Tom Wopat
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Lodi, Wisconsin, USA
To Gen-X'ers, particularly those who grew up hooked on prime-time television, Tom Wopat will be forever inseparable from his role as Luke Duke, the more intelligent and responsible of two cousins who spent their days charging around the rural South in a souped-up Dodge Charger and evading the wiles of corrupt politician Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke), on the comedy-adventure series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985). Born on a dairy farm in Lodi, WI, Wopat attended the University of Wisconsin as a young man, where he displayed strong musical ambition as a trombone player and a singer. Wopat spent his post-collegiate years touring in musical theater productions before being tapped for the Duke role in 1979. The CBS series, of course, took off like a rocket and netted a huge fan base (particularly among preteen boys). By 1982, however, it ran into a snag. Wopat and co-star John Schneider (who played Bo Duke) took issue with Warner Brothers Television over their salaries and shares of Hazzard merchandising revenues; the production company in fact snubbed their demands by bringing in two substitute actors for a single season, only to discover that the ploy didn't work. Wopat and Schneider thus returned in 1983 and stuck with the series for two more seasons, until it wrapped in August 1985. In the mean time, Wopat parlayed his Hazzard recognition into a recording career as a country singer. An eponymous debut album appeared in 1983 to generally favorable reviews, followed by a sophomore effort, the Capitol release Don't Look Back, in 1990, and a third effort, the Epic release Learning to Love, in 1992. The performer continued to cut his acting chops as well from time to time, signing for roles in such little-seen features as Contagious (1997) and Meteorites! (1998). He scored one of his more prominent post-Hazzard roles in a supporting turn opposite leads Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, and Joan Allen in the female buddy comedy Bonneville (2006). Wopat also portrayed Jeff Robbins, ex-husband of actress Cybill Sheridan (Cybill Shepherd) in the first season of the CBS sitcom Cybill (1995-1998), and remained extremely active in various musical theater productions.
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
60% | New Money |
|
— | 2019 |
No Score Yet | Fair Haven |
|
— | 2017 |
No Score Yet | Lost Cat Corona |
|
— | 2017 |
80% | The Standbys |
|
— | 2014 |
No Score Yet | Lovestruck: The Musical |
|
— | 2013 |
43% | Mariachi Gringo |
|
— | 2013 |
87% | Django Unchained |
|
$162.9M | 2012 |
No Score Yet | The Understudy |
|
$10.1k | 2012 |
13% | Main Street |
|
$2.1k | 2011 |
12% | Jonah Hex |
|
$10.6M | 2010 |
57% | Taking Chance |
|
— | 2009 |
No Score Yet | The Hive |
|
— | 2008 |
No Score Yet | Dottie West - Greatest Hits |
|
— | 2007 |
No Score Yet | The History of Wisconsin Football |
|
— | 2007 |
41% | Bonneville |
|
$0.4M | 2006 |
No Score Yet | The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood |
|
— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | Meteorites! |
|
— | 1998 |
No Score Yet | Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! |
|
— | 1997 |
No Score Yet | Contagious (Virus) |
|
— | 1997 |
No Score Yet | Christmas Comes to Willow Creek |
|
— | 1987 |
No Score Yet | Burning Rage |
|
— | 1984 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet |
Madam Secretary
2014-2019
|
|
|
95% |
Elementary
2012-2019
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Blue Bloods
2010
|
|
|
66% |
A Gifted Man
2011-2012
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Medium
2005-2011
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Graham Norton Show
2007
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
In Performance at the White House
2010-2016
|
|
|
23% |
Standoff
2006
|
|
|
78% |
Smallville
2001-2011
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Great Performances
2000
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Home Improvement
1991-1999
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Cybill
1995-1998
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Murder, She Wrote
1984-1996
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Dukes of Hazzard
1979-1985
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Dukes of Hazzard
1979
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Heirloom
2016
|
|
|
Quotes from Tom Wopat's Characters
Dr. King Schultz: | My name is Dr. King Schultz, and like yourself, Marshall, I am a servant of the court. The man lying dead in the dirt, who the good people of Daughtrey saw fit to elect as their sheriff, who went by the name of Bill Sharp, is actually a wanted outlaw by the name of Willard Peck, with a price on his head of 200 dollars. Now, that's 200 dollars, dead or alive. |
Marshall Gill Tatum: | The hell you say! |
Dr. King Schultz: | I'm aware this is probably disconcerting news. But I'm willing to wager this man was elected sheriff sometime in the last 2 years. I know this because 3 years ago, he was rustling cattle from the B.C. Corrigan Cattle Company of Lubbock, Texas. Now this is a warrant, made out by circuit court Judge Henry Allen Laudermilk of Austin Texas. You're encouraged to wire him. He'll back up who I am, and who your dear departed sheriff was. In other words Marshall, you owe me 200 dollars. |
Django: | I'll be damned. |