Biography
Jack Scalia is a veteran character actor who has built a solid film and television career working on mainly under-the-radar projects. A former model and All-American high school athlete, Scalia was drafted to play professional baseball, but after an injury derailed his sports career, he turned to acting. He made his screen debut with a supporting role amidst very impressive company in the 1981 TV movie drama "The Star Maker," which starred Rock Hudson in one of his last lead roles, along with Suzanne Pleshette and Melanie Griffith. Scalia reunited with Hudson the following year, along with Leigh Taylor-Young, for a 13-episode, single-season drama entitled "The Devlin Connection," which they also made into an independent film, giving Scalia his first film role. His second, in 1984, was another co-starring role, with Tom Berenger and Billy Dee Williams, in Abel Ferrara's crime mystery "Fear City," which also reunited Scalia with Griffith. Though few of his films after that point have garnered much critical interest, he's had far more success on television, in terms of both quality and number of lead roles. During the '80s, Scalia starred on two cop series, "Hollywood Beat" (in 1985) and "Wolf" (in 1989), earning an Outstanding Supporting Actor nomination from Soap Opera Digest for his role as Nicholas Pearce on "Dallas." Though he appeared on just two episodes of the soap classic "All My Children"--in the company of "soap queen" Susan Lucci--Scalia earned an Outstanding Lead Actor Daytime Emmy nod for his portrayal of Chris Stamp.
