 First Titans Episode:Pilot Full Name: Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. Birth Date: December 18, 1968 Birth City: Ridgefield NJ USA Height: 5' 10' Passions: All outdoor sports, especially sailing, and writing poetry & music' What not to get Casper for Christmas: Casper's First Christmas (he gets a copy almost every year) Personal Status: Was married Carrie Mitchum in 1993 and separated in 1997. Now married to Catherine Oxenberg (May 8, 1999 - present) Children: 2 with Carrie (son Casper Robert Mitchum Van Dien, 1993/daughter Grace Van Dien 1996) About Chandler: A 26-year-old fighter pilot, Chandler is the adoptive son of Richard and Gwen and the adoptive brother of Peter, Laurie, and Jenny. Chandler had a fling with Heather, who is now engaged to his father. About Casper: (From NBC.com) Until he became an actor in such films as "Starship Troopers," Casper Van Dien (pronounced "van dean") intended to follow in the wake of his father, a U.S. Navy commander. Fortunately , Van Dien's newest role -- as a decorated Navy pilot who returns to his family -- affords him an opportunity to honor his dad every week. "I get chills playing anyone like my dad," said Van Dien about the character which was created with him in mind. "I get to pay him back as a role model and show what he did for me in teaching me great values. I even get to dress like my dad, who was actually born on July 4 and is a real Yankee Doodle dandy…My father is my hero." Van Dien was born in Milton, Florida, and raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey, with his three sisters (their mother was a registered nurse and pre-school teacher). His first name was bestowed upon him as a family tradition. "Every first-born male in my family has been named Casper for 11 or 12 generations," says Van Dien. In high school, he attended Admiral Farragut Academy, a college prep school, and he later enrolled in Florida State University with designs of becoming a pre-med major. Eventually he abandoned those studies when he "got hooked" on acting after attending campus theater productions. Van Dien landed in Los Angeles – he remembers the exact date, September 12, 1989 – and won a small part in a television movie before becoming a cast member of the syndicated series "Dangerous Women." He later appeared in the "Freshman Dorm" series and guest-starred in various series until he was cast in the daytime drama "One Life to Live" as Ty Moody in 1992. The next year, he appeared in seven episodes of Aaron Spelling's "Beverly Hills, 90210" as a self-serving fraternity brother. In 1997, Van Dien found his breakout role in the sci-fi film "Starship Troopers," in which he played a heroic young infantryman who battled giant bugs in outer space. Other roles followed in "Tarzan and the Lost City" and, most recently, director Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow." Van Dien's other features include a starring role in the controversial apocalyptic film "The Omega Code." He recently completed "Going Back," a Vietnam War-era film shot in Vietnam and directed by Sydney Furie. Van Dien currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Catherine Oxenberg, and their children – daughters India and Gracie and son, Casper (nicknamed Bo). He also is a voracious reader who enjoys working out, swimming, sailing, scuba diving, rock climbing and writing poetry. His birthday is December 18. About Casper: (From Ken Hada as caspervandien.net) Casper Van Dien burst onto the Hollywood scene with his breakthrough performance in Paul Verhoevens’s 1997 sci-fi Thriller, Starship Troopers. Van Dien starred as Johnny Rico, a recent high school graduate who joins the Mobile Infantry to save the earth against alien bugs along with co-stars Denise Richards, Jake Busey and Neil Patrick Harris. With a hot, young cast and incredible special effects, Starship troopers was one of the years most talked about films. Van Dien recently completed production in England in Tim Burton’s horror fantasy film Sleepy Hollow, which is based on the classic Washington Irving story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. Van Dien stars as Brom Van Brunt, a suitor of Katrina Van Tassel, played by Christina Ricci. The film which is scheduled to be released on November 19 by Paramount Pictures, also stars Johnny Depp and Miranda Richardson. In 1998 Van Dien starred in the Warner Bros. film Tarzan and the Lost City which was filmed in South Africa. Directed by Carl Schenkel, Van Dien starred as the ‘King of the Jungle’ in this update of the classic story. Before deciding on an acting career, Van Dien grew up in New Jersey intending to pursue his military roots as his father was a US Navy Commander for 20 years. At Admiral Farragut Academy, he achieved a remarkable level of success, graduating third in command of his class. He then went to attend Florida State University as a pre-med student where a theater class he took ignited his passion for acting. Van Dien moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career where he immediately found success in many different series and television movies including Griffin Stone in "Beverley Hill 90210" (1990) and Ty Moody in "One Life to Live" (1993). Other film credits include Romantic Moritz with Roger Daltrey and James Dean: Race with Destiny and The Omega Code.
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