Adrian Zmed

Adrian George Zmed (born March 14, 1954) is an American actor, singer and television personality, noted for the roles of Johnny Nogerelli in Grease 2 and Officer Vince Romano in the T. J. Hooker television series. His Broadway credits include the starring roles of Danny Zuko in Grease and Marvin in Falsettos.

Early life Zmed was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of three sons of George Zmed, later known as George Zmed-Smith (1916–2010), a Romanian Orthodox priest, who served from 1952 until his retirement in 1983, later known as Sadie Smith (1923–2015). His father George was a Romanian American born in Chicago to Nicolae and Paraschiva (née Bălan), who had emigrated from Nagykomlós, Temes County, Hungary (now Comloșu Mare, Timiș County, Romania) in the early 20th century. At the age of five, George and his family went to Romania, where he was educated, and returned to the United States in November 1952. His mother Persida was born in Romania. George and Persida were married October 15, 1942, in Timișoara. The couple had three sons, in the following order: Cornel, Walter, and Adrian.

Adrian graduated from Lane Tech High School in Chicago. He began playing football for the school's team until, when playing in 1968, He quit sports and began acting, appearing in his high school's production of Guys and Dolls. After being featured on a local TV show as one of Chicago's top high school performers, Zmed transferred to the Goodman School of Drama which lasted one season (1980). He had guest roles on such series as Angie, I'm a Big Girl Now and Bosom Buddies, and made a guest appearance on An Evening at the Improv in 1982.

Zmed reached celebrity status as Officer Romano in ABC's T. J. Hooker.

Features Following the huge success of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the movie version of Grease, Paramount Pictures quickly secured the rights to a sequel. Zmed was chosen to play one of the lead roles in Grease 2, Johnny Nogerelli, the new leader of the T-Birds gang. His performance led to other movie roles, including The Final Terror (1983) and Bachelor Party (1984). He appears in the film The Craving Heart (2006). in New York City. Zmed played Billy Flynn in the 1999 US tour of Chicago. He played Nick in the short-lived play Surf the Musical at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas in 2012. He returned to Grease as Teen Angel in regional productions in 2006 and 2013. From January to August 2017, he starred as Georges in a UK tour of La Cage aux Folles.

Other work Zmed provided the voiceover for Toth in the 2002 video game Star Wars Jedi Starfighter. He was also under contract from June 2008 to April 2009 with Princess Cruise Lines to perform Adrian Zmed, in Concert... aboard the Coral Princess and the Island Princess.

In 2006, he filmed a 30-second public service announcement for the non-profit organization Dogs Deserve Better.

Personal life Zmed has been married three times. He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Fitzner, and the Bird Dogs, an Everly Brothers tribute band.

Zmed was briefly engaged to Tracee Grossman but their vast age difference led to their breakup. Soon after, Zmed married Broadway actress/singer Susan Wood in 1995; that marriage also ended in divorce.

He married Lyssa Lynne Baker on October 5, 2012. They held another (smaller) wedding in Thailand on November 23, 2012.

Zmed remains friends with his co-star and childhood television hero William Shatner. He spoke in a 2016 interview with Las Vegas Magazine about Shatner:

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1982 Grease 2 Johnny Nogerelli 1983 The Final Terror Marco Cerone alternate title: Campsite Massacre 1984 Bachelor Party Jay O'Neill 1989 Eyewitness to Murder Tyler 1993 The Other Woman Greg Mathews direct-to-video movie 1994 Improper Conduct Doug 1999 Unconditional Love Mario 2000 Running from the Shadows Sasch 2000 Little Insects Sir Sneekleberry (voice) 2002 Until Morning Kyle 2004 The Drone Virus Frank Schmidt 2005 Shira: The Vampire Samurai Kristof direct-to-video movie 2005 Sex Sells: The Making of Touché Lance Long 2006 The Craving Heart Phil Jorgenson 2009 Spring Break '83 Billy's father

Television Year Title Role Notes 1978 Starsky & Hutch Marty Decker Episode: "Discomania" 1979 Flatbush Socks Palermo 6 episodes 1979–80 Angie Maxie Episodes: "The First Separation", "The Thief", "Marie Moves Out" 1980 Goodtime Girls Frankie Millardo 13 episodes 1980 For the Love of It Fernando TV movie 1981 I'm a Big Girl Now Mechanic Episode: "There's No Business Like Joe Business" 1981 Riker Bobby Episode: "Gun Run" 1981 Bosom Buddies Joseph "Joey Midnight" Raybonz Episode: "Best Friends" 1982–85 T. J. Hooker Officer Vincent "Vince" Romano 72 episodes 1984 Glitter Tom Episode: "Pilot" 1984 Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story Fred Feliciano TV movie 1985–87 Dance Fever Himself (host) 60 episodes 1986 Hotel Bob Episode: "Shadows of Doubt: Part 1" 1986 The Love Boat Eddy Conrad Episode: "Spain Cruise: Love's Labors Found" (Parts 1 & 2) 1987 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Edgar Kraft Episode: "When This Man Dies" 1987 You Are the Jury Stanley Manning Episode: "The State of Oregon vs. Stanley Manning" 1987 Hotel Scott Osborne Episode: "Dark Horses" 1988 Empty Nest Gary Episode: "Your Check Isn't in the Mail" 1989 Murder, She Wrote Bert Firman Episode: "From Russia...with Blood" 1994 Silk Stalkings Calvin Episode: "Judas Kiss" 1998 The Steve Harvey Show Derrick Love Episode: "White Men Can Funk" 1998 Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister Smitty TV movie 1998 Caroline in the City Jonathan Episode: "Caroline and the Rotten Plum" 1999 Diagnosis: Murder Himself Episode: "Trash TV: Part 2" 2000 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show Hook Episode: "Hook, Whodunit?" 2007 Passions Basil 13 episodes 2007 Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular Dirty Caroler Dad TV movie 2013 Outside the Box Jack Torrence Episode: "The Shining" 2016 Lady Dynamite Himself Episodes: "A Vaginismus Miracle", "Knife Feelings" 2016 Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Himself TV movie 2018 Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures Randy Riff-Raff (voice) Episode: "The Roadsterettes/Oh Happy Day"

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2002 Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter Toth (voice)