Today’s Honoree is Kevin Sorbo

As a strong leading man and a hunky Half-God, Kevin Sorbo brings a refreshing cadence to Hollywood.  In high school, the “Sorbs” excelled at football, baseball and basketball, but always remained close to the theater.  After graduating from Minnesota State University, Kevin joined an actors’ theater group and traveled to Europe and Sydney, Australia, where he modeled for print ads and appeared in over 150 commercials.  When he returned to the states, Kevin settled in Los Angeles and began making prime time appearances on shows such as “Murder She Wrote”.

Kevin received small screen stardom as Hercules on the hit  Hercules, the Legendary Journeys (1993-1999).  The series exploded onto the mainstream, airing in 176 countries and surpassing rating-topper “Baywatch” as the most watched TV show in the world.  Sorbo also directed two episodes and co-wrote one installment of the Hercules.

Sorbo went on to star in the lead role of Captain Dylan Hunt in Gene Roddenberry’s, Andromeda, which debuted as the number one, hour-long show in first run syndication and remained at number one for the next five years.

In 1997, on a hiatus from Hercules, Sorbo starred in the feature film Kull, the conqueror, followed by Walking Tall, the Payback and Walking Tall, Lone Justice, both released on Sony DVD. Other popular credits are Lifetime Channel’s Last Chance Café, Syfy Channel’s Something Beneath and Hallmark’s third highest rated film, Avenging Angel.  Sorbo is more recently recognized for his roles in The Santa Suit (2010), Meet the Spartans (2008), Fire From Below (2009), Lightning Strikes (2009), Prairie Fever (2008), Never Cry Werewolf (2008), Flesh Wounds (2011), Paradox (2011), and ABC Family’s DVD release of Tommy and the Cool Mule (2009). In 2010, Sorbo played Pierluigi in the Australian comedy, The King of Mykonos, which debuted in Australia at number one. Sorbo has since played opposite Kristy Swanson and John Ratzenberger in the independent film What If…, which premiered in August of 2010. The film remained in theaters for 5 months on strong word of mouth and was nominated for Best Family Movie of the Year 2011 by the Movie Guide Awards. Sorbo himself received the Movie Guide Award for Most Inspirational Performance of the Year for his portrayal of Ben Walker.

In 2011, Sorbo stars alongside Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt and Carrie Underwood in Soul Surfer, the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton who lost her left arm in a shark attack.  Also set to release is Julia X, a 3D psychological thriller, an Italian/American feature, The Captives. The Coffin, Sam Steele: The Silver Chalice, SoBe Real, Avarice and two comedies: Poolboy: Drowning out the Fury, and FDR:  American Badass. Upcoming projects for 2011 and 2012 include the faith based movie, Abel’s Field and Sony’s A Thousand Tomorrow’s based on the Karen Kingsbury novel of the same name.

Kevin has had the pleasure of starring in many guest spot appearances on TV shows, such as “Hawaii 5-0”, “Gary Unmarried”, “Just Shoot Me”, “According to Jim”, “Hope & Faith”, Two and a Half Men”, and USA Network’s “Psych”, with recurring appearances on “Dharma & Greg” and “The OC”.

In real life, Kevin leads “A World Fit for Kids”, a successful mentoring model that trains inner-city teens to become positive role models school, fitness, sports, and uses them to mentor younger children. In 1997, the program was awarded the Governor’s Gold Star for the most successful after-school program in the state of California.  Then in 2003, Kevin was named national spokesperson, successor to Arnold Schwarzenegger, for the Afterschool Alliance; a non-profit organization working to ensure that all children have access to safe, enriching afterschool programs. Sorbo currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Sam and three young children.

In 1997, during his tenure as the strongest man in the world, Sorbo suffered three strokes resulting from an aneurism in his left shoulder. He tells the compelling story of his grueling recovery in his book, True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life, which came out in October of 2011.

Click here for more information about Kevin or his Foundation

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