Tuc Watkins

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Tuc Watkins (David, OLTL)

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The 411

Tuc Watkins was born Charles Curtis Watkins III on September 2, 1966 on the Kansas side of Kansas City. He and his family lived on the outskirts of the city in the Prairie Village and Mission areas. Watkins's family all moved to St. Louis, MO, when he entered high school and after graduation, the actor headed off to Indiana University and majored in communications, with a triple minor in theater, psychology and French.

Watkins started formally acting during college, taking part in various regional theater performances. By the end of his stint at Indiana, he had decided that he wanted to pursue acting as a career.

Watkins first went back to Kansas City to appear in Heaven's Hard, a production at the Missouri Repertory Theatre. Then, in the fall of 1989, he moved to Los Angeles to seek full-time acting work and landed a Miller Lite commercial. That got him into the Screen Actors Guild, and a number of other commercials followed, including ones for Snickers and the U.S. Navy. (Watkins also spent some of his downtime working part-time as a housepainter.) Unfortunately, Watkins's first big break, a guest spot on the sitcom GROWING PAINS, wound up on the cutting room floor. But his next role, in the Chris Elliott sitcom, GET A LIFE, was much more substantial and garnered some attention and helped Watkins land a number of parts in television and film. Meanwhile, Watkins and some friends created a theater group called The All-U-Can-Eat Players and put on a number of theatrical productions.

In 1994, Watkins won the part of David Vickers on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. The actor relocated to New York from L.A. for the role, and was able to fit in an Off-Broadway play during his two-year stint on the soap. When his contract with OLTL was up in 1996, Watkins returned to Los Angeles and quickly landed a nine-month role on GENERAL HOSPITAL as Pierce Dorman. When GH ended, Watkins returned to the silver screen with a number of movie parts, most notably the 1999 role of Mr. Burns in The Mummy. His appearance in the blockbuster film raised Watkins's profile even further, helping him land a spot on the Showtime original series BEGGARS & CHOOSERS. Watkins followed that series with a number of guest appearances, including parts on CSI and HBO's SIX FEET UNDER.

In August 2003, the actor finally returned to Llanview, signing a three-year contract as David.

After playing out a romance with David's true match, Dorian (Robin Strasser), Watkins opted to leave at the end of his contract in 2006 and headed out to L.A. He reprised David once more for a five-month stint in March 2007 to kick off a twist in the Spencer Truman murder mystery, and ended up sharing an on-screen pairing with Erika Slezak (Viki) that delighted viewers.

Watkins was added to the supporting cast of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES in 2007, playing one-half of Wisteria Lane's first gay couple, and has continued to make appearances on OLTL.

Et Cetera

—Is an avid card player and part of a poker group in California
—When he first joined OLTL, co-star Kassie DePaiva (Blair) described him as "the ultimate party animal."
—Once had a manager tell him to spell his name with a K at the end: Tuck. "Unfortunately, the T looked like an F when it was spelled out," Watkins once mused over the incident. "Well, you can see the problem."
—Romanced older women on both soaps: Dorian on OLTL, and Monica, when she was separated from Alan, on GH.

Other Roles

Other Soap Roles
GENERAL HOSPITAL (Pierce Dorman, 1996-97)
SANTA BARBARA (Reggie, 1993)

TV Roles
POINT VIEW TERRACE (Freddy Hayes, 2008)
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (Bob Hunter, 2007-08)
COLD CASE (Felton Metz, 2007)
THE MINOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JACKIE WOODMAN (2007)
13 GRAVES (Lawrence, 2006)
CSI (Marcus Remmick, 2002)
SIX FEET UNDER (Trevor, 2002)
FAMILY LAW (Sean Santoro, 2001)
MIRACLE IN LANE 2 (God/Bobby Wad, 2000)
NYPD BLUE (Derrick, 2000)
BEGGARS & CHOOSERS (Malcolm Laffley, 1999-2001)
C-16: FBI (Jimmy Rooney, 1997, 1998)
SILK STALKINGS (Special Agent Sidley, 1997)
HIGH TIDE (Shane Wilson, 1996)
MELROSE PLACE (Tom, 1993)
BAYWATCH (1992)
THE EDGE (1992)
LAURIE HILL (1992)
SIBS (1992)
SISTERS (Brad, 1991-92)
GET A LIFE (Sapphire, 1990)
GROWING PAINS (Trainer, 1990)

Film Roles
The Good Shepherd (Sound Technical Officer, 2006)
Infested (Carl, 2002)
The Mummy (Mr. Burns, 1999)
Can't Stop Dancing (Reuben Clairmont, 1999)
The Thin Pink Line (Ted, 1998)
I Think I Do (Sterling Scott, 1997)
Little Sister (Ted Armstrong, 1992)

Theater Roles
Norvelle Theatre:
Beyond Therapy
Waiting For Godot
Ah, Wilderness!
The Misanthrope
Julius Caesar
Sexual Perversity
Missouri Repertory Theatre:
Heaven's Hard
Victory Theatre:
Up The Nile
The All-U-Can-Eat Players:
Ubu Roi
Ubu In Chains
The Prophets
The Hudson Theatre:
Boy's Play
The Cherry Lane Theatre:
Fortune's Fools
2100 Square Feet Theatre:
Sure

Memorable Quotes

"They tried to put me in a Speedo once on ONE LIFE TO LIVE and I said, 'Just fire me and get somebody else.' " — Soap Opera Digest, 11/7/95

"I hope the fans really dislike Dorman. Right now, I'm having a lot of fun putting a spin on just what evil means to him." — Digest, 3/25/97

"That's what I love about soap operas: You get to do the most over-the-top, preposterous things. It's a lot of fun. I steal diamonds. I sell babies. If you take it with a grain of salt, it's hysterical. It's a great way to make a living." — Soap Opera Weekly, 9/6/05

“I’ve always said playing David without Dorian is like playing gasoline without matches: It’s fun, but it lacks showmanship.” — Digest, 3/28/06

Tuc Watkins's Actor's Page>>>

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