Casper Van Dien grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey on Van Dien Avenue, named after his great-great-grandfather. When he and his family moved to Florida he enrolled into the military school Admiral Farragut Academy where he graduated 3rd in command. Later he attended Florida State University and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career where he found success in film and television.
His breakthrough role was as the lead in Paul Verhoven’s masterpiece “Starship Troopers,” which was one of the most talked about films of 1998 and continues to have a huge cult following. He also starred in Tim Burton’s critically acclaimed film “Sleepy Hollow,” which is based on the classic Washington Irving story of Icahbod Crane and the headless horseman and starred Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken. Van Dien starred as Brom von Brunt, a suitor of Katrina van Tassel, played by Christina Ricci.
Next, Van Dien became the 25th actor to portray Tarzan in the Warner Brothers film “Tarzan and the Lost City.” Other film credits include “Big Spender” with Graham Green, “James Dean: Live Fast Die Young” with Robert Mitchum and the surprise hit “The Omega Code” with his wife Catherine Oxenberg. Other roles include appearances on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Married With Children,” “Titans,” “Watch Over Me” and “Monk.”
Van Dien was recently seen in the thriller “Shiver,” opposite Danielle Harris and in the terrifying ghost story “The Pact” written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy. The feature is based on McCarthy’s short of the same name that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Van Dien will soon begin filming the movie, “Assumed Memories,” playing a handsome defense attorney hiding a secret from his wife who is suffering from amnesia, and he recently wrapped shooting the movie, “Fugitive at 17” in Ottawa playing a handsome, college music professor with a dark past.
