Paul Michael Glaser Biography

Paul Michael Glaser (born March 25, 1943) is an American actor and director perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the 1970s television series, Starsky & Hutch. Glaser also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the NBC series Third Watch from 2004 to 2005.

Biography

Early life

Glaser, raised in a Jewish family, is the youngest of three children. He was born Paul Manfred Glaser in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Dorothy and Samuel Glaser, who was an architect. Glaser attended the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. He then transferred to the Cambridge School of Weston, and went to Tulane University, where he was roommates with film director Bruce Paltrow, and earned a Master's degree in English and theater in 1966. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He earned a second master's degree from Boston University in acting and directing in 1967.

Career

After appearing in several Broadway productions, Glaser appeared in his first feature film in 1971, playing Perchik in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof. After having appeared as an extra on NBC's The Doctors, he was cast in the contract role of Dr. Peter Chernak on the daytime series Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and made guest appearances on shows such as The Waltons, The Streets of San Francisco and The Rockford Files, but found fame playing Detective David Starsky opposite David Soul in the television show Starsky and Hutch, of which he directed several episodes. It ran for four seasons (1975-1979) on ABC.

After the series, Glaser continued to act on television and in films, and directed the 1987 film The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as the 1992 film The Cutting Edge. He also directed episodes of several well-known TV series, including Miami Vice, Robbery Homicide Division and Judging Amy. Glaser returned to the big screen in 2003 in Something's Gotta Give, as Diane Keaton's ex-husband, and with a brief cameo in the 2004 film version of Starsky & Hutch, where his old role was reprised by Ben Stiller. He also directed the children's film Kazaam starring Shaquille O'Neal. On November 30, 2007, Glaser starred as Captain Hook in a pantomime version of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Kent, England. He took the lead role in the 2008 pantomime season at Sunderland's Empire Theatre. He guest starred in an episode of CBS's The Mentalist on October 1, 2009 titled "The Scarlet Letter". In 2013, Glaser revisited Fiddler on the Roof in a UK stage production on national tour, this time playing the lead character Tevye.

In addition to television, film, and theater, Glaser is an avid photographer, writes poetry and is currently working on several children's novels.

Personal life

Glaser has been married twice. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Meyer, in 1980. In August 1981, Meyer contracted HIV through a blood transfusion while giving birth to the couple's first child, Ariel. Meyer did not find out about the virus until four years later, at which time both Ariel and son Jake (born October 1984) were also found to be HIV positive. Ariel Glaser died in August 1988; Elizabeth Meyer Glaser died in 1994, after co-founding the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation with friends Susan DeLaurentis and Susie Zeegen. Jake never developed AIDS due, according to his father, "Paul says: "I have a rare gene that resists the HIV virus which is why I never got infected. Jake inherited that gene from me and it gave him resistance to AIDS."

After his wife's death, Glaser served as chairman of the foundation until 2002 and remains Honorary Chairman, roles in which he has testified before the United States Congress and met with national leaders, as well as headlining annual fundraisers for the organization.

Glaser married producer Tracy Barone in 1996; the couple had a daughter, Zoe, on 7 October 1997. Glaser filed for divorce in June 2007, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for ending his 10-year marriage. He was seeking joint legal and physical custody of their daughter.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1971	Fiddler on the Roof	Perchik	Actor
1972	Butterflies Are Free	Ralph	Actor
1972	Cannon	Jason	2x13 Nobody Beats The House, Actor
1974	Aces Up	Mover	Actor
	Trapped Beneath the Sea	Jack Beech	Actor
1976	The Great Houdini	Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz)	Actor
1980	Phobia	Dr. Peter Ross	Actor
1983	Wait till Your Mother Gets Home!	Coach Bob Peters	Actor
	Princess Daisy	Fred North	Actor
1984	Single Bars, Single Women	Gabe	Actor
	Jealousy	Daniel	Actor
	Attack on Fear	Dave Mitchell	Actor
1986	Band of the Hand	n/a	Director
1987	The Running Man	n/a	Director
1992	The Cutting Edge	n/a	Director
1994	The Air Up There	n/a	Director
1996	Kazaam	n/a	Director
2003	Something's Gotta Give	Dave	Actor
2004	Starsky & Hutch	Original David Starsky	Actor
2007	Live!	Network President	Actor
2010	Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers	Kjeld Playwell (voice)	Actor

Television

Years	Title	Role	Notes
1970-1973	Love Is a Many Splendored Thing	Dr. Peter Chernak	Actor
1972	The Streets of San Francisco	Jason Kampacalas	Actor ("Bitter Wine")
1973	The Waltons	Todd Cooper	Actor ("The Air Mail Man")
1974	"The Rockford Files"	Ralph Correll	Actor ("Find Me If You Can")
1974	Kojak	Lou Giordino	Actor ("Down a Long and Lonely River")
1975-1979	Starsky and Hutch	Detective David Starsky	Actor, writer, director (episodes "Bloodbath", "Class in Crime", "Deckwatch", "Ballad for a Blue Lady", "Sweet Revenge")
1984-1985	Miami Vice	n/a	Director ("Calderone's Return: Calderone's Demise", "Smuggler's Blues", "The Prodigal Son")
1984	Amazons	n/a	Director
1985	Otherworld	n/a	Director ("Village of the Motorpigs")
1987	Amazing Stories	n/a	Director ("Blue Man Down")
2001, 2003	Judging Amy	n/a	Director ("Look Closer", "Going Down")
2002	The Agency	n/a	Director ("Son Set", "The Golden Hour", "Doublecrossover", "Elite Meat to Eat", "Debbie Does Djakarta")
2002-2003	Robbery Homicide Division	n/a	Director ("In/Famous", "Had", "Absolute Perfection")
2003	Mister Sterling	n/a	Director ("Final Passage")
2004-2005	Third Watch	Captain Jack Steeper	Actor ("Sleeping Dogs Lie", "Blessed and Bewildered", "No More, Forever") Director ("Alone Again, Naturally", "Welcome Home")
2005-2008	Las Vegas	n/a	Director ("To Protect and Serve Manicotti", "Double Down, Triple Threat", "For Sail by Owner", "Wines and Misdemeanors", "Adventures in the Skin Trade")
2006	E-Ring	n/a	Director ("Brothers in Arms")
2007	Raines	n/a	Director ("5th Step")
2008	The Closer	Davis Mayhan	Actor, episode 4.2 ("Speed Bump")
2008	Criminal Minds	Detective Garrity	Director, actor ("Masterpiece")
2008	Numbers	Brett Hanson	Actor ("Conspiracy Theory")
2009	The Mentalist	Walter Crew	Actor, episode 2.2 ("The Scarlet Letter")
2013	Ray Donovan	Alan	Actor, episode 4 ("Black Cadillac")