Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science-fiction film Starship Troopers.
Early life
Van Dien was born and raised in Milton, Florida, the son of Diane, a nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien Sr., a U.S. Navy Commander and fighter pilot. There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a Marine during World War II. Van Dien is descended from an old Dutch family long settled in the New York area; his other heritage includes Swedish, French, and English. The street on which Van Dien grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Van Dien Avenue, was named after his great-great-great-grandfather. When Van Dien was older, his family moved to Florida, where he enrolled at the St. Petersburg campus of the Admiral Farragut Academy, graduating 3rd in command. While in the Florida prep school, Van Dien was often referred to as "Ken doll" due to his good looks, and got into many fights for that reason. Even some writers later described him as a "perfect life-sized Ken doll." After high school, Van Dien attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Career
After moving to Los Angeles, Van Dien landed a number of small parts in various television series and movies. Two early breaks were recurring roles as Ty Moody on the daytime soap operaOne Life to Live and the prime time drama Beverly Hills, 90210. Keen to expand his acting talents, Van Dien took a bit part in the video game, Wing Commander IV. In 1996, Van Dien played King Tal in ', the second sequel to the 1982 cult classic, The Beastmaster. Van Dien also starred in the 1997 James DeanbiopicJames Dean: Race with Destiny. Soon after, he got the breakthrough role of Johnny Rico in Paul Verhoeven's 1997 science fiction action filmStarship Troopers. His success in Starship Troopers subsequently resulted in his casting as Tarzan in Tarzan and the Lost City. Van Dien next played Brom von Brunt in Tim Burton's 1999 film Sleepy Hollow, a reworking of the classic Washington Irving tale. In 2000 Van Dien appeared in Cutaway as well as Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC prime time soap Titans with Yasmine Bleeth, John Barrowman, Perry King and Victoria Principal. He filmed several scenes as Patrick Bateman, in 2002's The Rules of Attraction. However, the scenes were unused in the final film. In 2008 Van Dien returned to the role of Rico in ', a direct-to-video sequel to Starship Troopers. Van Dien replaced Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage for the second season of the YouTube webseries . In 2020, he joined the cast of the independent filmDaughter.
Personal life
From 1993 to 1997 Van Dien was married to Carrie Mitchum. They have two children, Casper Robert Mitchum Van Dien and actress Caroline Grace Van Dien. Van Dien had co-starred with Robert Mitchum in James Dean: Race with Destiny. In 1999 Van Dien met actress Catherine Oxenberg during the filming of the TV movieThe Collectors, and they soon worked together again in the 1999 thriller The Omega Code. On May 8, 1999, they married at Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2005, the couple appeared in their own reality series, I Married a Princess, which aired on the Lifetime Television channel in the United States, LIVINGtv in the United Kingdom and Lifestyle You in Australia; Oxenberg's mother is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. During the 2006-2007 TV season, Van Dien and Oxenberg co-starred in the American drama series Watch Over Me on MyNetworkTV. Oxenberg had a daughter from a previous relationship, India Riven Oxenberg. Van Dien and Oxenberg have two daughters: Maya Van Dien and Celeste Alma Van Dien. In 2015, Van Dien filed for divorce from Oxenberg. Oxenberg and Van Dien are celebrity ambassadors for the non-profit organization Childhelp. Van Dien married Jennifer Wenger in June 2018.
