Kevin Bernhardt

Early life and education

Bernhardt was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he was adopted by Navy Damage Control Officer 'Red' Bernhardt and wife Beverly. Years there were spent at an African-American elementary school (Turie T. Small), as part of the integration which continued in the late 1960s. His family relocated to a trailer park in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where he divided his time after school - working with his grandfather as a junk man, and becoming an Eagle Scout.

Bernhardt attended college at Binghamton University on a National Merit Scholarship sponsored by the Eureka tent factory, where his mother worked. He supplemented his income as a car mechanic.

Career

After completing a bachelor's degree in economics in the winter of 1984, he immediately traveled to Los Angeles, where he passed the Series 7 exam and was hired by Robert Brandt and Company, the only fourth market securities trading firm in the country. But his true passion was the theater, and after six months successfully trading stocks between institutional investors, Bernhardt left it behind for a career as a screenwriter/actor.

He landed a coveted contract role on General Hospital , replacing then-popular daytime actor Jack Wagner during a contract dispute – in his coveted role as singer Frisco Jones. Wagner of course returned, but ABC then took the unprecedented step of creating another entirely different role for Bernhardt on the same show. He was the center of attention in the newly created 'Laurelton Murders' storyline, and with it General Hospital led the ratings for two years.

Though he preferred screen-writing, Bernhardt took acting seriously enough to study in the small master class taught by Stella Adler. And he continued to work steadily as an actor for several years; in TV with another contract role as a priest (with love interest Heather Locklear) on Dynasty, as well as several mostly 'bad-guy' leads in films such as Hellraiser III. But once he saw his first screenplay produced – he decided to devote his undivided attention to screenwriting.

Since then his writing has attracted a diverse array of well-known actors, ranging from Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, to Chris Rock and Orlando Bloom. He has also worked with many notable directors including Shekhar Kapur (ELIZABETH), Andrew Davis (HOLES, THE FUGITIVE), Abel Ferrara (King of NY), John Hillcoat (LAWLESS), William Friedkin (THE FRENCH CONNECTION), Mimi Leder (DEEP IMPACT), Sylvester Stallone (ROCKY, RAMBO), Frederic Forestier (ASTERIX…), Renny Harlin, Wayne Cramer (THE COOLER), and Brad Anderson (THE CALL). It also resulted in the first breakthrough films for independent companies such as Avi Lerner's Millennium-NuImage and Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures.

Most recently he has been lured back to acting, with lead roles in two films which were shot in 2015/2016 – HEARTLAND and SHINER.

Writer – film

Producer

Actor – film

Actor – television

Miscellaneous crew