Robert Urich

American actor on radio, stage, film and 11 TV series, including "Vega$," 1978-81, "Spenser For Hire," 1985-88, "American Dreamer," 1990-91 and "Crossroads," 1992-93. His films include "Magnum Force" and "Endangered Species." Before Urich's big time success, he played in university theater while gaining a B.A. in radio and TV communications. He worked for WGN radio before turning to the stage, as well. Urich is not only an actor, he also is the owner of a business that makes devices to track stolen computers. He was raised in a Catholic home in Ohio to a middle class family. He started college on a football scholarship but went on the get a B.A. in drama. At 21, he wed actress Barbara Rucker and three years later gave up a sales job to enter acting full time. Moving to L.A. in 1973, he played in a short-term series. A year later, he and Rucker divorced. Intelligent and stable, he married Heather Menzies in 1975. After several miscarriages, they adopted their son Ryan and daughter, Emily. Even though it was not made public and his wife prefers not to talk about it, she suffered with ovarian cancer. The hysterectomy and grueling chemotherapy became a regimen in their lifestyle, always staying strong, supportive and loving for and with each other. In the summer of 1996 he went public to announce that he had a rare form of cancer and would undergo chemotherapy, two major surgeries and radiation. He underwent surgery in Los Angeles on 11/14/1996 for synovial sarcoma. His chemotherapy caused him to lose his hair, but after seven grueling months of chemo and radiation he went back to work, with a bald head, on "Boatworks," a 13-part series on PBS. He particularly enjoyed this series as he had grown up on the banks of the Ohio River, and has owned more boats than he could recall. In August 1997 he said he felt great with a second chance at life. Urich filed a $1.47 million suit against Castle Rock TV, 4/10/2000, requesting damages from a breach of contract. He claims the company canceled the series, "Lazarus Man" because of his cancer. With his hair grown back, fit and well, he played the captain in the renewed series, "Love Boat: The Next Wave," premiering on 4/13/1998. A second daughter, Allison Grady, was born five days later, on 4/18/1998. With two teenagers in the house, they won't have to look far for a baby-sitter. In November 2001, he revealed that new tumors had been found over the summer but said that a wonder drug cleared them up." Urich was in the process of writing his memoirs, "An Extraordinary Life" (with David Dalton), when his health took a turn for the worse. He died at 55 of cancer on 4/09/2002 at a hospital in Thousands Oaks, CA, surrounded by family and friends. Link to Wikipedia biography