Frank Dicopoulos (born January 3, 1957) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is the oldest of three children. Dicopoulos played the role of Frank Achilles Cooper Jr. on '' Guiding Light'', a character he played from 1987 until the show's final episode on September 18, 2009.

Biography

Born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

to Catherine and Harry Dicopoulos, Frank Dicopoulos majored in psychology and minored in art and drama at

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is ...

in Gambier, Ohio. He was active in football, basketball, and lacrosse, and he also set a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III track record in high hurdles. At first he thought of becoming an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine. But then he enrolled in drama courses – and became hooked. Following college graduation, he moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. After managing a tire store in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

and working as an auto mechanic, he began posing for print photography ads and doing television commercials. In a nationwide talent search in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, he became one of four finalists out of 770 candidates to screen-test for the Larry Wilcox replacement role on the television series ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The seri ...

''. Although he did not get the job, he did get a small film part and had the lead in an MTV video documentary called ''Wild Rides'', narrated by Matt Dillon. He also hosted ''On the Move'' for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

and the Miss Teen America Pageant in

. In 1984, Dicopoulos moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where he appeared in numerous primetime series, including ''

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, the network's second original primetime series to air following '' Married... with Children'', and ran until May 26, ...

'', ''

Silver Spoons ''Silver Spoons'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982, to May 11, 1986, and in first-run syndication from September 27, 1986, to May 30, 1987. The series was produced by Embassy Television for the f ...

'', ''

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

'', ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', and '' Falcon Crest'', as well as the soap operas ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

'', ''

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

'', and, '' General Hospital''. He also acted in feature films before joining '' Guiding Light''. In 2010, Dicopoulos joined the cast of ''River Ridge: The Series'' as Isaac Rylan. The new series is about the smothering foundations of a small town and a group of its inhabitants.

Family

Dicopoulos has been married to Teja Anderson since October 20, 1990, and they have two children, Jaden and Olivia. Olivia Dicopoulos played teenaged "Maureen Reardon" on '' Guiding Light'' for several years in the 2000s. He has been a resident of Marlboro Township, New Jersey.Meggitt, Jane
Event helps conservation foundation raise $150,000
, ''Atlanticville'', October 27, 2005. Accessed June 29, 2011. "Frank Dicopoulos, a Marlboro resident who for 19 years has played Frank Cooper on the soap opera “The Guiding Light,” also attended the event."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dicopoulos, Frank 1957 births American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from Akron, Ohio People from Marlboro Township, New Jersey Kenyon College alumni