Tom Wopat Biography

Thomas Steven Wopat (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Lucas K. "Luke" Duke on the long-running television action/comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard. Since then, Wopat has worked regularly, most often on the stage in musicals and in supporting television and movie roles. He was a semi-regular guest on the 1990s comedy series Cybill, and had a small role as U.S. Marshal Gil Tatum in Django Unchained (2012). Wopat also has a recurring role as Sheriff Jim Wilkins on the television series Longmire. Additionally, Wopat has recorded several albums of country songs and pop standards, scoring a series of moderately successful singles in the 1980s and 1990s.

Life and career

Thomas Steven Wopat was born in Lodi, Wisconsin, the fifth of eight siblings born to Albin Carl Wopat (December 10, 1919 - January 27, 1983), and his wife, Ruth Arlene (ne Skarda) Wopat (May 20, 1920 - September 23, 1959). His father, a devout Roman Catholic, who raised his children in that faith, was a dairy farmer of Czech descent.

Wopat attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and made his television debut on One Life to Live. He achieved television fame on the popular television series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-85), then embarked on a music career. He has recorded eight albums. Musically, he switches between rock and roll and country music styles, though his two most recent albums have been of classic pop standards. His 1980s albums were on EMI Nashville. The latter recording, Dissertation on the State of Bliss, is a collection of Harold Arlen songs. Wopat first appeared on the Broadway stage as a replacement in the 1977 musical I Love My Wife, as Wally. He later appeared as a replacement in the stage musicals City of Angels and Guys and Dolls.

In 1981, he played the main character, Billy Bigelow in the musical Carousel, at the Augusta Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan. He appeared in the opening cast of the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun as Frank Butler, opposite Bernadette Peters, Susan Lucci and Crystal Bernard, who played Annie Oakley (in consecutive order); he was nominated for a Tony Award in 1999 for his performance as Butler. He later appeared in revivals of Chicago and 42nd Street.

In 2005, Wopat appeared in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross as James Lingk. He starred in the North Carolina Theatre's production of The Music Man as Harold Hill in November 2006.

In 2008, Wopat starred on Broadway as the father in A Catered Affair, written by Harvey Fierstein (book) and John Bucchino (score), which opened on April 17, 2008 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. He received his second Tony nomination for that performance.

In July 2009, he originated the role of Frank Abagnale Sr. in the musical Catch Me If You Can (based on the film of the same name) in July and August 2009 at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre.

He was featured in the new musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim, conceived and directed by James Lapine, presenting the life and works of Stephen Sondheim. The revue premiered on Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre's Studio 54 on March 19, 2010 in previews and closed on June 27. He portrayed Ryan Hutton in the musical Lovestruck.

Wopat was arrested on August 2, 2017 on indecent assault and battery (felony) and drug (misdemeanor) charges in Waltham, Massachusetts, where he had been appearing in a production of 42nd Street. He was scheduled for arraignment on August 3. Further details were not released.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979-85	The Dukes of Hazzard	Luke Duke	128 episodes
1980	Fantasy Island	David Chilton	Episode: "Flying Aces/The Mermaid Returns"
1983	The Dukes	Luke Duke (voice)	7 episodes
1984	Story, Songs and Stars		Television program
1984	Burning Rage	Tom Silver	Television program
1987	Christmas Comes to Willow Creek	Pete	Television program
1988	Blue Skies	Frank Cobb	Television series
1989	A Peaceable Kingdom	Dr. Jed McFadden	12 episodes
1992	Just My Imagination	Bobby Rex	Television program
1995-98	Cybill	Jeff Robbins	22 episodes Nominated "? Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
1996	Murder, She Wrote	Bill Dawson	Episode: "Kendo Killing"
1997	Contagious	Sam	Television program
1997	Crisis Center	Chuck Goodman	Episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me"
1997	The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!	Luke Duke	Television movie
1997-98	Home Improvement	Ian	2 episodes
1998	Meteorites!	Tom Johnson	Television program
1999	The Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home	Luke Duke	Video game
2000	The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood	Luke Duke	Television movie
2001	100 Centre Street	Hanley Rand	Episode: "Lost Causes"
2001-02	All My Children	Hank Pelham	unknown episodes
2004	The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee	Luke Duke	Video game
2005	Smallville	Senator Jack Jennings	Episode: "Exposed"
2006	Standoff	Rick Keeslar	Episode: "Pilot"
2006	Bonneville	Arlo
2007	Manhunt 2	The Bloodhounds	Video game
2007	The History of Wisconsin Football		Voice role
2008	The Hive	Bill	Television program
2008	The Understudy	Detective Jones
2009	Taking Chance	John Phelps	Television program
2010-11	Phineas and Ferb	Wilkins Brother No. 2	2 episodes
2010	Jonah Hex	Colonel Slocum
2010	Main Street	Frank	Father of Mary Saunders
2012-16	Longmire	Sheriff Jim Wilkins	5 episodes
2012	Django Unchained	Marshall Gill Tatum
2012	Mariachi Gringo	Ron
2013	Lovestruck: The Musical	Ryan Hutton	Mirabella's Father
2015	Lost Cat Corona	Jimmy Pipes
2016	Fair Haven	Richard Grant

Discography

Albums

Year	Album
1981	The Dukes of Hazzard
1983	Tom Wopat
1987	A Little Bit Closer
1988	Don't Look Back
1991	Learning to Love
1995	Hands On
2000	The Still of the Night
2005	Tom Wopat Sings Harold Arlen: Dissertation on the State of Bliss
2009	Consider it Swung
2013	I've Got Your Number
2014	Home for Christmas

Singles

Year	Title	Peak positions		Album
		US Country	CAN Country
1982	"Full Moon, Empty Pockets"	"?	"?	Tom Wopat
1983	"(Till) I Kissed You"	"?	"?
	"Sha-Marie"	"?	"?
1986	"True Love (Never Did Run Smooth)"	39	"?	A Little Bit Closer
	"I Won't Let You Down"	44	"?
	"The Rock and Roll of Love"	16	14
1987	"Put Me Out of My Misery"	28	25
	"Susannah"	20	"?
1988	"A Little Bit Closer"	18	"?
	"Hey Little Sister"	40	"?	Don't Look Back
	"Not Enough Love"	29	"?
1991	"Too Many Honky Tonks (On My Way Home)"	46	46	Learning to Love
	"Back to the Well"	51	54
""?" denotes releases that did not chart