This sturdy, handsome blond performer first gained wide recognition as the manipulative, often sleazy egomaniacal divorce attorney Arnie Becker in the popular NBC TV series "L.A. Law" (1986-93). The son of soap actress Jeanne Cooper (who has reigned as Kay Chancellor on "The Young and the Restless" since 1973), he flirted with law or playwriting as a career while at UCLA, but his producer father, Harry Bernsen offered him a small role in the 1974 feature film "Three the Hard Way." He also had small roles in "King Kong" (1976) and "Eat My Dust" (1976). Working as a model, he also often appeared in soap opera fan magazines in articles written about his mother. Bernsen decided to move to New York to pursue writing as well as acting, paying for his acting lessons by building sundecks on rooftops and by modeling. He landed a two-year recurring role as Ken Graham on the popular daytime drama "Ryan's Hope" (ABC) and appeared Off-Broadway in "Lone Star". Returning to the West Coast, he found little work, save for a bit part in Blake Edwards' "S.O.B." (1981).

Five years later, he found TV stardom with "L.A. Law" and almost immediately, he was put into feature films. He played Shelley Long's husband who remarries after she dies, and is surprised a year later when she walks into his bedroom and says, "Hello Again" (1987). His work as Roger Dorn in "Major League" (1989) and its sequel (1994), was almost to type -- the pretty boy ladies' man worried about appearances. Bernsen was again cast opposite Long in "Frozen Assets" (1992), as the operator of a sperm bank. He also appeared in the ensemble comedy "Radioland Murders" (1994) before playing a tortured (literally) white man in "Tales From the Hood" (1995).

Despite great hopes for his feature film career, Bernsen found better opportunities on TV. He played Southern Poverty Law Center founder Morris Dees in "Line of Fire" (NBC, 1991) and also starred in the 1992 NBC miniseries "Grass Roots." He returned to series TV in 1995 in the short-lived sitcom "A Whole New Ballgame" (ABC), playing a major leaguer after the crowd leaves the stadium. In 1996, he took the leading role in "The Cape," a space-based action-thriller series syndicated worldwide. Although not known for his work in the theatre, Bernsen helped launch "The Theatre of the Night" in 1991 -- a troupe of established actors bringing stage productions to America. His first tour was with Kim Zimmer and included the Murray Schisgal plays, "The Typist" and "The Tiger."