Dan Lauria

Daniel Joseph Lauria^[1] (born April 12, 1947)^[2] is an American actor, who played the role of Jack Arnold in The Wonder Years (1988–1993), Jack Sullivan on Sullivan and Son (2012–2014), and Al Luongo on Pitch (2016–2017).

Early life

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lauria spent his formative years on the South Shore of Long Island, specifically Suffolk County in the village of Lindenhurst; there, he attended Lindenhurst High School, graduating in 1965.^[1] He graduated from Southern Connecticut State University in 1970.^[3] A Vietnam War veteran, Lauria served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1970–73.^[4]

Career

Lauria's early appearances included roles in episodes of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Hunter, Growing Pains, L.A. Law and Cagney & Lacey, as well as the films Stakeout (1987) and Another Stakeout (1993).

Lauria is best known for his portrayal of Jack Arnold, the stern, but loving, money-conscious father on the TV series The Wonder Years, which ran from 1988 to 1993. He also played Commanding Officer, USA in 1996's Independence Day and NASA Administrator James Webb in the 1998 TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. He has also appeared in a 1997 episode of Boy Meets World, starring Ben Savage, the younger brother of Fred Savage, Lauria's on-screen son in The Wonder Years. He appeared as Coach Hamstrung in The Three Stooges N.Y.U.K. on AMC in 2000. More recently he has appeared as Police Commissioner Eustace Dolan in The Spirit (2008).

Lauria appeared on stage in New York in the summer of 2006 in an off-Broadway production of A Stone Carver by William Mastrosimone with Jim Iorio and Elizabeth Rossa. He also had a small role in a season two episode of Army Wives, as well as a season one episode of The Mentalist. In 2009, Lauria has appeared as General Lee Whitworth, M.D. in Criminal Minds season 4. In late 2009, Lauria returned to the off-Broadway stage, appearing as Jimmy Hoffa in Brian Lee Franklin's Good Bobby, a fictionalized account of Robert F. Kennedy's rise.

In 2010, Lauria appeared as Vince Lombardi in the Broadway play Lombardi.^[5] The play received positive reviews, with sportswriter Jim Hague commenting, "Lauria truly becomes Vince Lombardi. You almost forget you're watching an actor. He's Lombardi through and through, down to the wire-framed glasses and intimidating scowl." North Bergen football coach Vince Ascolese, who met Lombardi, commented "I really felt like he was Lombardi. It was uncanny."^[6] Lauria's portrayal of Lombardi was used during the NFL on FOX introduction to Super Bowl XLV, where one of the two participating teams was the Green Bay Packers; the team Lombardi coached to victories in the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968. The Packers went on to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in that game.

In 2012, Lauria played the part of Jean Shepherd in the Broadway production of A Christmas Story: The Musical, a role which he reprised off-Broadway at Madison Square Garden in 2013. From 2012 through 2014, he played Jack Sullivan on the Steve Byrne sitcom Sullivan & Son. From 2016 through 2017, he played Al Luongo on the drama series Pitch. In 2021, Lauria starred as a right-wing conspiracy theorist who marries a Russian mail-order bride in Wes Hurley's autobiographical dramedy Potato Dreams of America.^[7] In 2024, he played Tip O'Neill in the Ronald Reagan biopic film Reagan.^[8]

Lauria served one year as a Department of Veterans Affairs celebrity hospital visitor, during which he toured many VA hospitals, meeting patients.

Personal life

For a relatively brief period (including at least the spring, summer and fall of 1990), Lauria was involved in the last of three "much publicized failed romances" of Growing Pains star Joanna Kerns (all of which took place during the six years following her 1985 divorce).^[9][10] Notwithstanding a number of notable professional collaborations (culminating in a joint, 1989 post-Christmas guest spot on Good Morning America),^[a] Lauria, as of December 1990, remained unwilling to commit, and—wishing to "avoid a lot of tears"—the pair agreed to a pre-Christmas separation.^[11]

Almost exactly one year later, in December 1991, at St. John's Nepomucene Church on East 66th Street in Manhattan, Lauria married Eileen Cregg,^[12][13] a "former employee at a New York City radio station."^[14] They remained married at least as late as the summer of 2000,^[15] but appear to have gotten divorced—or been in the process of obtaining that divorce—by the beginning of 2001.^[16][17]

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

1. ^ Following late-80s Growing Pains guest spots, Lauria was Kern's onscreen spouse in the 1990 TV-movie The Great Los Angeles Earthquake; moreover, their ongoing stage collaboration formed the basis for a joint Good Morning America appearance on December 27, 1989.^[20][21]

References

1. ^ Wagner, Amy (December 15, 2010). "It Happened on Long Island – 1965: actor Dan Lauria Is Lidenhurst High Grad". Newsday. p. B24. Retrieved April 20, 2026. – via Newspapers.com While actor Daniel Joseph 'Dan' Lauria was bom in Brooklyn, he spent his formative years growing up in Lindenhurst. He was a varsity football player at Lindenhurst High School, from which he graduated in 1965. Lauria first acted while attending Southern Connecticut State University on a football scholarship.
2. ^ DiMatteo, Missy (April 12, 2004). "Today's Birthdays". Dayton Daily News. p. E5. Jane Withers (1926); Montserrat Caballe (1933); Charles Napier (1936); Herbie Hancock (1940); Frank Bank (Leave It to Beaver) (1942); John Kay (Steppenwolf) (1944); Ed O'Neill (1946); Tom Clancy (1947); Dan Lauria (1947); David Letterman (1947); Scott Turow (1949); David Cassidy (1950); Pat Travers (1954); Andy Garcia (1956); Vince Gill (1957);
3. ^ "Dan Lauria To Be Honored By Casey-O'Brien New Haven County Chapter of the National Football Foundation/College Football Of Fame". Southern Connecticut State University Football. Southern Connecticut State University Athletics & Recreation. March 20, 2015. Archived July 22, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
4. ^ Dean, Paul (April 27, 1995). "To Hell . . . and Back : Not everyone who fought in Vietnam came home shattered. Millions returned intact in mind and body, and used the worst of combat to find the best of life.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
   Cutler, Jacqueline (September 10, 2006). "'The Path to 9/11". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
5. ^ Healy, Patrick (April 15, 2010). "Turf for a Different Kind of N.F.L. Play: Broadway". The New York Times
6. ^ Hague, Jim. "'Lombardi' on Broadway is a smash hit" "Tasty Tidbits" The Union City Reporter; October 24, 2010; Pages 12 & 13
7. ^ "Potato Dreams of America (2021) - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
8. ^ Johnson, Ted (9 December 2022). "Dan Lauria To Play Tip O'Neill In Ronald Reagan Biopic". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
9. ^ "Fearless: How I grabbed the man of my dreams". San Antonio Express-News. June 30, 1991. p. 185. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com Joanna, who suffered through a string of broken romances following her divorce from director Richard Kerns six years ago, is so determined not to jinx her new relationship that she's keeping mum about the special guy's identity. After much-publicized failed romances with businessman Joerg Fent and actors Bob Ginty and Dan Lauria—all of whom headed for the hills when Kerns began talking marriage—the 38-year-old actress won't reveal anything about her new beau, except to say he's an architect and that she's 'wildly in love' with him. Joanna met her mystery man six months ago, after her romance with Wonder Years star Dan Lauria ended. 'Joanna wanted to get real serious and Dan backed off,' a friend says.
10. ^ Charlton, Janet (May 13, 1990). "Star People: Shades of Roy Orbison — His Widow Falls for Singer's Best Friend". San Antonio Express-News. p. 260. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com MR. WONDERFUL: It looks like Growing Pains' JOANNA KERNS has found Mr Right this time. Not long ago she broke up with BOB GINTY because he wasn't interested in marriage. For the past few months Joanna has been dating Wonder Years star DAN LAURIE [sic], and now they're talking about marrying and adopting a baby.
11. ^ "GROWNUP PAINS: JOANNA KERNS CAN'T FIND MR. RIGHT". San Antonio Express-News. June 30, 1991. p. 194. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com Joanna was very serious for almost 10 months with actor Robert Ginty, the ex-boyfriend of Kate Jackson. Then, after that relationship soured, she fell into a fast romance with 44-year-old Lauria. 'Dan even moved into Joanna's Brentwood, Calif., house last summer, but this fall they were having problems. Joanna wanted to get real serious and Dan backed off," the friend says. "Then Dan said it would be best if they cooled things down for a while. To avoid a lot of tears, Dan and Joanna broke up before the Christmas holidays.
12. ^ Stasi, Linda (December 31, 1991). "Inside New York: Their Very Own Weddings Night". Newsday. p. 13. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com Did you ever notice that the holidays are the time when couples split or fuse? It must have something to do with presents and presence. No glitch in the hitching last week of 'Wonder Years' papa Dan Lauria to Eileen Cregg at St. John's Nepomucene Church on East 66th Street, with radio jock Jim Kerr doing the reading. Well, actually there was one tiny hitch - literally. Lauria's 'Wonder Years' co-star, Fred Savage, was actually supposed to be the best man (or, more appropriately, best boy - no union-pun intended), but he was in Hawaii.
13. ^ Gaston, Janice (June 6, 1993). "Fearless: Gruff TV dad will take dicey roles". Winston-Salem Journal. p. B1. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com Lauria is in town with Eileen, his wife of a year and a half, to play golf at The Crosby. [...] Dan Lauria, with wife Eileen, was warned not to do the TV movie on the tragedy in Waco, Texas. (JOURNAL PHOTO BY ALICIA WAGNER)
14. ^ "Not a kid anymore". People Weekly. May 17, 1993. pp. 55–56. Retrieved April 21, 2026. "Lauria, who lives in L.A. with [...] "Eileen Cregg, 36, a former New York City radio-station employee."
15. ^ "Where Are They Now? The Wonder Years, 1988-1993". People Weekly. June 26, 2000. pp. 90–94. Retrieved April 21, 2026. "Lauria, who lives in L.A. with his charity-fund-raiser wife, Eileen"
16. ^ Ryon, Ruth (February 3, 1991). "Hot Properties (From page 31)". Reno Gazette-Journal HomeFinder. p. 32. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com Dan Lauria, probably best known for his role as the loving father in the ABCTV series "'The Wonder Years" (1988-93), has sold his Hancock Park home for slightly less than $1 million. The actor, 53, appeared in a number of TV movies during 2000 and played Leonard Fero in the Showtime series "The Hoop Life." [...] He had lived in the country Englishstyle house, built in 1925, for about eight years.
17. ^ "Hot Property: 'The Wonder Years' dad sells Hancock Park home". Longview Daily News. January 14, 1991. p. E1. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com Dan Lauria [...] has sold his Hancock Park home for slightly less than $1 million. The actor, 53, [...] had lived in the country English style house, built in 1925, for about eight years.
18. ^ Johnson, Ted (2022-12-09). "Dan Lauria To Play Tip O'Neill In Ronald Reagan Biopic". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
19. ^ "Dan Lauria (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 4, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
20. ^ Arkush, Michael (February 25, 1990). "A Subsidy Plan for TV's Farm Team". The Los Angeles Times. p. 86. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com By getting Patchett-Kaufman Entertainment in Culver City, which produces the TV show 'Working Girl,' to spend $100,000 to finance four plays this year, Lauria has accomplished his decade-long dream: that the film and television business invest in Equity-waiver productions to tap theater's pool of writing, directing and acting talent-a minor league system for artists. [...] He enlists support from television colleagues such as Joanna Kerns ('Growing Pains') and Ron Perlman ("Beauty and the Beast"), who read dozens of plays and offer their input. So far, just through word-of-mouth, 67 plays have been submitted since late December. Kearns, a good friend of Lauria's, may direct one. Last year she directed 'What Everywoman Knows' at the West Coast Ensemble Theater in Hollywood.
21. ^ "Today's Talk". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. December 27, 1989. p. 7E. Retrieved April 21, 2026. – via Newspapers.com 7 a.m. 20 Today: Jobs in the '90s; Steven Spielberg ('Always'); '90 calendars; fashion trends; Jim Brown ('Memphis Belle'); exercise and back pain. (2 hrs.) (Stereo) (CC) 10 26 40 Good Morning America: Sylvester Stallone ('Tango & Cash'); influx of Californians to Seattle; Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent; Joanna Kerns and Dan Lauria discuss their stage work. (2 hrs.) (CC)

External links

• Dan Lauria at IMDb