Stephen Collins

Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American former actor. He is known for playing Eric Camden on the WB/CW television series 7th Heaven from 1996 to 2007. Afterwards, Collins played the roles of Dayton King on the ABC television series No Ordinary Family and Gene Porter in the NBC television series Revolution, father of Elizabeth Mitchell's character, Rachel Matheson. Before 7th Heaven, Collins was known for his roles as Commander Willard Decker in the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture and pilot Jake Cutter in the ABC television series Tales of the Gold Monkey. In 2014, his career came to an end after he confessed to sexual abuse against multiple minors.<ref name="usatoday">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="New York Daily News" />

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Collins was raised with his two older brothers in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, graduating cum laude.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While at Amherst, he played bass guitar in a number of bands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was also then a singing member of the Amherst College Zumbyes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Stephen Collins is known for his role as Eric Camden in the television drama series 7th Heaven during the series' run from 1996 to 2007<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and for his role as Captain Willard Decker in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).<ref name="wapo2014">Template:Cite news</ref> 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 television films. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work opposite Ann-Margret in the miniseries The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987), and played John F. Kennedy in the miniseries A Woman Named Jackie (1991), which won the Emmy for Best Miniseries. He also played the lead role opposite Lauren Hutton in the television film The Rhinemann Exchange (1977), based on Robert Ludlum's bestselling novel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Collins was above-the-title billed in Loving Couples (1980) with Shirley MacLaine, James Coburn and Susan Sarandon. He 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 television films broadcast on CBS in 1992.

In the 2010–11 television season, Collins starred in the short-lived ABC series No Ordinary Family.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in two episodes of Falling Skies in season three. His final guest spots include The Fosters, Devious Maids, and Penance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Stephen Collins was married to Marjorie Weinman from 1970 to 1978.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1985, he married actress Faye Grant, whom he had met on the set of Tales of the Gold Monkey in 1982.<ref name="ABC" /> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Collins is an Episcopalian<ref name="sct">Template:Cite news</ref> and a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and has taken part in the advanced TM Yogic Flying technique since 1980.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2019, Collins has been in a relationship with Jenny Nagel, a 7th Heaven fan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

His nephew is Eve 6 frontman Max Collins.<ref>My insanely talented nephew Max Collins' (#Eve6) solo Album drops Friday! http://pledgemusic.com/projects/maxcollins/updates/25976?utm_source=twitter via @MaxCollinsMusic - official Twitter account</ref>

Sexual abuse against minors

On October 7, 2014, the New York City Police Department began investigating Collins after an audio tape was leaked to the news media; on the tape was a male voice, said to be that of Collins, admitting past sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 14.<ref name="ABC">Template:Cite news</ref>

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson stated that the department had investigated Collins in 2012 after receiving a claim of sexual abuse. The LAPD further stated that its investigation did not allow it to "substantiate the allegation" against Collins.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In a December 2014 interview with People, Collins admitted to "inappropriate sexual conduct with three female minors" in 1973, 1982, and 1994.<ref name="usatoday" /><ref name="New York Daily News">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The abuses were also the subject of an episode of the 2025 documentary series Hollywood Demons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	The Michele Lee Show	Dr. Steven Mayhill	Television pilot
1975	The Waltons	Todd Clarke	Episode: "The Abdication"
1976	Brink's: The Great Robbery	Agent Donald Nash	Television film
1977	The Rhinemann Exchange	David Spaulding	Miniseries
1978	Charlie's Angels	Steve Carmody	Episode: "Angel Come Home"
1980	The Henderson Monster	Pete Casimir	Television film
1981	Great Performances	Morton Fullerton	Episode: "Edith Wharton: Looking Back"
	Summer Solstice	Young Joshua Turner	Television film
1982	Inside the Third Reich	Karl Hanke
	Tales of the Gold Monkey	Jake Cutter	Main role
1983	Chiefs	Billy Lee	Miniseries
1984	Threesome	Peter Hatten	Television film
	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	Television film
	Tattingers	Nick Tattinger	Main role
1990	Working It Out	David Stuart
1991	A Woman Named Jackie	John F. Kennedy	Miniseries
1992	A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story	Dan Broderick	Television film
	Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, The Last Chapter
1993	Remember	Clee Donovan
	The Disappearance of Nora	Jack Fremont
1994	Scarlett	Ashley Wilkes	Miniseries
1995	A Family Divided	Roger Billingsley	Television film
	Sisters	Gabriel 'Gabe' Sorenson	Recurring
1996	On Seventh Avenue	Tom Aiken	Television film
	The Babysitter's Seduction	Bill Bartrand
	An Unexpected Family	Sam
1996–2007	7th Heaven	Rev. Eric Camden	Main role; directed 3 episodes
1998	An Unexpected Life	Sam	Television film
1999	As Time Runs Out	Dan Carlin
	Batman Beyond	Tony Maychek/Earthmover	Voice, episode: "Earth Mover"<ref name="btva">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
2001	Jumping Ship	Gardener	Television film
2002	State of Grace	Norris Sinclair	Episode: "Sophisticated Ladies"
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	Television film
2009–2011	Private Practice	The Captain	4 episodes
2010	No Ordinary Family	Dayton King	Main role
	Brothers & Sisters	Charlie	Episode: "A Righteous Kiss"
2011	The Office	Walter Bernard	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
2014	Avengers Assemble	Howard Stark	Voice, episode: "Thanos Rising"<ref name="btva" />

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 Plunkett
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

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External links

• Template:Official website
• Stephen Collins cast bio on The CW
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