Biography

Kevin Sorbo

Jump to

Overview

Born
September 24, 1958 · Mound, Minnesota, USA
Birth name
Kevin David Sorbo
Nicknames
- The Sorbs
- K-Sorbs
Height
6′ 3″ (1.91 m)

Mini bio

Kevin spent 3 years traveling around the world, modeling for print ads and appearing in over 150 commercials, before landing in his breakout series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995).

Kevin David Sorbo was born in Mound, Minnesota, on September 24, 1958, to Ardis (Thompson), a nurse, and Lynn Nain Sorbo, a high school teacher. His father was of Norwegian descent and his mother's ancestry was English, Scottish, and German. In high school, he excelled at football, baseball and basketball; in college, he played these 3 sports, plus hockey. Kevin was also in a number of plays. After leaving college, Kevin joined an actors theater group, and traveled to Europe, then to Sydney, Australia appearing in commercials. At the end of 1986, he settled in Los Angeles. Kevin began to make guest appearances on such popular shows as Murder, She Wrote (1984). At 6' 3" and very muscular, Kevin was a natural for the title role in what would become his signature series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995). Kevin became internationally famous, and he learned the craft of film-making well enough to direct and co-write some of the episodes. Kevin even studied martial arts in order to do many of his own stunts. In real life, Kevin's heart is as big as Hercules'-- he leads "A World Fit for Kids!" as the chair and spokesperson. Kevin devotes much of his time to "A World Fit For Kids!" which is a successful mentoring model that trains inner-city teens to use school, fitness, sports and positive role models for themselves, and then become the coaches and mentors for younger children. In 1998, Kevin married lovely actress Sam Sorbo, best known for her dual role on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995) as Serena/the Golden Hind ("Hind" is a female red deer).
- IMDb mini biography by: kdhaisch@aol.com

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents

Self-verified on IMDbPro

Gender / Gender identity
Male
Sexual orientation
Straight
Race / Ethnicity
White

Trademarks

Long hair
Deep voice
The title role in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995)
Towering height and muscular frame

Trivia

Reported to have suffered several small strokes during the filming of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995).
He was runner-up to Dean Cain for the role of Superman on TV's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993).
Worked as a bouncer & a model before getting his break in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995).
Has a park named after him in Mound, Minnesota, called Sorbo park.
(Fall 1997) Underwent drug therapy for an aneurysm in his left shoulder; complications from the medication forced him to withdraw from a planned role in Black Dog (1998) and he was replaced by Patrick Swayze.

Quotes

(On losing the opportunity to star in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993)) "You know what? It happened for the right reason. Although, I would have made a good Clark Kent. I look better in glasses".
I've always been a religious guy, but not overly religious. I've always believed in God and Jesus. I pray.
It doesn't matter how successful you are in this business, it's tough to get through the next door.
I'm definitely more understanding of people who have disabilities and who are suffering.
If you ever watched 'Hercules,' you can see that it was made in a comical way for the most part. I remember getting lots of letters from kids around the world saying that the show helped them curb their temper and not look for trouble and just walk away from it because that was the stronger thing to do.