Ken Wahl
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| Ken Wahl | |
 Wahl at the 41st Emmy Awards, September 1989 |
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| Born | October 31, 1954 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouse(s) | Corinne Alphen (1984-1991) Shane Barbi (1997-Present) |
Ken Wahl (born October 31, 1954) is an American Emmy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning film and television actor.
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[edit] Career
Wahl made his screen debut starring in the 1979 film The Wanderers. In 1981 Wahl appeared in Fort Apache, The Bronx. He was cast as a blackjack dealer opposite Bette Midler in the 1982 Jinxed!, a production that resulted in Wahl making uncomplimentary remarks about his co-star that led to a threatened lawsuit. (The actor stated he thought about his dog during their romantic scenes.) He also appeared in the movies The Soldier (1982), Purple Hearts (1984), The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991), and major flop The Favor (1992, released 1994).
Wahl is best known for the lead role of "Vinnie Terranova" on the television show Wiseguy from 1987 to 1990. The show brought Wahl a Golden Globe award, acclaim as "prime time's top hunk", and criticism for being "what publicity agents term uncooperative".[1] His final film appearance to date was the 1996 TV film Wiseguy, which brought back the supposedly deceased Terranova with little explanation. His performance, however, was deemed "virtuostic," by The New York Times, though the paper's critic noted that serious health issues hampered his acting: "He is clearly not fully recovered from a serious motorcycle accident and spinal injury three years ago. He moves gingerly. He's heavier, even puffy, and his face, carefully lighted, has a slightly battered look. In a shower sex scene, the camera stays carefully at shoulder level."[2]
He has not worked as an actor since 1996, and his website states that he is now disabled.
[edit] Personal Life
The actor suffered severe back injuries in a fall in August 1992; he initially claimed that the injury was sustained when he was riding his Harley at 2:30 a.m. and was cut off by a car. But the accident never happened. In actuality, Wahl fell down a flight of stairs at the home of Rodney Dangerfield's girlfriend Joan Child. "We were dating casually", Ken says, "I stayed over at her house one night, fell down these stairs, and she begged me not to say that in the press. She said, 'Because if Rodney finds out, he's going to cut me out.'"[3] . A year later, he suffered a second serious spinal injury, this time in an actual motorcycle accident.[2]
In recent years Wahl has been involved in animal rescue programs.[4][5]
[edit] Marriages
From 1984 until 1991 Wahl was married to Corinne Alphen, a Penthouse Pet of the Month in June 1978 and again in August 1981, and Pet of the Year in 1982. They had one child, Raymond. According to the actor's website, he also has three other grown children: Louie, Cody, and Kyra, although their mother, apparently the actor's second wife, is not identified.
In September 1997, Wahl married Shane Barbi, a former Playboy centerfold. In 2003, Barbi and her twin sister, Sia, sued Hustler publisher Larry Flynt for $10 million, declaring that he had no right to publish photographs that Wahl had taken of the two women engaged in what the lawsuit called "intimate sexual acts".[6][7] According to the lawsuit, the women stated that "The dissemination of sexually graphic photographs depicting the Barbi Twins engaged in erotic acts will damage their image and reputation and adversely impact their business ventures." In an interview on The Howard Stern Show on the E! Network (and as reported in the January 2004 Hustler magazine article) Shane Barbi claimed that she "shares" Wahl with her sister.
[edit] Legal Issues
In 1996, Wahl was arrested for allegedly threatening a hotel bartender with a hunting knife. He later entered an alcohol addiction recovery program.[8]
In March 2009 Wahl sued his former business manager Harry Levine, and ex-wife Corinne Alphen claiming that Levine entered a conspiracy with Corinne Alphen to illegally transfer millions of dollars from Wahl's account to Alphen. Wahl says that he is now broke and disabled. The Screen Actors Guild is also a defendant in the suit; Wahl claims that there were errors made in his pension payouts.[9]
[edit] In popular culture
On The Simpsons episode "This Little Wiggy", Wahl is mentioned as playing Inspector Clouseau in "The Return of The Pink Panther Returns."
[edit] References
- ^ John J. O'Connor, "Problems of Being Prime Time's Top Hunk", The New York Times, 31 May 1989
- ^ a b John. J. O'Connor, "A Return to 'Wiseguy', With the Original Guy", The New York Times, 2 May 1996. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ^ http://www.celebritynooz.com/watn/ken_wahl.html
- ^ "Paula Abdul Hosts a Star Studded Benefit Concert for In Defense of Animals' Fund for Animal Victims of Katrina and Other Disasters", Business Wire, 23 January 2007
- ^ Behind the Wahl with Ken Wahl, Exclusive
- ^ "Barbi twins sue Flynt over sex photos", Associated Press, November 13, 2003, published by CourtTV. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ^ "Lady in commercial sets man's heart to pumping", Chattanooga Times Free Press, 6 June 2006, page E5
- ^ "Broadcast News", 28 December 2005
- ^ Wiseguy Sues over Lost Fortune TMZ, March 30, 2009
[edit] External links
- Ken Wahl at the Internet Movie Database
- NNDB
- Interview with Wahl, The New York Times, 1981
- Official website (Archived)
