• John Schneider is an actor and singer with over 170 acting credits and 30 music albums
• He was born in Mount Kisco, New York in 1960 and attended North Springs High School for the Arts in 1978
• Some of his notable movie roles include Eddie Macon in "Eddie Macon's Run" (1983), William Beck in "10,000" (2014), and Grandpa Gene Martin in the horror mystery "The Stairs" (2021)
• Some notable series roles include Bo Duke in “The Dukes of Hazzard” (1979-1985), Jonathan Kent in “Smallville” (2001-2017), and Jim Cryer in “The Haves and the Have Nots” (2013-2021)
• John had 30 music albums and won two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Compendium and Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance in 201• His net worth is estimated at $4 million

Who is John Schneider? Wiki

‘Every story has a beginning’- the sentence that marked the action-adventure drama “Smallville” about a young Clark Kent (Superman) who struggles to find his place in the world, living as a teenager in Smallville, Kansas. One of the main characters was Clark’s adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, a farmer with a work ethic and high moral values.

The actor who portrayed this character was John Schneider, and although he is perhaps still known best for this role, he actually has over 170 acting credits to his name. He’s also a country singer, and if you want to learn even more about him, you are in the right place.

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Early life, family, and education

Born John Richard Schneider under the zodiac sign of Aries on 8 April 1960, he’s aged 62 (as of 2022). John was raised in Mount Kisco, New York State USA by his parents John Schneider III and Shirley Conklin – his father was a US Air Force pilot, while his mother was a housewife devoted to raising John and his older brother Robert. John had another brother who died of lung failure as a toddler.

From an early age, Robert enjoyed performing, and his mother recognized his talent for acting and singing, thus when he was 14, she moved with him to Atlanta, Georgia. There he attended North Springs High School, known as one of the most prestigious art schools, and acted in the school’s drama club.

Upon matriculating in 1978, John didn’t go to college, but pursued his acting career.

Roles in movies

John made his debut as Cowboy in the 1977 movie “Smokey and the Bandit”, although his role was uncredited. He followed with his role as Charley Cross in the 1981 TV movie “Dream House”, and two years later, John was seen as Nick Callohan in “Happy Endings”, followed by his role as Eddie Macon in “Eddie Macon’s Run” also in 1983 – this was his first lead role, starring opposite the legendary Kirk Douglas.

The following years saw John in numerous TV movies, and since the list of his roles is too long to enumerate, we’ll highlight some of his most notable. Worth mentioning are his early roles in “The Curse” (1987), “Speed Zone” (1989), and “Come the Morning” (1993).

In the ’90s, John focused on his television series roles but also starred in several TV movies, such as the biographical drama “Michael Landon, the Father I Knew”, a story about the relationship of the famous actor and his son after the former divorced the latter’s mother.

The early 2000s saw John in “Snow Day”, “Lighting: Fire from the Sky” (2001), “Mary Christmas” (2002), and “An American Girl Adventure” (2005). In the following year, John starred opposite Staci Keanan in Carey Scott’s comedy-drama “Hidden Secrets” which had no award nominations, but the critics rated it as ‘an outstanding and uplifting story’.

John followed with his roles in “Beautiful Loser” (2008), “The Gods of Circumstance” (2009), and “What Would Jesus Do?” in 2010, among many others.

Another significant role in John’s career was his portrayal of Daniel in the 2011 war drama “Flag of My Father”. He next starred opposite Rosanna Arquette and Randy Wayne in the 2012 action drama “Hardflip”, but which was poorly rated both by the audience and critics.

Among many other roles, John was seen starring as William Beck in the 2014 science-fiction movie “10,000”, which the audience described as ‘horrible’ and was rated 2.7/10 on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

The late 2000s saw John in numerous supporting roles, and it seemed that success on the big screen has been slipping through his fingers. Finally, in 2021, he was cast to play Grandpa Gene Martin in the horror mystery “The Stairs”, starring Kathleen Quinlan and Russell Hodgkinson. It was a story about a young boy and his grandfather who while they were hunting, discover a mysterious staircase in the forest. The movie had 44 award nominations and won 28. John won the Queen Palm International Film Festival Gold Award for Best Actor-Feature Film, and European Cinematography Awards (ECA) – Best Actor.

Most recently, John was seen in the 2022 movies “The Good Fight”, “Adeline” and “Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis” which had 20 award nominations and won 19. John was nominated for Oniros Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Roles in series

John’s first television role was his portrayal of Bo Duke in the series “The Dukes of Hazzard”, seen in 128 episodes from 1979 through 1985. His performance in this action comedy brought him two TV Land Awards, Most Uninsurable Driver, and Favorite Teen Dream-Male.

John followed with his role as Jack McCall in the 1989 TV mini-series “Wild Jack”. Next, he was seen as Larry Lamont in “Loving” in 1992. One of his notable roles was his portrayal of Doug Monroe in “Heaven Help Us” (1994), a fantasy comedy about a newlywed couple who die in an airplane crash, but must go back to Earth to help other people, so Heaven’s supervisors will decide whether they do well to go to Heaven.

From 1993 through 1998, John had a recurring role as Daniel Simon in the series “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”.

In 2001, he was cast to play Jonathan Kent in “Smallville”, his most notable role to date. The series, also starring Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, and Allison Mack, aired until 2017, and had 154 award nominations, winning 34, including three Primetime Emmys. John was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Parental Unit, which he shares with Annette O’Toole, and he won Roswell Film Festival-Rossy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Concurrently, the early 2000s saw him as Rick O’Connell in 25 episodes of the series “The Mummy” (2001-2003). John also guest starred in numerous television series, such as “Nip/Tuck” (2007-2009), “CSI: Miami” (2008), “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” (2008-2009), and “90210”, among others.

From 2013 until 2021, John portrayed Jim Cryer in the mystery crime-drama “The Haves and the Have Nots”, which focuses on the rich families Harrington and Cryer and the poor Young family, whose life paths crossed after Hanna Young began working for the Cryers family.

This was his most recent television role, although concurrently, John guest starred in an episode of the series “Viral Vignettes” in 2020.

Music career

As mentioned, John is a country singer – he entered into music during his starring in “The Dukes of Hazzard”. He released his debut album “Now or Never” in the early’80s, and it peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1981. In the following year, John was nominated for the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Male Vocalist.

During his more than 30 years music career, he’s released over 30 studio albums and won two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Compendium and Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance in 2015. John was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium in 2013.

Love life and wife

As with many celebrities, John has been the subject of various rumors concerning his love life, but it’s widely known that he was married twice before he met his third future wife.

John’s first wife was Tawny Elaine Godin, Miss America in 1976. The two married in 1983, and their marriage lasted until 1986; they didn’t have children together,

In the early ‘90s, John met his future second wife, Elly Castle, a non-celebrity with whom he exchanged wedding vows on 11 July 1993; John adopted Elly’s two children from her previous marriage, twins Chasen and Leah born in 1991. Their biological daughter, Karis was born in 1996.

Elly filed for divorce in December 2014, however, eventually finalized in August 2019.

In April 2015, it was revealed that John began dating his future third wife, Alicia Allain, the owner of Maven Entertainment and John’s producing partner.The two married on 25 September 2019, and as of late 2022, they are still together.

Net worth

Acting in numerous movies and series, some successful others less so, and thanks to his musical talent, you would perhaps think that this talented actor and singer has earned a hefty sum of money. However, according to sources, as of December 2022, John Schneider has a net worth estimated at just $4 million.

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