Daniel James Cortese (; born September 14, 1967) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and director. He played Perry Rollins on '' Veronica's Closet'' and Vic Meladeo on '' What I Like About You''.

Early life and education

Of Italian (Calabrese) descent, Cortese was born on September 14, 1967, in

Sewickley, Pennsylvania Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of Pittsburgh. The population was 3,827 according to the 2010 census. The Sewickley Bridge crosses the Ohi ...

, and graduated from

Quaker Valley High School Quaker Valley High School is a high school located in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania. The school is one of the four National Blue Ribbon Schools that comprise the Quaker Valley School District. The school teaches an average of 645 students in grades 9 ...

in Leetsdale, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. Prior to becoming an actor, Cortese played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC S ...

as a backup

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

. In his freshman year in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

, the

Tar Heels Tar Heel is a nickname applied to the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is also the nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans. The origins of the Tar Heel nickname trace back to North Carolina's promi ...

went to the

Aloha Bowl The Aloha Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision (then known as Division I-A) college football bowl game played in Honolulu, Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. History The Aloha Bowl was established in 1982 by Ma ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Cortese graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in broadcasting in 1990.

Career

Cortese first came to prominence as the host of the Emmy Award-winning show ''

MTV Sports ''MTV Sports'' is a show that ran on MTV from 1992 to 1997. Dan Cortese hosted the reality sports show featuring radical sports from around the country. It was later hosted by athlete/model Gabrielle Reece from 1993 to 1995. Episode list List o ...

'' from 1992 to 1997. Cortese was also the player/coach of The Bricklayers and The Homeboys for the '' MTV Rock N' Jock'' games. During

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant ch ...

's "Your Way, Right Away" advertising campaign in the 1990s, Cortese was hired as the company's official spokesperson. He appeared in over 90 national and regional commercials for the fast food giant. In 1993, per producer Joel Silver, Cortese made two separate cameos (

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

Lounge singer and a Cryo Prison guard) in the hit

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

film '' Demolition Man''. Also, in 1993, Cortese landed the lead role in NBC's remake of "Route 66". In 1994, he co-starred in the CBS police drama '' Traps'' with Academy Award winner George C. Scott. He gained further recognition in 1995 as Jess Hanson in ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, i ...

''. He played Jake Hanson's half brother for 8 episodes in the third season but he was killed off in that season's cliffhanger finale. In 1996, Cortese starred as Jason in the NBC TV movie '' The Lottery''. The film turned out to be the highest rated of the year for the network. Also in 1996, he starred in the feature film ''Weekend In The Country'' with

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadi ...

, as well as the HBO film ''Public Enemies''. Cortese appeared on the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. He played Tony, the ultra-cool, good-looking, rock climbing boyfriend of Elaine Benes ( Julia Louis-Dreyfuss). In the episode, titled "

The Stall "The Stall" is the 76th episode of the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It is the 12th episode of the fifth season, and first aired on January 6, 1994. Plot In a movie theater restroom, Elaine, realizing her stall does not have any toilet paper, asks the ...

", he was dubbed a "mimbo" (a male bimbo) by Jerry. During rehearsals, Cortese improvised the line "Step off", which became the catchphrase that Larry David insisted was used for the episode. From 1997 to 2000, Cortese starred with

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...

in '' Veronica's Closet'', part of NBC's "Must See TV" Thursday night lineup. Then in 2000, he starred with

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film '' Pretty Baby'' (1978). She continued to model into ...

in the feature film ''After Sex''. Cortese followed that up in 2001 with the TBS film ''The Triangle'' with Luke Perry. In 2003, Cortese came back to comedy and starred in the sitcom '' Rock Me Baby''. From 2002 to 2003, Cortese also had a recurring role in the first season of

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

sitcom '' What I Like About You'' as Vic Maledeo, the boss of Val Tyler ( Jennie Garth). He reprised the role as a series regular from 2005 to 2006 in the fourth and final season. He also directed the episode "The Other Woman" that same season. In 2004, he appeared in two episodes of the third season of the ABC Family sitcom ''

8 Simple Rules ''8 Simple Rules'' (originally ''8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter'') is an American sitcom television series originally starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal as middle-class parents Paul and Cate Hennessy, raising their three chi ...

'' as Scott McCallister, a tennis coach who is briefly caught in a love triangle with his player Bridget Hennessy ( Kaley Cuoco) and her mother Cate Hennessy ( Katey Sagal). Also in 2004, he starred in the

SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

film '' Locusts: The 8th Plague''. In 2008, producer Mark Burnett then hired Cortese to host ''

My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad ''My Dad Is Better than Your Dad'' is a reality sports TV show on NBC that premiered on February 18, 2008. The show was produced by Mark Burnett, producer of other shows like '' Survivor'', ''The Apprentice'', and '' Are You Smarter Than a 5th G ...

'' for NBC. Cortese got back to his athletic roots for ABC and appeared in the eight-episode special '' The Superstars''. In 2008, Cortese co-starred with Emily Osment in the feature film '' Soccer Mom'' as Lorenzo Vincenzo, a world-famous Italian soccer player. He co-hosted the ABC

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

Crash Course A crash course is an educational or research course conducted over a very short period of time. These rapid learning programs may also be described by the ambiguous term crash program. Crash Course may also refer to: Television and movies * ''Cr ...

'' in 2009. Also in 2009, he co-starred with Bob Saget in the sitcom ''Surviving Suburbia''. In 2010, Cortese hosted VH-1's weight loss competition '' Money Hungry''. In 2012, Cortese guest-starred in the '' Hot in Cleveland'' episode (#3.8) titled " God and Football". where he played Jimmy Armstrong, a professional football player. From 2013 to 2014, Cortese served a two-year run as the host of truTV's ''

Guinness World Records Unleashed ''Guinness World Records Gone Wild'', also known as ''Guinness World Records Unleashed'', is an American reality television series on truTV. The series debuted on February 7, 2013 and is hosted by Dan Cortese. The series' first season averaged ...

''. In 2015, Cortese starred in the feature film ''Changing Seasons''. In 2019, Cortese showed off his rapping skills on the hit TBS show ''Drop The Mic''. On October 11, 2014, while reprising his role as Stefon on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'', Bill Hader repeatedly mentions Cortese's name during the show's Weekend Update segment when he speaks of New York City's hot spots.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cortese, Dan 1967 births Living people American directors American game show hosts American male film actors Male models from Pennsylvania American male television actors Burger King people Spokespersons North Carolina Tar Heels football players Male actors from Pennsylvania People from Sewickley, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American people of Italian descent UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media alumni