John Schuck

Of English and German heritage, lumbering, oval-faced John Schuck was born Conrad John Schuck, Jr. in Boston, Massachusetts on February 4, 1940, the son of an English professor who taught at, among others, both Princeton College and SUNY Buffalo while John was growing up. Following graduation from Denison University, where he appeared in a number of plays, John turned to regional theatre work ("Marat/Sade," etc. ), including the Cleveland Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.

Has made guest appearances on both of the longest running prime time dramas in US television history: Gunsmoke (1955) and Law & Order (1990).

Discovered at ACT for film by Robert Altman, the director featured him as Captain Walter "Painless Pole" Waldowski, the virginal army camp dentist, in the classic Korean War film MASH (1970), giving him a memorable "deflowering" scene with sexy Jo Ann Pflug.

Altman continued to use John in Brewster McCloud (1970), McCabe & Mrs.

Miller (1971) and, most assuredly, in Thieves Like Us (1974), arguably his best movie role as a bank robber on the lam.

On 70's television, in addition to guest spots on such programs as "Gunsmoke," "Mission: Impossible," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Room 222," "Bonanza," "Ironside" and "Love, American Style," "Schuck won a regular part as an inept but altruistic sergeant alongside Rock Hudson's police commissioner for six seasons on McMillan & Wife (1971).

Other film roles over time have included Blade (1973), Just You and Me, Kid (1979), Earthbound (1981), Finders Keepers (1984), Outrageous Fortune (1987), The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988), My Mom's a Werewolf (1989) and Dick Tracy (1990). The musical stage also took a shine to him.

Following this, however, he found himself somewhat stereotyped as simple-minded, lovable lugs such as the robot on the silly short-lived comedy Holmes and Yoyo (1976), as buddy Murray in the revamped series The New Odd Couple (1982) and as Herman Munster on The Munsters Today (1987), a revisit to the ghoulish 1960s television family. He also kept his name alive on such popular games shows as "The $25,000 Pyramid," "Hollywood Squares" and "Password.

Has portrayed the same role in his first and second Broadway credits, which were the 1977 and the 1997 iterations of "Annie". His third Broadway credit was in a different "Annie" play, but this time it was the production of "Annie Get Your Gun" (1999), making his first three Broadway credits beginning with "Annie". His fourth production did not have anything to do with an "Annie" title, it was the production of "Nice Work If You Can Get It" (2012).

A sailor on the sly, John Schuck is father to son Aaron via his first marriage (1978-1983) to former actress Susan Bay Nimoy.

An accomplished singer, John appeared semi-regularly (from 1979 until 2006) as the bald-domed, gruff-speaking Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks in the hit musical "Annie," not only on Broadway but on tours and in smaller theater venues. He also garnered success playing Frank Butler in "Annie Get Your Gun" with Bernadette Peters on tour. Other roles over time have included the musicals "The Sound of Music", "Peter Pan", "The Most Happy Fella" and "She Loves Me.

In the popular films Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), John appeared in various roles and earned himself a place in the hearts of Trekkie fans all over the nation.

Is one of only 32 actors or actresses to have starred in both the original Star Trek (up to and including Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)) and then in one of the spin-offs.

"More challenging guest role work has come to him on occasion with television series such as NYPD Blue (1993), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Babylon 5 (1993) and in the historically acclaimed TV movie Roots (1977).

"Into the millennium, on TV John played a police captain on an episode of "Diagnosis Murder," had a recurring role as a Chief of Detectives in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), and had another recurring role as shop keeper Carl in the skateboarding adventure series Zeke and Luther (2009).

Does commercial voice-overs and directs theater. [September 2000]

John and Harrison Schuck appeared as the grandparents of the bride in Reba McEntire's music video "I Keep on Loving You" that, as of late June, is still on the Top 10 Country Video charts for both GAC and CMT. [April 2010]

" He co-starred in the original premiere of "Grumpy Old Men" in 2011 and then returned to Broadway in 2013 as a replacement in the Gershwin musical "Nice Work If You Can Get It.

He also appeared in the films Closer To God (2014) and All Light Will End (2018).