Biography
A tall, dark-haired actor with chiseled features and an athletic build, Tuc Watkins made his breakthrough on ABC's "One Life to Live" and stood out as the rare soap opera hunk with a comic sensibility. Born in Kansas City, Kansas and raised in Missouri, the actor moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to pursue an acting career. Commercial work sporadically followed, and before long he landed an early TV role as Sapphire, a male model who clashes with aspiring Chris Elliot, on the zany sitcom "Get a Life!" (Fox, 1990). Guest stints on "Growing Pains" (ABC) and "Baywatch" (syndicated) followed, before Watkins landed a small recurring role on the NBC drama "Sisters" (NBC). Similarly forgettable was his stint as a nondescript friend of Andrew Shue's Billy on Fox's "Melrose Place" (1993), but in 1994, he would begin his role as suave schemer David Vickers on "One Life to Live." Starting out as a mysterious manipulator posing as heir to the Lord fortune, Vickers seemed the average soap villain. Soon he emerged as a humorous character whose desperate and often bumbling plots had him playing the fool. Watkins added a much-needed infusion of comedy to the often dour soap, and proved a winning match for Robin Strasser (Dorian) and Krista Tesreau (Tina), both actresses able to similarly evince the funny side of the high drama.
