Alan Rachins

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Alan Rachins
birthdate = birth date and age|1942|10|3
birthplace = Cambridge, Massachusetts U.S.
spouse = Joanna Frank (1978-present)

Alan Rachins (born October 3 1942) is an American television actor, best known for his role as Douglas Brackman in "L.A. Law", which earned him both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, as well as for his portrayal of Dharma's hippie father, Larry, on the hit television series, "Dharma & Greg". He is currently the voice for Norman Osborn on "The Spectacular Spider-Man".

Biography

Career

Rachins graduated from Brookline High School [Brozan, Nadine. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE4DF1F3DF935A25750C0A965958260 "Chronicle"] , "The New York Times", March 16, 1993. Accessed April 21, 2008. "The year is being bracketed by two celebratory weekends -- one last June, one this June -- that include class reunions. Last year's event brought more than 2,000 graduates back to the school, including Mr. Wallace, Alan Rachins, a star of "L.A. Law," and former Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts and his wife, Kitty."] . He enrolled the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, ultimately dropping out, but managed to graduate from Empire State College in 1974.Citation | last = Bonnabeau | first = Richard F. | year = 1996 | title = The Promise Continues: Empire State College: The First Twenty-five Years | publication-place = Virginia Beach, Virginia | publisher = The Donning Company | page = 148 | isbn = 9780898659665 | oclc = 34076720cite web | url = http://www.alanrachins.com/text/resume_text.html | title = Resume | accessdate = 2008-09-15 | last = Rachins | first = Alan | date = 2006-12-15 | work = http://www.alanrachins.com A passion for acting compelled him to move to New York to study with teachers William Ball, Warren Robertson, Kim Stanley and Harvey Lembeck, among others. Over the next decade, he performed in a succession of plays, including the original Broadway productions of "After the Rain" and H"'adrian the Seventh", as well as the original off-Broadway productions of "The Trojan Women" and the controversial "Oh! Calcutta".

In 1972, Rachins put his acting career on hold when he was accepted as a fellow in the writing and directing programs at the American Film Institute. He went on to sell scripts to a variety of shows, including "Hill Street Blues", "Fall Guy", "Hart to Hart" and "Knight Rider".

Despite these successes as a writer and director, Rachins returned to his acting career with a leading role in Henry Jaglom’s independent film, "Always". This critically acclaimed film brought him wide-spread attention and ultimately led to his role on "L.A. Law". Rachins continued to working in feature films such as "Heart Condition" co-starring with Denzel Washington and Bob Hoskins, Paul Verhoeven’s "Showgirls" and Rob Reiner’s "North".

Recent theatre appearances include the world premiere of Arthur Laurents’ two-hander “Attacks Of The Heart” at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J. directed by David Saint. At the Cape Playhouse, he played the part of Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit The Wind. Additionally, he tackled the role of ‘Albin’, the flamboyant transvestite in the famed Jupiter Theater production of La Cage Aux Folles, was seen in Love Letters with Swoosie Kurtz at the Coronet Theatre in Beverly Hills and starred in the Reprise production of Promises, Promises with Jason Alexander, Jean Smart and Alan Thicke at the Freud Theatre in Los Angeles.

Rachins recently appeared on the ABC-TV series "Eli Stone", playing an attorney in consultation with Eli Stone. The name "Brackman" can be seen in inverted letters on a translucent wall behind Rachins.

Personal life

Rachins was born in October 1942 Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son Edward and Ida Rachins. His father was in a family food maunfacturing business called Snow Crest. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/54/Alan-Rachins.html Alan Rachins Biography (1947?-) ] ] Rachins and Joanna Frank have been married for more than 27 years and have a son, Robert. The couple has formed a production company, Allofit Productions, which has acquired books and original screenplays to develop for television and feature films. Alan is a member of Mensa.cite web |url= http://www.mensa.org/index0.php?page=15 |title= Prominent Mensans | work= Mensa International |accessdate= 2007-10-11] cite journal | title = They're Accomplished, They're Famous, and They're MENSANS | journal = Mensa Bulletin | publisher = American Mensa | id = ISSN 0025-9543 | year = 2004 | month = July | issue = 476 | pages = p. 23 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.alanrachins.com/ AlanRachins.com] - Official website
*imdb|id=0705118|name=Alan Rachins