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Boyd Gaines

Boyd Gaines has built the kind of career that moves easily between screens, stages and microphones. Born in Atlanta on May 11, 1953, he began his theatre training at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. His leading roles there spanned plays, musicals and opera, giving early space to the rich baritone voice that would remain an important part of his work. He later attended the Juilliard School as a member of the Drama Division’s Group 8 from 1975 to 1979. Television audiences may know Gaines best as Mark Royer on One Day at a Time. Royer married Barbara Cooper, played by Valerie Bertinelli, and Gaines remained with the series for its final three seasons. His other television appearances include Fame, Frasier, L.A. Law, Law & Order and Piece of Cake. His film roles show a similar willingness to shift tone and setting. Gaines played Coach Brackett in the 1981 comedy Porky’s, Jason in the 1985 romantic comedy The Sure Thing and Lt. Ring in Clint Eastwood’s 1986 military drama Heartbreak Ridge. Rather than being tied to one screen persona, he has made versatility the through line, moving among comedy, drama and character parts while maintaining a substantial theatre career. On Broadway, Gaines has worked in both plays and musicals and has won four Tony Awards. His first Broadway play was The Heidi Chronicles in 1989. Later stage credits include She Loves Me, Company, Contact, Driving Miss Daisy, The Columnist and An Enemy of the People. His performance as Herbie in the 2008 revival of Gypsy earned him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Gaines’s stage work also extends Off-Broadway, beginning with Spring Awakening in 1978, and into regional theatre, including a 2014 production of Our Town at New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse. Alongside acting and music, he has worked as a voice actor and recorded several audiobooks—a fitting additional outlet for a performer whose career has always depended as much on vocal command as visible presence.