About Tom Wopat
Tom Wopat will forever be remembered as strapping, good ol' boy Luke Duke, the virile, blue-eyed, dark-haired, plaid-shirted rascal opposite equally good-looking John Schneider as Bo Duke, his strapping, plaid-shirted blond cousin on the bucolic 80s action series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979). Where others may have fallen by the TV wayside after the cancellation of such a popular series, both Tom and John moved on successfully. As for Tom, he reverted back to his first true love - music - successfully refocusing as a recording artist and musical leading man of Broadway, cabaret and regional shows.The highly engaging Wisconsin native was born Thomas Steven Wopat on September 9, 1951, in Lodi, Wisconsin, the son of Ruth Arlene (Skarda) and Albin Carl Wopat, a dairy farmer. One of six brothers and sisters, Tom's father and maternal grandfather were of Czech descent. By age 12, he was singing and dancing in school musicals and, following high school graduation, decided to avidly pursue music as a viable profession. Studying at the University of Wisconsin, Tom dropped out to front a rock band as both guitarist and lead singer, and later found on-stage work in such musicals as "South Pacific", "West Side Story" and "Jesus Christ Superstar."Appearing off-Broadway in 1978, Tom made his Broadway debut that same year as a replacement actor in the musical "I Love My Wife." Other musical shows around that time included "The Robber Bridegroom" (title role) and "Oklahoma!" (as Curly).With solid, down-home good looks and appeal, it didn't take long for Hollywood to check Tom out. With relatively little TV exposure, Tom found sudden teen heartthrob stardom on the rollicking, down-home comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979). During that period, he appeared elsewhere on an episode of "Fantasy Island," co-starred with singer Barbara Mandrell in the dramatic TV movie" Burning Rage (1984), and voiced the role of Luke Duke on the related animated version The Dukes (1983). During the 1981-82 season, stars Wopat and Schneider walked away from the hugely popular series after contractual disputes involving deserved pay raises and merchandise royalties. The producers tried to replace the popular duo with the similar good-looking pals Vance (played by Christopher Mayer) and Coy (played by Byron Cherry) for the following season, but the ratings dived alarmingly. The dispute with Wopat and Schneider was immediately settled, and the boys returned to the show in the next season and stayed until its 1985 cancellation.During the show's run, Tom kick-started a recording career with his first (and self-titled) country album release in 1983. His output went on to include six other country albums before finally releasing a 2000 album of standard love songs.In later years, Wopat made do with a few mini-movie efforts, reuniting with Schneider in the yuletide drama Christmas Comes to Willow Creek (1987); co-starring opposite Jean Smart as a famous rock singer in the romantic musical comedy movie Just My Imagination (1992); and appearing opposite Roxanne Hart in the action adventure Meteorites! (1998). He also showed up as a guest on a few TV series such as "Blue Skies," "Murder, She Wrote," "Crisis Center," "Home Improvement," and was seen in a recurring role on the sitcom Cybill (1995) as a stuntman and former husband of the Cybill Shepherd character.Tom also re-sharpened his musical theater skills, finding commanding baritone leads as Billy Bigelow in "Carousel" (1986), Det...