Stephen Collins

Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American former actor and writer. He is known for playing Eric Camden on the long-running television series 7th Heaven from 1996 to 2007. Since then, Collins has played the roles of Dayton King on the ABC TV series No Ordinary Family and Gene Porter in the television series Revolution, father of Elizabeth Mitchell's character, Rachel Matheson. Before 7th Heaven, Collins was known for his role as Commander Willard Decker in the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture. His career largely ended in 2014 when he confessed to sexual misconduct with multiple minors.[1][2]

Stephen Collins
Collins in 2014
Born	Stephen Weaver Collins October 1, 1947 Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Alma mater	Amherst College
Occupation	Actor, writer
Years active	1974–2014
Spouse(s)	Marjorie Weinman ​ ​ (m. 1970; div. 1978)​ Faye Grant ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 2015)​ Jenny Nagel ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	1

Early life

Stephen Collins was born on October 1, 1947, in Des Moines, Iowa, to mother Madeleine (née Robertson) and father Cyrus Stickney Collins, an airline executive.[3][4] Collins was raised with his two older brothers in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, graduating cum laude.[5] While at Amherst, he played bass guitar in a number of bands.[6]

Career

Collins is known for his role as Eric Camden in the television drama series 7th Heaven during the series' run from 1996 to 2007[7] and for his role as Captain Willard Decker in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.[8] His other notable television credits include Jake Cutter in the cult series Tales of the Gold Monkey and his role in Tattingers, as well as guest appearances in The Waltons, Barnaby Jones, Charlie's Angels, and numerous miniseries and made-for-television movies. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work opposite Ann-Margret in the miniseries The Two Mrs. Grenvilles and he played John F. Kennedy in the miniseries A Woman Named Jackie, which won the Emmy for Best Miniseries. He also played the lead role opposite Lauren Hutton in the made-for-TV movie The Rhinemann Exchange, based on Robert Ludlum's bestselling novel.[9]

Collins has co-starred with Diane Keaton in both The First Wives Club (1996) and Because I Said So (2007). He has co-starred with Meredith Baxter in three films, All the President's Men, A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story, and Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, the Last Chapter, both of which were made-for-television movies broadcast on CBS in 1992.

In the 2010–11 television season, Collins starred in the short-lived ABC series No Ordinary Family.[10] On ABC's Brothers & Sisters, he played a potential love interest for Ron Rifkin's character Saul Holden. Collins appeared in season eight of The Office playing Andy Bernard's father in the episode, "Garden Party".[11][12]

In 2013, Collins began appearing in the NBC series Revolution as Dr. Gene Porter, the leader of the town of Willoughby and father of Rachel Matheson (played by Elizabeth Mitchell).[13] and in two episodes of Falling Skies in season three. Collins' recent guest spots include The Fosters, Penance, and Devious Maids.[14]

Personal life

Collins was married to Marjorie Weinman from 1970 to 1978.[15][16] In 1985, he married actress Faye Grant, whom he had met on the set of Tales of the Gold Monkey in 1982.[17] Together they have a daughter, Kate, who was born in 1989. They separated in 2012, and, after 30 years of marriage, a final divorce decree was issued in January 2015.[18][19]

Collins is an Episcopalian[20] and a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and has taken part in the advanced TM Yogic Flying technique since 1980.[21] Until October 2014, he was a national co-director of the Committee for Stress-Free Schools, which advocates practicing TM in schools and funds TM research.[22]

Following his admission of sexual misconduct, Collins moved to Iowa, where he currently lives in seclusion. In July 2019, he married Jenny Nagel, a German woman 40 years his junior.[23]

Sexual abuse allegations

In October 2014, the New York City Police Department began investigating Collins after an audio tape leaked to the media revealed a male voice—purported to be that of Collins—admitting to past sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 14.[17] A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson stated that Collins had been investigated by the department in 2012 after receiving a claim from 40 years earlier regarding sexual abuse. The LAPD further stated that its investigation did not allow it to "substantiate the allegation" against Collins.[24][25]

In a December 2014 interview with People magazine, Collins admitted he committed "inappropriate sexual conduct with three female minors" in 1973, 1982 and 1994.[1][26]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	The Waltons	Todd Clarke	Episode: "The Abdication"
1976	Brink's: The Great Robbery	Agent Donald Nash	TV movie
1977	The Rhinemann Exchange	David Spaulding	Miniseries 3 episodes
1978	Charlie's Angels	Steve Carmody	Episode: "Angel Come Home"
1980	The Henderson Monster	Pete Casimir	TV movie
1981	Great Performances	Morton Fullerton	Episode: "Edith Wharton: Looking Back"
	Summer Solstice	Young Joshua Turner	TV movie
1982	Inside the Third Reich	Karl Hanke
	Tales of the Gold Monkey	Jake Cutter	Main role (21 episodes)
1983	Chiefs	Billy Lee	Miniseries 3 episodes
1984	Threesome	Peter Hatten	TV movie
	Dark Mirror	Jim Eiseley
1985	The Hitchhiker	Todd Fields	Episode: "And If We Dream"
1986	Hold the Dream	Shane O'Neil	Miniseries
1987	The Two Mrs. Grenvilles	Billy Grenville Jr.
1988	Weekend War	Captain John Deason	TV movie
	Tattingers	Nick Tattinger	Main role (13 episodes)
1990	Working It Out	David Stuart
1991	A Woman Named Jackie	John F. Kennedy	Miniseries 3 episodes
1992	A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story	Dan Broderick	TV movie
	Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, The Last Chapter
1993	Remember	Clee Donovan
	The Disappearance of Nora	Jack Fremont
1994	Scarlett	Ashley Wilkes	Miniseries 2 episodes
1995	A Family Divided	Roger Billingsley	TV movie
	Sisters	Gabriel 'Gabe' Sorenson	Recurring role (16 episodes)
1996	On Seventh Avenue	Tom Aiken	TV movie
	The Babysitter's Seduction	Bill Bartrand
	An Unexpected Family	Sam
1996–2007	7th Heaven	Rev. Eric Camden	Main role (242 episodes) Directed 3 Episodes
1998	An Unexpected Life	Sam	TV movie
1999	As Time Runs Out	Dan Carlin
	Batman Beyond	Tony Maychek/Earthmover (voice)	Episode: "Earthmover"
2001	Jumping Ship	Gardener	TV movie
2005	Celebrity Poker Showdown	Himself	Qualified for the first tournament
2006–2007	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Bruce Mathis	2 episodes
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Pierson Bartlett	Episode: "Trade"
	Every Second Counts	Joe Preston	TV movie
2009–2011	Private Practice	The Captain	4 episodes
2010	No Ordinary Family	Dayton King	Main cast (20 episodes)
	Brothers & Sisters	Charlie	Episode: "A Righteous Kiss"
2011	The Office	Walter Bernard Sr.	Episode: "Garden Party"
2013	Falling Skies	President Benjamin Hathaway	2 episodes
	Scandal	Reed Wallace	Episode: "Happy Birthday, Mr. President"
	The Fosters	Rev. Adams	Episode: "I Do"
	Devious Maids	Philippe Delatour	6 episodes
	Revolution	Gene Porter	Main role; season 2 (22 episodes)
2014	Avengers Assemble	Howard Stark (voice)	Episode: "Thanos Rising"

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	All the President's Men	Hugh W. Sloan Jr.
1977	Between the Lines	Michael
1978	Fedora	Young Barry Detweiler
1979	The Promise	Michael Hillyard
	Star Trek: The Motion Picture	Captain/Commander Willard Decker
1980	Loving Couples	Greg
1985	Brewster's Millions	Warren Cox
1986	On Dangerous Ground	Dr. David Lowell	Alternate title: Choke Canyon
	Jumpin' Jack Flash	Marty Phillips
1989	The Big Picture	Attorney
1990	Stella	Stephen Dallas
1992	My New Gun	Gerald Bender
1996	The First Wives Club	Aaron Paradis
1999	Drive Me Crazy	Mr. Maris
2003	The Commission	Joseph A. Ball
2006	Blood Diamond	Ambassador Walker
2007	Because I Said So	Joe Dresden
2008	Hole in the Paper Sky	Mr. Benson
2012	The Three Stooges	Mr. Harter
2014	Penance	Priest	Short

Discography

Year	Title	Notes
1993	Sondheim: Putting It Together	Off-Broadway cast recording
2003	Stephen Collins
2005	The Hits of Rick Nelson

Published works

• Collins, Stephen (1994). Eye Contact. Bantam. ISBN 978-0553095852.
• Collins, Stephen (1998). Double Exposure: A Novel. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0688158934.

References

1. Oldenburg, Ann (December 17, 2014). "Stephen Collins: 'I did something terribly wrong'". USA Today. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
2. Wagner, Meg; Tracy, Thomas; Dillon, Nancy (October 7, 2014). "Stephen Collins, pastor-dad in '7th Heaven,' admits to sexually abusing underage girl, exposing himself to 2 others (audio)". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
3. "Stephen Collins Biography (1947–)". filmreference.com.
4. "Cyrus S. Collins '39 – Amherst College". amherst.edu.
5. "C | Collins, Stephen W. | Amherst College". www.amherst.edu. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
6. Riordan, Paul M. (1999). "An Interview with Stephen Collins". TV Party!. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
7. "The Stephen Collins Scandal: How a Hollywood Marriage Became a Nightmare". People. October 9, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
8. Phillip, Abby (December 17, 2014). "'7th Heaven' dad Stephen Collins admits to sexually abusing three girls". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
9. Leopold, Todd (October 8, 2014). "Who is Stephen Collins?". CNN. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
10. Stanhope, Kate (June 11, 2010). "Stephen Collins Bumped to Series Regular on No Ordinary Family". TV Guide.
11. Ausiello, Michael (August 16, 2011). "Office Scoop: Stephen Collins Is Andy's Dad!". TV Line.
12. Nededog, Jethro (August 16, 2011). "'The Office': 'No Ordinary Family's' Stephen Collins to Guest Star". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
13. Mather, Kate; Westfall, Julie (December 17, 2014). "Actor Stephen Collins admits sexual misconduct with three girls". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
14. "Stephen Collins, former '7th Heaven' actor, under new investigation". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. October 15, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
15. "Stephen Collins: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
16. "Collins, Stephen, 1947–". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
17. Effron, Lauren (December 20, 2014). "Stephen Collins Denies He's a Pedophile". ABC News. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
18. "Stephen Collins and Faye Grant Settle Divorce". People. January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
19. Moraski, Lauren (May 8, 2012). "Stephen Collins and Faye Grant split after 27 years". CBS News. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
20. "Stephen Collins content to be in '7th Heaven'". The Standard-Times. New Bedford, Massachusetts. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 24, 2004. Retrieved January 25, 2001.
21. Pool, Bob (June 14, 2003). "Seeking Site for a 'Peace Palace'". Los Angeles Times. p. B24.
22. "Committee for Stress-Free Schools: About Us". tmeducation.org. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
23. Schonter, Allison (November 7, 2019). "Disgraced '7th Heaven' Dad Stephen Collins Spotted in Iowa Amid Retreat From Public Eye". popculture.com. PopCulture.com. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
24. Prokupecz, Shimon; Almas, Steve (October 7, 2014). "Source: '7th Heaven' actor subject of molestation allegations". CNN. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
25. Villareal, Yvonne (October 7, 2014). "'7th Heaven' pulled after Stephen Collins molestation allegations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
26. Wagner, Meg; Tracy, Thomas; Dillon, Nancy (October 7, 2014). "Stephen Collins, pastor-dad in '7th Heaven,' admits to sexually abusing underage girl, exposing himself to 2 others (audio)". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 7, 2014.

External links

• Official website
• Stephen Collins cast bio on The CW
• Stephen Collins at IMDb
• Stephen Collins at the TCM Movie Database
• Stephen Collins at AllMovie