Daniel Charles Kucan (born October 16, 1970) is an American carpenter, artist,

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, writer, and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

on the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning TV series '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition''.

Early life

Kucan was born and raised in

Las Vegas, Nevada 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 ...

, and then attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He has two older brothers, Michael and Joseph. His parents, Ken and Genevieve, worked as public school teachers. He began acting in community and semi-professional theater at the age of 7 and was a member of a theater training conservatory from then until he graduated at the age of 18. After NYU, he toured Japan with a circus type show based on the movies of George Lucas. After which, he returned to New York and worked as a performer until 1999, when he moved to Los Angeles.

Career

Design

After graduating, Kucan moved back to California and became the lead designer for Hollywood's Mortise and Tenon and founded the Raw City Home Lounge design team. From 2005-2006, Daniel was the resident carpenter on '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'', and was known for building in recycled and renewable materials, often resulting in unique compositions of off-beat character. Subsequently he hosted the

Home & Garden Television HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an a ...

series "Desperate Spaces" along with

Lise Simms Elisabeth Caroline "Lise" Simms (born March 17, 1963) is an American actress, singer, designer and dancer. Career Broadway and theater Simms began her acting career at age 13. After graduating from high school, she started acting on Broadway ...

. From 2012 to 2013 he co-hosted the A&E networks "Sell this House: Extreme" along with Tanya Memme. He has produced television for Bravo, A&E, HGTV, and OWN.

Acting

Daniel appears alongside his brother,

Joseph D. Kucan Joseph David Kucan is an American video game developer, director, actor, screenwriter, and casting director for various gaming companies and films. He is a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. He is well known for his role as Kane from the ''Command & ...

, in '' Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun'', as GDI officer Jake McNeil as well as a series of other characters. Daniel has appeared in some form in every installment of the Command & Conquer series. In '' Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath'', Daniel appears in a video clip as a GDI general who briefly taunts the player. He also appears in a cutscene of '' Emperor: Battle for Dune'', portraying a Fremen soldier. In Los Angeles, he has starred in several small independent feature films, including Schooled, as well as made television appearances in guest starring roles. He also appeared alongside Carol Kane at the Geffen theater in the play "He Hunts". He is currently on the board of directors for the Veteran's Center for the Performing Arts. Kucan appeared on '' Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura'' on

truTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

, where he was enlisted by Ventura as "the resident skeptic."

Writing

Kucan is the author of the nove
Full Contact: The Collected Stories
He has also written blogs for his theater company A Public Fit, as well a
The Huffington PostThe Discerning Brute
, an
Mortise & Tenon

Personal life

He is currently living with his wife and his two dogs in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and is an expert in at least two different

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

, and occasionally fights competitively. He is well known in the Los Angeles area as a kickboxing and MMA teacher in various gyms including Equinox. Daniel Kucan is the brother of video game developer and actor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kucan, Daniel 1970 births American interior designers Living people People from Las Vegas American video game actors American wushu practitioners American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wushu 20th-century American sportsmen