What is Casper Van Dien's Net Worth?
Casper Van Dien is an actor, best known for his lead performance as Johnny Rico in Paul Verhoeven's 1997 science-fiction action film "Starship Troopers." He later reprised his role in the direct-to-video sequel "Starship Troopers 3: Marauder" in 2008. Van Dien has also appeared on a range of television shows, including "One Life to Live," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Titans," and "Watch Over Me," as well as in multiple made-for-television movies.
Early Life
Casper Van Dien was born on December 18, 1968 in Milton, Florida to nursery school teacher Diane and US Navy Commander and fighter pilot Casper Sr. His lineage can be traced back to an old Dutch family hailing from the New York area; additionally, he has French, Swedish, and English ancestry. Van Dien attended the St. Petersburg campus of the Admiral Farragut Academy, a private college preparatory school. Following his graduation, he went to Florida State University in Tallahassee. He then moved to Los Angeles, California.
Career Beginnings
In Los Angeles, Van Dien landed several small parts in television series and films. His early credits included the 1990 television movie "Menu for Murder" and the soap opera "Dangerous Women." In 1992, he appeared in an episode of "Life Goes On," and had a main role on the short-lived CBS series "Freshman Dorm."
Film Career
Van Dien made his feature film debut in 1996, playing Roy in the erotic thriller sequel "Night Eyes 4: Fatal Passion." The next year, he had his breakthrough role in Paul Verhoeven's military science-fiction action film "Starship Troopers," based on the eponymous Robert A. Heinlein novel. Van Dien played the leading role of Johnny Rico, a young soldier in a futuristic military unit fighting an interstellar war with a species of giant insects. Due to his success in the role, Van Dien was subsequently cast as Tarzan in the 1998 action adventure film "Tarzan and the Lost City." The same year, he had another starring role in the black horror comedy "Modern Vampires." Van Dien closed out the decade with a starring role in the apocalyptic thriller "The Omega Code" and a supporting part in Tim Burton's supernatural gothic horror film "Sleepy Hollow."
In the early 2000s, Van Dien was in "Sanctimony" and "The Vector File." Later, in 2008, he reprised his role as Johnny Rico, now a colonel, in the direct-to-video sequel "Starship Troopers 3: Marauder." His subsequent credits included "Shiver," "Born to Ride," "The Pact," "noobz," "Assumed Killer," "Avengers Grimm," and "Showdown in Manila." In the late 10s and early 2020s, Van Dien was in such films as "Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine," "All About the Money," "Dead Water," "Alita: Battle Angel," "Madness in the Method," and the action thriller "The 2nd," in which he starred opposite Ryan Phillippe.
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Television Career
Van Dien had his big break on the small screen in 1993, when he began playing the recurring role of Tyler "Ty" Moody on the daytime soap opera "One Life to Live." The following year, he had another recurring role on the teen drama series "Beverly Hills, 90210," playing the character Griffin Stone. This was followed by roles in the television movie "P.C.H." and in episodes of the series "Silk Stalkings" and "Married… with Children." Van Dien was subsequently in a string of further television movies, including "Backroads to Vegas," "Lethal Orbit," and "Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus," a sequel to the cult classic 1982 sorcery film "The Beastmaster." In 1997, Van Dien guest-starred in an episode of "The Outer Limits."
Between 1997 and 2003, Van Dien appeared in a whopping 18 television films. They include "NightScream," "James Dean: Race with Destiny," "Shark Attack," "Thrill Seekers," "Python," "Cutaway," "Danger Beneath the Sea," and "Windfall." During this time, from 2000 to 2001, he had a main role on the short-lived primetime soap opera "Titans." Van Dien continued to be prolific in television films throughout the rest of the decade, appearing in "Skeleton Man," "The Fallen Ones," "Officer Down," "Slayer," and "One Hot Summer," among many others. He also had a main role on the series "Watch Over Me" from 2006 to 2007. Van Dien's other credits include the television films "Fire Twister," "Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf," and "Patient Killer." In 2018, he began playing the recurring role of Harold Adams on The CW's sports drama series "All American."
Personal Life
In 1993, Van Dien married his first wife, Carrie Mitchum, the granddaughter of actor Robert Mitchum. The couple had a son and a daughter, and divorced in 1997. Subsequently, Van Dien wed actress Catherine Oxenberg in 1999. The two had met while filming the television movie "The Collectors," and also costarred alongside one another in the thriller "The Omega Code."
In 2015, Van Dien and Oxenberg starred on their own reality television series called "I Married a Princess," which was based on the premise that Oxenberg is a descendant of Serbian royalty. The pair had two daughters, and divorced in 2015. Three years later, Van Dien wed actress and model Jennifer Wenger, who got her start cosplaying as Wonder Woman on Hollywood Boulevard.
