Steve Guttenberg

After playing an uncredited bit part in Rollercoaster,[7] Guttenberg had his first screen credit in the TV movie Something for Joey (1977). He then played the starring role in the 1977 California high-school comedy The Chicken Chronicles, set in Beverly Hills in 1969. He also appeared in the 1978 film The Boys From Brazil, based on the Ira Levin bestseller, and guest-starred on Family.

Guttenberg starred in the short-lived TV series Billy (1979), based on Billy Liar. He had a supporting role in the tennis romance film Players (1979). In 1980, a Coca-Cola commercial featured him trying to help a non-English-speaking woman whose car stalled.

Guttenberg starred in the TV movie To Race the Wind (1980) playing blind lawyer Harold Krents. The same year, he starred in the Nancy Walker-directed Can't Stop the Music, a semiautobiographical movie about the disco group Village People.

Guttenberg played Jim Craig in the TV movie Miracle on Ice (1981). He appeared in Barry Levinson's Diner (1982), then starred in another short-lived TV series No Soap, Radio (1982). He starred in the action-comedy The Man Who Wasn't There (1983) and had a supporting part in the post-apocalyptic television movie The Day After (1983). Guttenberg starred in The Ferret (1984) a pilot for a TV series that was not picked up.

In 1984, Guttenberg played the lead role in Police Academy. It grossed $8.5 million in its opening weekend and over $149 million worldwide, against a budget of $4.5 million, and out of the film franchise it launched it is the most successful.[8] He then became a busy star over the next four years, appearing in nine starring roles, tying with Gene Hackman for busiest actor.[9]

Police Academy was quickly followed by a sequel, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985).

Guttenberg then had the romantic male lead in Cocoon (1985), another box-office success. A comedy in which he starred, Bad Medicine (1985), was not particularly successful. Guttenberg played Pecos Bill in an episode of Tall Tales & Legends, then was in Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986).

Guttenberg starred in Short Circuit (1986) opposite Ally Sheedy, another very popular film. He changed pace with the thriller The Bedroom Window (1987), directed by Curtis Hanson, then made Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987), his last Police Academy Film.

Guttenberg had a cameo in Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) and supported Michael Caine and Sally Field in Surrender (1987).

Guttenberg had the biggest financial success of his career to date with Three Men and a Baby (1987) with Tom Selleck and Ted Danson. He starred with Peter O'Toole and Daryl Hannah in High Spirits (1988), which flopped. Cocoon: The Return (1989) was a commercial disappointment, as was Don't Tell Her It's Me (1990). 3 Men and a Little Lady (1990), however, was a hit.

In 1989, he appeared in the Michael Jackson music video "Liberian Girl".[10]

In 1990, he replaced Timothy Hutton in the lead role of Prelude to a Kiss at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway.[11] He also performed in London's West End, where he starred in The Boys Next Door. He appeared in the world stage premiere production of Furthest From the Sun, which Woody Harrelson directed and co-authored.

He directed "Love Off Limits" for CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1993, and starred in The Big Green (1995) in the UK. He was among the ensemble in Home for the Holidays (1995), and starred in It Takes Two (1995) with Kirstie Alley and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Also in 1995, he was name-checked in The Simpsons episode "Homer the Great" in the song "We Do", whereby a fictional ancient secret society called the Stonecutters (a parody of the Freemasons) claim it was them that made Guttenberg a star. Guttenberg was reportedly flattered by the reference.[12] He also starred in Zeus and Roxanne (1997), Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997) and alongside Kirsten Dunst in Disney's Tower of Terror (1997), based on the attraction at the Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

In the late '90s, he made some action films, Airborne (1998), Overdrive (1998), and the comedy Home Team (1998).

His first film as director/producer/co-screenwriter/star was P.S. Your Cat Is Dead (2002), a film adaptation of a novel and Broadway play by James Kirkwood, Jr.[4] He starred in Mojave Phone Booth (2006) as Barry, and Making Change as Trafton. In Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus and its sequel Meet the Santas, he played the starring role of Nick.

He had a recurring role on the 2005–2006 season of the television series Veronica Mars as Woody Goodman, a wealthy businessman and community leader. He appeared as a lead in the NBC made-for-TV remake of The Poseidon Adventure, which aired on November 20, 2005, playing Richard Clarke, a failing writer having an affair with a massage therapist. He also appeared in According to Jim episode "Two for the Money" in 2008.

On August 25, 2008, Guttenberg released a video titled "Steve Guttenberg's Steak House"[13] on Will Ferrell's Funny or Die website. He took part in the 2008 spring season of Dancing with the Stars with professional dancer Anna Trebunskaya, and was eliminated on April 1.[14]

In October 2008, a video was released which appeared to show Guttenberg jogging nearly naked through Central Park.[15] On November 12, 2008, Guttenberg appeared as a guest on the British talk show The Paul O'Grady Show, where he said he made the video for Will Ferrell's Funny or Die website, but then decided to release it virally "as if it were real"[16] as part of a challenge set on the show. He then went on to become the Guinness World Record Holder for preparing the most hot-dogs in one minute.[17]

During an interview on November 4, 2009, Guttenberg mentioned that Disney was developing a second sequel to Three Men and a Baby, entitled Three Men and a Bride. Guttenberg stated that his co-stars, Ted Danson and Tom Selleck, would return for the sequel.[18] He also expressed his interest in making additional sequels to the Police Academy and Cocoon movies, saying they would be surefire hits if they were to be made.[19]

In an interview published August 1, 2010, Guttenberg revealed that David Diamond and David Weissman were writing a script for Police Academy 8.[20] Eight days later, actor Bobcat Goldthwait released a statement urging Hollywood to reboot the Police Academy series with a new group of actors instead of the original cast members. Goldthwait confirmed that Steve Guttenberg would return and that movie bosses were trying to get Kim Cattrall to return for an eighth sequel, though Goldthwait said he had no desire to return to the series.[21]

Guttenberg played himself in an episode of the Starz comedy Party Down that aired May 21, 2010.

Guttenberg starred in season seven, episode six of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (air date: November 8, 2007)

He appeared on Broadway in late 2011 to early 2012 in Woody Allen's one-act play Honeymoon Hotel, which was part of the show Relatively Speaking.[11]

Guttenberg can be seen on History Channel's 2015 miniseries Sons of Liberty. He plays Jack Bonner.

In fall 2014, Guttenberg wrapped production on SyFy Channel's Lavalantula, scheduled to premiere summer 2015.[22]

Guttenberg was featured in season six, episode eight of Community, "Intro to Recycled Cinema", which aired on Yahoo Screen in April 2015.[23]

Guttenberg starred in the Cinderella pantomime at Churchill Theatre in Bromley, UK, playing the Baron (father of Cinderella) in 2008.[24] To celebrate Guttenberg's involvement, the local Empire Cinema screened Police Academy on 19 November. Guttenberg introduced the film and answered questions.[25][26]

On September 3, 2018, Guttenberg told a fan on Twitter that a new Police Academy film was being planned.[27]

On May 21, 2020, Guttenberg appeared on Holey Moley II: The Sequel. Later, on August 2, he appeared on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, via Cameo.

On September 27, 2020, during an interview on a Zoom call with Norm Macdonald, Guttenberg confirmed that filming had begun on an eighth Police Academy film. He confirmed that his character was returning, and was using a wheelchair, having lost his foot in the line of duty.