Grew up on a ranch once owned by Roy Rogers in Chatsworth, California; used to visit the hippies at the neighboring Spahn ranch, home to Charles Manson

Co-wrote a play with Juilliard classmates, "How It All Began"; starred in subsequent off-Broadway production at Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival

Broadway debut, "The Slab Boys", alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon

Feature acting debut, "Top Secret!"

TV acting debut, "One Too Many", an ABC special

Breakout hit, "Top Gun"

Acted in Ron Howard's "Willow", playing the unlikely hero-warrior Madmartigan; acted opposite future wife Joanna Whalley

Played "Hamlet" at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

Portrayed title character in the TNT TV-movie "Gore Vidal's 'Billy the Kid'"

Starred opposite then-wife Joanne Whalley in "Kill Me Again"

Gave a rich, nuanced performance as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's "The Doors"

Starred as half-Sioux FBI agent in Michael Apted's "Thunderheart"

Played the lead in John Ford's "Tis' Pity She's a Whore", performed at the Public Theater in NYC

Delivered a likably eccentric performance as Doc Holliday in "Tombstone"

Appeared as Christian Slater's Elvis hallucination in "True Romance"

Replaced Michael Keaton as Batman for the third film of the franchise, "Batman Forever", arguably the best to date

Co-starred in "Wings of Courage", the first narrative feature filmed in IMAX 3D, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud

Took supporting role as a dangerous criminal in Michael Mann's top-notch "Heat", starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino

Drove director John Frankenheimer to distraction during filming of "The Island of Dr. Moreau"

Acted with Michael Douglas in "The Ghost and the Darkness"; went "native" by insisting on sleeping in a tent close to the African location set; to reinforce his method acting approach, all mail arrived for 'John Patterson', his character

Portrayed master of disguise Simon Templar in feature version of "The Saint"

Narrated "Africa Unbottled: Preserving the Heritage" (TBS)

Provided the voice of Moses for DreamWorks animated feature "The Prince of Egypt"

Starred opposite Mira Sorvino in Irwin Winkler's "At First Sight", the story of a man who gains his sight after being blind from birth, the recently acquired sense soon turning to sensory overload

Made cameo appearance in "Joe the King", actor Frank Whaley's feature directorial debut

Had supporting role in award-winning independent film "Pollock"

Starred in edgy, independent thriller "The Salton Sea"

Starred as the porn-legend John Holmes in the feature drama "Wonderland"

Played a U.S. government secret agent, who is assigned the task of rescuing the kidnapped daughter of the president in "Spartan," written and directed by David Mamet

Portrayed Moses in a stage production of "The Ten Commandments"

Co-starred with Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie in Oliver Stone's "Alexander" playing King Philip, the father of Alexander the Great

Co-starred with LL Cool J in Renny Harlin's pshchological thriller "Mindhunters" (lensed in 2002)

Starred in the murder mystery "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" as a private detective opposite Robert Downey Jr.; premiered at the Cannes Film Festival

Joining the cast of "Comanche Moon," Larry McMurtry's prequel to his western saga "Lonesome Dove"

Co-starred with Denzel Washington in Tony Scott's, "DéjÀ Vu"