona Loewi), “The Gardener” (1998, with Malcolm McDowell and Angie Everhart), “Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights” (1998, as Sinbad), “A Night at the Roxbury” (1998, starred Chris Kattan, Will Ferrell and Raquel Gardnera), “Bolt” (1998) and Gregory C. Haynes' “Heaven or Vegas” (1999, with Yasmine Bleeth). He also appeared in the TV films “When Time Expires” (1997), “Captive” (1998) and “Ultimate Deception” (1998).

Entering the new millennium, Grieco costarred with Dennis Hopper and Efrain Figueroa in the film “Michael Angel” (2000), Andrew Dice Clay and Angie Everhart in the action thriller “Point Doom” (2000), Will Stewart and Athena Massey in Craig Corman's “Harold Robbins' Body Parts” (2001), Martin Kove and John Saxon in the action film “Final Payback” (2001), and Brendan Aucoin, Stacia Crawford and Brandon Marcel Gertz in the Alfred Cheung award winning film “Manhattan Midnight” (2001). He also acted with Romina Mondello and Christoph Waltz in “Death, Deceit & Destiny Aboard the Orient Express” (2001), Brigitte Bako and Greg Evigan in the indie thriller “Sweet Revenge” (2001) and Lea Thompson and Wil Wheaton in the comedy “Fish Don't Blink” (2002), which was directed and scripted by Chuck DeBus. He then portrayed Finch in the TV film “Book of Days” (PAX, 2003), Dean in the horror film “Webs” (2003), which was produced by the Sci-Fi Channel, Mark in the Canadian horror film “Evil Breed: The Legend of Samhain” (2003), Simon Storm in the thriller “Dead Easy” (2004), and Anthony Amato in “Forget About It” (2006), starring Burt Reynolds, Robert Loggia and Charles Durning. He also had an unaccredited part in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (2005), a film starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan.

From 2006 to 2007, Grieco had the recurring role of Steve Botando in the television series “Veronica Mars,” which starred Kristen Bell. In 2007, he starred with Laura Zoe Quist and Gary Sirchia in the horror film “Raiders of the Damned.”

Recently, in 2011, Grieco was cast as Loki in the Christopher Ray helmed movie “Almighty Thor,” which premiered on cable on May 7, 2011, and was released on video on May 10, 2011. Costars of the film included Cody Deal, Patricia Velásquez, Kevin Nash and Nicole Fox. He also appeared with Amanda Righetti, Erica Taylor and Jonathan Bennett in the thriller “Cats Dancing on Jupiter,” which was released on video on May 24, 2011.

Awards:

• ShoWest: Male Star of Tomorrow, 1991