{{short description|American actor (born 1950)}} {{Infobox person | name = Sam Behrens | birth_name = Stanley Birnbaum | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|7|24}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1979–present | spouse = {{marriage|Shari Belafonte|December 31, 1989}} }}
'''Sam Behrens''' (born '''Stanley Birnbaum'''; July 24, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Meyer on the ABC daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'', Danny Waleska in the CBS prime time soap opera ''Knots Landing'' and as Gregory Richards in the NBC daytime soap opera, ''Sunset Beach''.
==Life and career== Behrens was born Stanley Birnbaum to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/p5027|title=Sam Behrens - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie|work=AllMovie|accessdate=26 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bloom|first=Nate|title=Jewish Stars 11/18 |publisher=Cleveland Jewish News|date=November 17, 2011|url=https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/archives/jewish-stars/article_7913ef9e-115a-11e1-a5a7-001cc4c03286.html|accessdate=|quote=Actress Shari Belafonte, 57, is Harry's daughter with his first wife. Shari's husband since 1989 is Jewish soap opera actor Sam Behrens, 61.}}</ref> He is of German ancestry on his paternal side. He has been married to Shari Belafonte since December 31, 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19900103&id=6KwfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4587,227009|title=Gadsden Times - Google News Archive Search|publisher=|accessdate=26 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20118946,00.html|title=Well, Hush Our Mouth—Harry's Shari (Belafonte) and Knots Landing's Sam Behrens Found Love on Location|publisher=|accessdate=26 August 2015}}</ref>
Behrens began his soap opera career on ABC's ''Ryan's Hope'', playing Dr. Adam Cohen from 1979 to 1980. In the 1980s, he moved from New York to Los Angeles, when he was cast as Jake Meyer on ''General Hospital'' from 1983 to 1987. After a recurring role on the NBC legal drama series, ''L.A. Law'', Behrens was cast as Danny Waleska, Valene Ewing's (Joan Van Ark) new husband. He won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain: Prime Time for this role in 1991.<ref name="SOD 1991">{{cite web|title=The Soap Opera Digest Awards: 1991|url=http://www.soapoperadigest.com/awards/1991/|work=Soap Opera Digest|publisher=soapoperadigest.com|accessdate=March 15, 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303081639/http://www.soapoperadigest.com/awards/1991/|archivedate=March 3, 2009 }}</ref> Behrens also guest-starred on ''The Facts of Life'' and ''Murder, She Wrote'', and played major roles in a number of made-for-television movies in the early 1990s. He also had a recurring role in the ABC drama series, ''Homefront'' in 1993. In film, Behrens had supporting parts in ''American Blue Note'' (1989), and ''Alive'' (1993).
From 1997 to 1999, Behrens starred alongside Lesley-Anne Down and other actors in the NBC daytime soap opera ''Sunset Beach'' produced by Aaron Spelling. He received two additional nominations for Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain: Daytime.
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1979—1980 | ''Ryan's Hope'' |Dr. Adam Cohen | Series regular |- |1983 | ''Star 80'' | Businessman |Uncredited |- |1983—1987 | ''General Hospital '' | Jake Meyer | Series regular |- |rowspan=3|1988 | ''L.A. Law'' |Charles Craft | 3 episodes |- | ''The Facts of Life'' | Wes Mitchell | 2 episodes |- | ''Murder, She Wrote'' | Kevin Styles | Episode: "J.B.. as in Jailbird" |- |1989 | ''American Blue Note'' | Nat Joy | |- |rowspan=2|1990 | ''Unspeakable Acts'' | Herschell | Television film |- | ''Uncut Gem'' | Lewis | Television film |- |1989—1990 | ''Knots Landing'' | Danny Waleska | 36 episodes<br>Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain: Prime Time (1991) |- |1990 | ''Murder by Numbers'' |Lee | |- |rowspan=2|1991 | ''Murder, She Wrote'' | Steve Lockner | Episode: "Unauthorized Obituary" |- | ''And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird'' | Steve Franklin | |- |1992 | ''Beyond Reality'' | The Man | Episode: "Dancing with the Man" |- |rowspan=2|1993 | ''Alive'' | Javier Methol | |- | ''Homefront'' | Phil Havel | 4 episodes |- |rowspan=2|1994 | ''Viper'' | Frederick Lang | Episode: "Past Tense" |- | ''Shadow of Obsession '' | Philip | Television film |- |1995 |''Tummy'' |Richard Power | |- |1996 | ''Bermuda Triangle'' | John | Television film |- |1997—1999 | ''Sunset Beach'' |Gregory Richards<br>Tobias Richards |Series regular<br>Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain (1997—1999) |- |rowspan=2|2002 | ''That's Life'' | Robert Comiskey | Episode: "Baum's Thesis" |- | ''The Young and the Restless'' | Maxwell Hollister | Recurring role |- |2007 | ''The Closer'' | Ken Scott | Episode: "Lovers Leap" |- |2017 |''Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk'' |Elder | |- |2019 |''Gloria Bell'' |Man #1 | |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|0067079}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrens, Sam}} Category:1950 births Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:American male film actors Category:American male soap opera actors Category:Jewish American male actors Category:Living people Category:Male actors from Brooklyn Category:21st-century American Jews