Paul Michael Glaser is an American actor and director perhaps best known for his role as
Detective David Starsky on the 1970s television series, Starsky and Hutch.
Glaser also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the NBC series Third Watch from 2004 to
2005.
Biography Early life
Glaser, the youngest of three children, was born Paul Manfred Glaser in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
the son of Dorothy and Samuel Glaser, who was an architect.
Glaser attended the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School.
He then transferred to the Cambridge School of Weston, and went to Tulane University,
where he was roommates with film director Bruce Paltrow, and earned a Master's degree
in English and theater in 1966.
He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.
He earned a second master's degree from Boston University in acting and directing in 1967.
Career After appearing in several Broadway productions,
Glaser appeared in his first feature film in 1971, playing Perchik in the film version
of Fiddler on the Roof.
He first gained notice on television playing Dr. Peter Chernak on the daytime series Love
Is a Many Splendored Thing, and made guest appearances on shows such as The Waltons,
The Streets of San Francisco and The Rockford Files, but found fame playing Detective David
Starsky opposite David Soul in the television show Starsky and Hutch, of which he directed
several episodes.
It ran for four seasons on ABC.
After the series, Glaser continued to act on television and in films, and directed the
1987 movie The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as the 1992 movie The
Cutting Edge.
He also directed episodes of several well-known TV series, including Miami Vice, Robbery Homicide
Division and Judging Amy.
Glaser returned to the big screen in 2003 in Something's Gotta Give, as Diane Keaton's
ex-husband, and with a brief cameo in the 2004 film version of Starsky & Hutch, where
his old role was reprised by Ben Stiller.
He also directed the children's film Kazaam starring Shaquille O'Neal.
On November 30, 2007, Glaser starred as Captain Hook in a pantomime version of Peter Pan,
or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Kent, England.
He took the lead role in the 2008 pantomime season at Sunderland's Empire Theatre.
He guest starred in an episode of CBS's The Mentalist on October 1, 2009 titled "The Scarlet
Letter".
In 2013, Glaser revisited Fiddler on the Roof in a UK stage production on national tour,
this time playing the lead character Tevye.
In addition to television, film, and theater, Glaser is an avid photographer, writes poetry
and is currently working on several children's novels.
Personal life Glaser has been married twice.
He married his first wife, Elizabeth Glaser, in 1980.
In August 1981, Elizabeth contracted HIV through a blood transfusion while giving birth to
the couple's first child, Ariel.
Elizabeth did not find out about the virus until four years later, at which time both
Ariel and son Jake were also found to be HIV positive.
Ariel Glaser died in August 1988; Elizabeth Glaser died in 1994, after founding the Elizabeth
Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
After Elizabeth's death, Glaser served as chairman of the foundation until 2002 and
remains Honorary Chairman, roles in which he has testified before the United States
Congress and met with national leaders, as well as headlining annual fundraisers for
the organization.
Glaser married producer Tracy Barone in 1996; the couple had a daughter, Zoe, on 7 October
1997.
Glaser filed for divorce in June 2007, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason
for ending his 10-year marriage.
He was seeking joint legal and physical custody of their daughter.
Filmography Television
References
External links Paul Michael Glaser official web site
Paul Michael Glaser at the Internet Movie Database
Paul Michael Glaser at the Internet Broadway Database
Paul Michael Glaser at Internet Off-Broadway Database
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Paul Michael Glaser interview video at the
Archive of American Television