Sam Behrens (born Stanley Birnbaum; July 24, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Meyer on the ABC daytime soap opera ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'', Danny Waleska in the CBS prime time soap opera ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American primetime television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas (TV series), Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially cente ...

'' and as Gregory Richards in the NBC daytime soap opera, '' Sunset Beach''.

Life and career

Behrens was born Stanley Birnbaum to a Jewish family in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City. He is of German ancestry on his paternal side. He has been married to Shari Belafonte since December 31, 1989. Behrens began his soap opera career on ABC's ''

Ryan's Hope ''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in ...

'', playing Dr. Adam Cohen from 1979 to 1980. In the 1980s, he moved from New York to Los Angeles, when he was cast as Jake Meyer on ''

'' from 1983 to 1987. After a recurring role on the NBC legal drama series, ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'', Behrens was cast as Danny Waleska, Valene Ewing's (

Joan Van Ark Joan Martha Van Ark (born June 16, 1943) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Valene Ewing on the primetime soap opera ''Knots Landing.'' A life member of The Actors Studio, she made her Broadway debut in 1966 in '' Barefo ...

) new husband. He won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain: Prime Time for this role in 1991. Behrens also guest-starred on '' The Facts of Life'' and ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', and played major roles in a number of made-for-television movies in the early 1990s. He also had a recurring role in the ABC drama series, '' Homefront'' in 1993. In film, Behrens had supporting parts in '' American Blue Note'' (1989), and '' Alive'' (1993). From 1997 to 1999, Behrens starred alongside

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress and singer. She made her motion picture debut in the 1969 drama film '' The Smashing Bird I Used to Know'' and later appeared in films ''Assault'' (1971), '' Countess Dracula'' (1971) a ...

and other actors in the NBC daytime soap opera '' Sunset Beach'' produced by Aaron Spelling. He received two additional nominations for Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain: Daytime.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Behrens, Sam 1950 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male soap opera actors Jewish American male actors Living people Male actors from Brooklyn 21st-century American Jews