Richard Dean Anderson Bio
Name: Richard Dean Anderson
Born: January 23, 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Height: 6′ 1½”
Website: www.rdanderson.com
Dogs are my favorite people. - Richard Dean Anderson
For me, Richard Dean Anderson is best known for his role of Jack O’Neill in Stargate: SG-1, but people older than I will remember him better as McGyver, the crime solving sleuth that could put any two things together to get out of any situation. In Stargate, Richard Dean Anderson’s character was always interesting and always funny. Jack O’Neill was the leader of SG-1, an elite team that held missions off the planet thanks to a device that created a stable wormhole to other planets.
He started his acting career though on a daytime television soap called General Hospital as Dr. Jeff Webber from 1976 to 1981. After watching him play Jack O’Neill, someone who is not always traditionally smart and not book smart, it is hard to believe him to be a good candidate to play a Doctor. I almost want to find some of the episodes which feature him, just to see if there is any of what we recognize today as being Richard.
In Stargate though, all good things come to an end, and being a family man was more and more important to Richard, and so in season six of the show, he chose to have a reduced role in the series to spend more time with his daughter. His role was continually reduced until season nine, where he stopped being a regular cast member, instead making only a few guest appearances.
September 14th, 2004, he was presented with an award at the 57th Annual Air Force Anniversary Dinner in Washington, D.C. thanks to his role as star and executive producer of the hit series Stargate SG-1, a show that has presented the Air Force in a positive light since its inception. The award was presented by the then-Air Force Chief-of-Staff, General John P. Jumper. At the same dinner, Anderson was made an honorary Brigadier General, which is one rank below what he exited the show as.
While never married, R.D.A. has done well for himself, and has been reported as dating people like Teri Hatcher, Sela Ward, Lara Flynn Boyle, the famous German ice-skater Katarina Witt.
Interesting Note: If you played Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game, you might recognize the voice of Mayor Killian Darkwater. That’s right, its Richard Dean Anderson.
Jack O’Neill: I remembered something. There’s a man. He is bald and wears a short sleeve shirt. And somehow, he is important to me… I think his name is… Homer.
In April of 2006, we got to see Richard Dean Anderson as himself on an episode of The Simpsons, where Patty and Selma captured him and made him act like their favourite television character, McGyver. The episode is entitled Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore and can be found on Season 17, Episode 17.
For more information on Richard Dean Anderson check out his entry on the IMDB.
