Peter Thomas Barton (born July 19, 1956) is an American retired actor. He starred in ''

The Powers of Matthew Star ''The Powers of Matthew Star'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on NBC on Friday evenings from September 17, 1982 until April 8, 1983. It starred Peter Barton (actor), Peter Barton as the title character, the alien pr ...

'', with

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (May 27, 1936 – March 29, 2024) was an American actor. He made his stage debut at the age of 17. Shortly thereafter, he successfully auditioned for the Broadway theatre, Broadway play ''Take a Giant Step.'' Gossett co ...

; '' Burke's Law'' with

Gene Barry Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass; June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films '' The Atomic City'' (1952) and ''The War of the Worl ...

; and the

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 ...

'' Sunset Beach''. Named one of the 10 sexiest guys in soaps by ''

Playgirl ''Playgirl'' is an American magazine that has historically featured pictorials of nude and semi-nude men alongside general interest, lifestyle, celebrity journalism, and original fiction. For most of its history, the magazine printed monthly a ...

'', Barton is also known for his role as Scott Grainger on the daytime drama ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

''.

Early life

Peter Barton is originally from

Valley Stream Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 40,634 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

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 * ...

. He is a graduate of

Valley Stream North High School Valley Stream North High School (also known as North High School and abbreviated VSNHS) is a combined public junior and senior high school located in the hamlet of Franklin Square in southwestern Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United ...

, where he played soccer and wrestled. He attended nearby

Nassau Community College Nassau Community College (NCC) is a Public college, public community college in the East Garden City, New York, East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York, Uniondale, Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, New York (state), N ...

. Although accepted into St. John's University School of Medicine, he changed his mind about attending. Just before signing up for classes, he decided to pursue a career in modeling and acting.

Career

Even though Barton had no formal acting training, in 1979 he starred as Bill Miller in the 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 ...

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

'' Shirley'', starring

Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film '' The Executioner's Song'' (1982) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for th ...

, and

Tracey Gold Tracey Gold (born May 16, 1969) is an American actress and former child star known for her role as Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom ''Growing Pains''. Acting career Tracey Gold became an actress at the age of four, first appearing in a Pepsi pr ...

. The show ran for 13 episodes. NBC still had him under contract at the end of 1980, and it connected him with prominent acting coach Vincent Chase, and when the series ended, he was cast as the lead in another NBC series, ''

''. He won the role over many actors, among them

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

. In the 1980s, teen magazines were looking for the next big cover, and Barton was featured on many of them, including ''

Tiger Beat ''Tiger Beat'' was an American teen fan magazine published by The Laufer Company and marketed primarily to adolescent girls. The magazine had a paper edition that was sold at stores until December 2018, and afterward was published exclusively o ...

'' and '' 16'', He has also appeared on many TV shows such as ''

The Fall Guy ''The Fall Guy'' is an American action-adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It stars Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonl ...

'' and ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

.'' Barton saw his popularity dwindling by the end of 1983, and he "wanted to give up acting". However, he became involved in the burgeoning teen horror/thriller film genre, beginning with ''

Hell Night ''Hell Night'' is a 1981 American supernatural slasher film directed by Tom DeSimone, and starring Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Kevin Brophy, and Peter Barton. The film depicts a night of fraternity hazing set in an old manor—the site ...

'' (

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

) and followed by '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

). After outgrowing his ability to appear as a teenager, Barton acquired mostly television roles as an adult. In 1988, he was cast in a lead role as Dr. Scott Grainger on ''

''. After leaving the show in 1993, he starred on '' Burke's Law'' with

and the soap opera '' Sunset Beach''. His last acting roles to date were in the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

film ''Repetition'' and a return appearance on ''The Young and the Restless'' that same year.

Personal life

On July 16, 2012, a man in Illinois named Ray Fulk died at age 71. Fulk, who had no family of his own, was a fan of Peter Barton and Barton's former ''Hell Night'' castmate, ''

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...

'' star

Kevin Brophy Kevin Michael Brophy (November 1, 1953 – May 11, 2024) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in ''Lucan'' (1977–1978). Life and career Brophy was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He ...

. Despite never having met either actor, Fulk bequeathed half of his $1.3m estate to each of the actors. The story of their good fortune was featured in "Role of a Lifetime", the third episode of the

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

show ''Suddenly Rich''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Peter 1956 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from New York (state) American male film actors American male television actors American male soap opera actors People from Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream North High School alumni Nassau Community College alumni