John McCook

For the Civil War patriarch of the Fighting McCooks, see John James McCook.

John Thomas McCook (born June 20, 1944) is an American television actor. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of the character Lance Prentiss on the television soap opera The Young and the Restless (from 1975 - 1980). Since March 1987, he has played the role of Eric Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful, winning the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 after four nominations.

John McCook
McCook in 2014
Born	John Thomas McCook (1944-06-20) June 20, 1944 (age 80) Ventura, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1964–present
Spouses	Marilyn McPherson ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1971)​ Juliet Prowse ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1979)​ Laurette Spang ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	4, including Molly McCook

Career

McCook was discovered by Jack Warner while performing in a production of West Side Story. He signed to Universal Studios before spending two years in the US Army.^[1]

McCook portrayed the character of Lance Prentiss on The Young and the Restless from October 1975 to February 1980, leaving when the show moved to the hour format. Since March 1987, he has played the role of Eric Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful. Currently, McCook and Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan) are the show's two longest-serving actors, and both debuted in the first episode. McCook is only eight years older than Ronn Moss, who formerly played his son on the show.

He has performed in musical theatre, and has appeared as a guest on dozens of primetime series. B&B co-star Winsor Harmon once starred with McCook on an episode of Acapulco H.E.A.T. filmed in Mexico.^[2] Harmon told Soap Opera Digest about their guest stint on H.E.A.T.:

"I hung out with John McCook the whole time and I kept watching all these people from other countries asking for his autograph. I'm thinking to myself, 'Who the hell is this guy?' So one night, we were drinking Coronas and I asked him why he had so many fans and he explained how B&B was so popular around the world. I had no idea. The more he talked about it, the more I was thinking, 'I want to be on that show.'... The first time I drove into the parking lot, there was John, just pointing at me and laughing. He asked what I was doing here and I told him that I was Thorne. That's when he told me that he was going to be playing my dad. That was just too wild."^[3]

In 2001, 2012, and 2018, McCook received a Daytime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Lead Actor category for his portrayal of Eric Forrester. In 2022, McCook won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the same role.^[4]

Personal life

John McCook has been married since 1980 to former actress Laurette Spang,^[5] with whom he has three children, Jake Thomas (born 1981), Rebecca Jeanne (born 1983), and Molly (born July 30, 1990) who is also an actress.^[6]

He was married twice previously, including to dancer/actress Juliet Prowse (1972–1979), by whom he had one son, Seth (born in August 1972).^[7][8][9]

John McCook lives with his family in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1964–1965	No Time for Sergeants	Jim KInney	Episode: "Have No Uniform Will Travel"
		Airman	Episode: "A Hatful of Muscles"
1965	Hank	Gerald Eskow	Episode: "Dunsetter for President"
	Mr. Roberts	Seaman Stefanowski	Episode: "Liberty" Episode: "Old Rustysides" Episode: "Happy Birthday, To Who?" Episode: "Love at 78 RPM Episode: "Don't Look Now, But Isn't That the War?"
1968	Run for Your Life	Buck	Episode: "Carol"
	The Name of the Game	Young Detective	Episode: "The Taker"
1968–1969	Dragnet	Off. Nick Jeffries	Episode: "The Big Problem"
		Ed Hillier	Episode: "Internal Affairs: DR-20"
		Off. Keefer	Episode: "The Joy Riders"
1970	Bracken's World	Wounded G.I.	Episode: "Love It or Leave It, Change It or Lose It"
1971	O'Hara, U.S. Treasury	Captain Shafer	Episode: "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury"
1975–1980	The Young and the Restless	Lance Prentiss	Series regular
1976	The Rear Guard	Don Crawford	Television film
1977	Once Upon a Brothers Grimm	Prince Charming	Television film
1980	CHiPs	Ray Conner	Episode: "Thrill Show"
	The Love Boat	Mark Bridges	Episode: "No Girls for Doc"
	Trapper John, M.D.	Scott Nelson	Episode: "Slim Chance"
	Tourist	Pepi Virgil	Television film
1981	Too Close for Comfort	Buck	Episode: "Centerford"
	Harper Valley PTA	Calvin Kendall	Episode: "Reunion Fever"
1981–1982	Three's Company	Doug Cooper	Episode: "And Baby Makes Four"
		Alan	Episode: "An Affair to Forget"
1982	Romance Theatre	Ross	Recurring role
	Diff'rent Strokes	Tom Wallace	Episode: "The Squatter"
	Fantasy Island	Captain Fitzhugh Ross	Episode: "The Ghost's Story"
1983	Trapper John, M.D.	Brian Oppenheim	Episode: "May Divorce Be with You"
	Alice	Harry Parker	Episode: "Alice Faces the Music"
		Customer #1	Episode: "Vera's Secret Lover"
	Hart to Hart	Dr. Porter	Episode: "As the Hart Turns"
	Dynasty	Fred	Episode: "The Downstairs Bride"
	Family Ties	Tuxedo Man	Episode: "This Year's Model"
1983–1984	Magnum, P.I.	Roland Martine	Episode: "The Big Blow"
		Nolan Atherton	Episode: "The Case of Red Faced Thespian"
1984	Fantasy Island	Steven Curry	Episode: "Games People Play/The Sweet Life"
	Masquerade	Ted Carson	Episode: "Caribbean Holiday"
	Alice	Harry Parker	Episode: "Jolene Is Stuck on Me"
	Hotel	Dr. Chapman	Episode: "Reflections"
	Domestic Life	Lance	Episode: "Cooking with Candy"
	Hill Street Blues	Gameshow Host	Episode: "Lucky Ducks"
1985	Matt Houston	Frank Denton	Episode: "The Nightmare Man"
	Robert Kennedy and His Times	Interrogator	Television miniseries (3 episodes)
1986	Remington Steele	Norman Austin	Episode: "Steele on the Air"
	Murder, She Wrote	Harrison Fraser III	Episode: "Keep the Home Fries Burning"
	Highway to Heaven	Todd Jeffries	Episode: "Change to Life"
	Blacke's Magic	Ken Killard	Episode: "Address Unknown"
	L.A. Law	Barry	Episode: "Pilot"
	Our House	Mr. Cathcart	Episode: "Home Again" Episode: "That Lonesome Old Caboose"
	Simon & Simon	Chandler McKay	Episode: "For the People"
		Zachary Tucker	Episode: "Just Because I'm Paranoid"
1986–1987	Amazing Stories	M.C.	Episode: "Hell Toupee"
		Jerry Lane	Episode: "Gershwin's Truck"
1987	Sidekicks	Bob Small	Episode: "Kicked Upstairs"
	Moonlighting	Robert	Episode: "Blonde on Blonde"
	Still the Beaver	Captain James	Episode: "Material Girl"
1987–present	The Bold and the Beautiful	Eric Forrester	Series regular
1989	Newhart	Brad Pettibone	Episode: "Attack of the Killer Aunt"
1991	The New WKRP in Cincinnati	George	Episode: "Where Are We Going?"
1996–2021	The Young and the Restless	Eric Forrester	Recurring role
1998	Acapulco H.E.A.T.	Lyle Decker	Episode: "Code Name: Spear of Destiny"
2001	Epoch	The President	Television film
2005	Arrested Development	"Scandal Makers" narrator	Episode: "Spring Breakout"
2017	Jeopardy!	Eric - Clue giver	Episode: "33.88" (dated January 11, 2017)
2021	Candy Coated Christmas	Fred Gallant	Television film

Film

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1965	My Blood Runs Cold	Owen
1967	First to Fight	Ford	Uncredited
1970	There Was a Crooked Man...	Deputy
1985	Beverly Hills Cowgirl Blues	Dr. Kenner
1997	Scorned 2	Dr. Greenfield
2006	Body of Work	David Hoffman	Short film
2007	The Invincible Iron Man	Howard Stark (voice)	Direct-to-video
	Plot 7	Dean Routsong
2012	Christmas with You	John
2013	Cathedral Canyon	Senator Johnson
2017	David's Dinosaur	Professor Henry Longbottom

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations for John McCook

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1977	Soapy Awards	Most Exciting New Actor	The Young and the Restless	Nominated
1990	Soap Opera Update MVP Award	Best Actor	The Bold and the Beautiful	Won	[10]
1991	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Story Line - “Brooke’s Affair with Eric” - (shared with Katherine Kelly Lang)	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[10]
1992	Soap Opera Digest Award	Best Wedding — “Eric and Brooke” (shared with Katherine Kelly Lang)	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[10]
1998	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[10]
1998	Telvis Award	Most Popular Television Stars in Finland (shared with Hunter Tylo)	The Bold and the Beautiful	Won	[10]
2001	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[11]
2012	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[12]
2018	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[13]
2018	Soap Awards France	Best Couple of the Year — "Quinn and Eric" (shared with Rena Sofer)	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[14]
2020	Soap Hub Awards	The Bold and the Beautiful Favorite Actor	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated	[15]
2021	Soap Hub Awards	The Bold and the Beautiful Favorite Actor	The Bold and the Beautiful	Won	[16]
2022	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Bold and the Beautiful	Won	[17]
2024	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated