Ian Ziering (Actor)

Ian Ziering on Dancing With the Stars. (Photo: ABC)

A buff, blonde actor best known for his role of spoiled playboy Steve Sanders on Aaron Spelling’s teen drama “Beverly Hills 90210” (Fox, 1990-2000), Ian Ziering rose to fame as part of the iconic West Beverly bunch that included then stars-in-the-making, Luke Perry, Jason Priestley and Shannon Doherty. Prior to his decade-long run in that glamorous zip code, Ziering enjoyed a three-year run on “Guiding Light” (CBS, 1952- ) and a moderate career in musical theater and television commercials. After the iconic Spelling production wrapped, Ziering never quite found his way back to his “90210” career heights, though a featured role in Ridley Scott’s action film “Domino” (2005) gave his long dormant profile a boost. His tempestuous marriage to Playboy Playmate-turned-reality-TV-star, Nikki Ziering also kept him in the tabloid news, but his “Domino” role, where he portrayed a caricature of himself, put viewers on notice that he was able to handle a higher form of ironic comedy, as well as hold his own in a fight sequence.

Ian (pronounced EYE-an) was born on March 20, 1964 and raised in the New York City suburb of West Orange, NJ. The youngest of three kids, he was a natural entertainer from the start and a self-admitted class clown. By the age of 12, he was already showing up in commercials – even in his underwear for Fruit of the Loom. Next he landed on New York-area stages, most notably in the drama, “I Remember Mama” opposite actress Liv Ullman and in the role of John in a national touring production of “Peter Pan.”

Ziering made his first feature film appearance in the 1981 Brooke Shields vehicle, “Endless Love,” which wound up on many critics’ year-end “worst” lists, but also marked the big screen debuts of James Spader and Tom Cruise. From 1986-88 the youthful-looking Ziering played an angry teen on the daytime soap “Guiding Light” and in 1990 the 26 year-old still passed as young enough to be cast as teenage Steve Sanders in “Beverly Hills 90210.”

For the next ten years Ziering would guide his character – the wise-cracking son of a movie star – through high school, college frat life, and a dozen romances (including one with future Oscar-winner Hilary Swank) until he eventually became a husband, dad, and owner of a local entertainment paper. Like co-star Priestley, Ziering was also given the opportunity to write and direct several episodes of the show, which helped make his time on the long running show that much sweeter.

During his stay in America’s most beloved zip code, Ziering regularly appeared in made-for-TV movies, including “The Women of Spring Break” (1995) and “Subliminal Seduction” (1996), as well as guesting on TV shows such as “Melrose Place” (Fox, 1992-99) and “Love Boat: The Next Wave” (UPN, 1988-1999). His big, enthusiastic personality also found a natural home doing voice-overs for animated series like “Godzilla: The Series” (Rox Kids, 1998-). After the demise of 90210 in 2000, Ziering grappled for career direction, making sporadic acting and voice-over contributions to shows like “Son of the Beach,” (FX, 2000-01), and “Spider Man: The New Animated Series” (MTV, 2003), as well as several low-budget films.

In 2005, he embraced the chance to show another side of himself in the Ridley Scott film actioner, “Domino.” For the film, he and fellow “90210”-er Brian Austin Green (David Silver) played caricatures of themselves – ie, former huge TV stars without a rudder – who hosted a reality TV show that followed every move of the film’s title character, former real-life model-turned-bounty hunter, Domino Harvey. Ziering hoped the role would lead to more work in action films – a childhood dream of his – but the following year Ziering instead found action of a different kind after being cast on the highly competitive and popular series, “Dancing with the Stars” (ABC, 2005- ).