Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor, best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the science-fiction action film ''
Starship Troopers
''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, the son of Diane (''née'' Morrow), a
nursery school
A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
, and Casper Robert Van Dien Sr., a
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
and fighter
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
.
There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a Marine during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Van Dien is descended from an old Dutch family long settled in the
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
area; his other heritage includes Swedish, French, and English.
The street that he grew up on: Van Dien Avenue,
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Ridgewood is a Village (New Jersey), village in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Ridgewood is a suburban commuter town, bedroom community of New York City, located approximately northwest of Midtown M ...
, was named after his great-great-great-grandfather. When Van Dien was older, his family returned to
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, where he enrolled at the
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
campus of the
Admiral Farragut Academy
Admiral Farragut Academy, established in 1933, is a private, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory school serving students in grades K–12, K-12. Farragut is located in St. Petersburg, Florida in Pinellas County and is surrounded by t ...
, graduating 3rd in command. After high school, Van Dien attended
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
in
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...
, where he was a member of
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...
fraternity.
Career
After moving to Los Angeles, Van Dien landed a number of small parts in various television series and movies. Two early breaks were
recurring role
Recurring means occurring repeatedly and can refer to several different things:
Mathematics and finance
*Recurring expense, an ongoing (continual) expenditure
*Repeating decimal, or recurring decimal, a real number in the decimal numeral syste ...
soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
''
One Life to Live
''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...
'' and the
prime time
Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
drama ''
Beverly Hills, 90210
''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...
James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He became one of the most influential figures in Hollywood in the 1950s, despite a career that lasted only five years. His impact on cinema and popular culture was p ...
biopic
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...
''James Dean: Race with Destiny''. Soon after, he got the breakthrough role of Johnny Rico in
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and ...
's 1997
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
action film
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
''
Starship Troopers
''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...
''. His success in ''Starship Troopers'' subsequently resulted in his casting as
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
Creat ...
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...
's 1999 film '' Sleepy Hollow'', a reworking of the classic
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
tale.
In 2000, Van Dien appeared in '' Cutaway'' as well as
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the television series ''Family'' (1976–1980), ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977� ...
's short-lived
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
prime time soap ''
Titans
In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...
'' with
Yasmine Bleeth
Yasmine Bleeth (born June 14, 1968) is an American actress and model. Her television roles include Caroline Holden on ''Baywatch'', Ryan Fenelli on '' Ryan's Hope'', Inspector Caitlin Cross on '' Nash Bridges'' and LeeAnn Demerest on ''One L ...
,
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman MBE (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his roles as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2010; 2020–2021) and its spin-off ''Torc ...
,
Perry King
Perry Firestone King (born April 30, 1948) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on television and in films.
King received a Golden Globe nomination for his role in the television film ''The Hasty Heart'' (1983), which is a rema ...
and
Victoria Principal
Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Patrick Bateman, in 2002's '' The Rules of Attraction''. However, the scenes were unused in the final film.
In 2008, Van Dien returned to the role of Rico in '' Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'', a direct-to-video sequel to ''Starship Troopers''.
Van Dien replaced Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage for the second season of the
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
webseries '' Mortal Kombat: Legacy''.
In 2020, he joined the cast of the independent film ''Daughter''. In 2022, Van Dien played the role of Samual Hyst in the series ''Salvage Marines'', where he was also credited as a producer, an adaptation of the ''Necrospace'' book series; in an interview, he favorably compared this role to that of Johnny Rico.
Personal life
From 1993 to 1997, Van Dien was married to Carrie Mitchum (daughter of
Christopher Mitchum
Christopher Mitchum (born October 16, 1943) is an American film actor, screenwriter, and businessman. He was born in Los Angeles, California, the second son of film star Robert Mitchum and Dorothy Mitchum. He is the younger brother of actor Jame ...
and granddaughter of
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...
). Van Dien had co-starred with Robert Mitchum in ''James Dean: Race with Destiny''. They have two children, including actress Grace Van Dien (b. 1996).
In 1999, Van Dien met actress
Catherine Oxenberg
Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime-time soap opera ''Dynasty (1981 TV series), Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of ...
during the filming of the TV movie ''The Collectors'', and they soon worked together again in the 1999 thriller '' The Omega Code''. On May 8, 1999, they married at Graceland Wedding Chapel in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
. In 2005, the couple appeared in their own
reality series
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
Lifetime Television
Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...
channel in the United States,
LIVINGtv
Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts procedural dramas from the United States aimed at the 18–45 age demographic. Sky Italia broadcasts an Italia ...
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...
. Oxenberg had a daughter from a previous relationship, India Riven Oxenberg (b. 1991). Van Dien and Oxenberg have two daughters, born 2001 and 2003. In 2015, Van Dien filed for divorce from Oxenberg. Van Dien and Oxenberg were celebrity ambassadors for the non-profit organization
Childhelp
Childhelp is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Founded in 1959 as International Orphans, Inc. by Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, Childhelp is one of the largest non-profit child abuse preven ...