Greg Evigan Bio
Gregory Ralph Evigan (born October 14, 1953) is an American actor, composer, and producer whose career has spanned stage, film, and television for more than four decades. He first attracted national attention as the lead of the comedy series B.J. and the Bear in 1979, then cemented his television legacy with the sitcom My Two Dads and the science fiction series TekWar. Beyond acting, he has composed music and produced projects, demonstrating a creative range that extends from action and comedy to drama and soap opera.
Early Life and Background
Gregory Ralph Evigan was born on October 14, 1953, in South Amboy, New Jersey, the son of Ralph Milan Evigan, an electrician, and his wife, Barbara Elizabeth Evigan, a homemaker. Beginning at age eight, Evigan received classical training in piano and went on to play the organ and saxophone, developing the musical foundation that would later shape his work as a composer. As a teenager, he played in several rock bands in his New Jersey hometown, balancing music with his growing interest in performing.
Evigan grew up in nearby Sayreville, New Jersey, and attended Sayreville War Memorial High School, from which he graduated in 1971. In recognition of his later contributions to the arts, his high school inducted him into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 2007. His childhood immersion in music and his strong regional roots in central New Jersey gave him the confidence to pursue a career in entertainment immediately after graduation.
Path to Acting
Evigan began his professional career shortly after high school, joining the Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971 as a replacement cast member in small ensemble roles, and he also toured with the production. Between 1972 and 1973, he earned his first major stage credit when he was cast as Danny Zuko, the lead role in the Broadway production of Grease, and he reprised the role during the show’s residency in Chicago alongside Marilu Henner. These early theatrical roles gave him the discipline and stage presence that would support his move to screen work.
Relocating to Los Angeles, Evigan made his feature film debut in the exploitation action film Scorchy (1976), starring opposite Connie Stevens. The experience opened the door to television, and in 1978 he was cast as Billie Joe “B.J.” McKay, a truck driver whose best friend was a chimpanzee named Bear, in the comedy series B.J. and the Bear. The role launched him into national fame when the series premiered in 1979 and ran until 1981.
Greg Evigan Career
Early Career (1971–1981)
Evigan’s earliest screen work came in 1976 with his debut in Scorchy, and he followed that film with guest spots and small roles that kept him working through the late 1970s. His casting as the lead of B.J. and the Bear in 1978 quickly established him as a recognizable television star, and the series ran for three seasons, ending in 1981. The role also produced a signature catch phrase that fans still associate with him.
During this period he also continued his theater work, having already played Danny Zuko on Broadway and in Chicago, and he began composing music, an interest that would resurface throughout his career. The success of B.J. and the Bear gave him the leverage to choose more varied television projects through the early 1980s.
Breakthrough (1981–2002)
Following B.J. and the Bear, Evigan stayed active in television with recurring guest roles on Masquerade (1984) and Murder, She Wrote (1986). He then landed his second defining television role as Joey Harris in the NBC sitcom My Two Dads (1987–1990), in which he portrayed a man who co-parents the daughter of his deceased girlfriend alongside her ex-boyfriend. The series ran for three seasons and broadened his audience beyond the family-friendly comedy of his earlier hit.
In 1989, Evigan starred in the science fiction thriller DeepStar Six, expanding into feature film action. He then appeared opposite William Shatner in TekWar, based on a series of books by Shatner. TekWar began as a series of two-hour television movies in 1994 before running as a weekly hour-long science fiction series in 1995 and 1996. Between 1996 and 1997, he guest-starred as Dr. Dan Hathaway on the soap opera Melrose Place, followed by a multi-episode arc on 7th Heaven in 1997 and a main role on the primetime soap Pacific Palisades that same year, in which he portrayed one of several friends who relocate from the Midwest to California.
Evigan took on the lead in director Joey Travolta’s drama Mel (1998) and reunited with Travolta for the family film Arizona Summer (2004). In 2001, he starred opposite Elisabeth Moss in the psychological thriller Spirit, playing the father of a teenage girl who believes their home is haunted. From 2001 to 2002, he also starred as a record executive in the Canadian music industry series Big Sound. In Britain, he became especially well known for fronting the humorous and educational short films known as When Insects Attack, which aired as part of BBC schools programming.
Notable Works and Milestones
Evigan’s signature works include the television series B.J. and the Bear, My Two Dads, TekWar, and Pacific Palisades, along with the films Scorchy, DeepStar Six, Mel, and Arizona Summer. His career-defining moments came with the 1979 premiere of B.J. and the Bear, the 1987 launch of My Two Dads, and his casting opposite William Shatner in TekWar. His 2018 multi-episode arc as Jim Harvey on General Hospital introduced him to a new generation of soap opera viewers.
Greg Evigan Award Nominations
Verified information about Greg Evigan’s specific award nominations is not currently available in the source materials. He has been honored through his 2007 induction into the Sayreville War Memorial High School Alumni Hall of Fame for his contributions to the arts.
Greg Evigan Awards Won
Verified information about specific industry award wins for Greg Evigan is not currently available in the source materials. His most notable honor on record is his 2007 induction into the Sayreville War Memorial High School Alumni Hall of Fame for his contributions to the arts.
Greg Evigan Family
Greg Evigan married dancer Pamela C. Serpe on June 3, 1979, and the couple has three children. Their daughters, Briana (born 1986) and Vanessa (born 1981), are both actresses, while their son, Jason (born 1983), is a musician and the former frontman of the Los Angeles-based band After Midnight Project. The family has occasionally collaborated on screen, including the 2015 Hallmark Channel film Once Upon a Holiday, in which Evigan co-starred with his daughter Briana.
Personal Life
Since his 1979 marriage to Pamela C. Serpe, Evigan has built a stable family life that has long been part of his public story. He has continued to compose and perform music alongside his acting and producing work, drawing on the classical training he began at age eight. Across more than fifty years in entertainment, he has maintained a steady presence in television, film, and stage, balancing his creative pursuits with his role as a husband and father of three.