Peter Thomas Barton (born July 19, 1956) is an American retired actor. He starred in ''

The Powers of Matthew Star ''The Powers of Matthew Star'' is an American sci-fi television series that aired on NBC on Friday evenings from September 17, 1982 until April 8, 1983. It starred Peter Barton as the title character, the alien prince Matthew "E'Hawke" Star of ...

'', with

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

; '' Burke's Law'' with

Gene Barry Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass, June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films '' The Atomic City'' (1952) and ''The War of The Worl ...

; and the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' Sunset Beach''. Named one of the 10 sexiest guys in soaps by ''

Playgirl ''Playgirl'' was an American magazine that featured general interest articles, lifestyle and celebrity news, in addition to nude or semi-nude men. In the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine printed monthly and was marketed mainly to women, although ...

'', Barton is probably best known as Scott Grainger on the daytime drama ''

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, ...

''.

Early life

Barton is originally from

Valley Stream Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census. The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...

, Long Island, New York. He is a graduate of

Valley Stream North High School Valley Stream North High School (VSNHS) is a combined public junior and senior high school located in the hamlet of Franklin Square, New York in southwest Nassau County on Long Island. Valley Stream North High School is one of three high schools ...

, where he played soccer and wrestled. He attended nearby

Nassau Community College Nassau Community College (NCC) is a public community college in Uniondale, New York, using the Garden City, New York ZIP Code. It was founded in 1959 and is part of the State University of New York. History Nassau Community College was crea ...

. Although accepted into

St. John's University School of Medicine St John's University School of Medicine was a medical school operated by Daniel and Barbara Harrington and their company Interactive Technology Group, Inc. (ITG) of Eugene, Oregon, which was supposedly based in Montserrat, West Indies. It offered ...

, he changed his mind about attending. Just before signing up for classes, he decided to pursue a career in modeling and acting.

Career

Even though Barton had no formal acting training, in 1979 he starred as Bill Miller in the short-lived

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

TV series ''

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

'', starring

Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as '' Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song'' (1982), and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for th ...

, and

Tracey Gold Tracey Gold (born May 16, 1969) is an American actress and former child star known for playing Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom ''Growing Pains''. Acting career Tracey Gold became an actress at the age of four, first appearing in a Pepsi print ...

. The show ran for 13 episodes. NBC still had him under contract at the end of 1980, and it connected him with prominent acting coach Vincent Chase, and when the series ended, he was cast as the lead in another NBC series, ''

''. He won the role over many actors, among them

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

. In the 1980s, teen magazines were looking for the next big cover, and Barton was featured on many of them, including ''

Tiger Beat ''Tiger Beat'' is an American internet teen fan magazine originally published by The Laufer Company, and marketed primarily to adolescent girls. The magazine had a paper edition that was sold at stores until December 2018. History and profile ...

'' and '' 16'', typically in a sexy pose, shirtless. He has also appeared on many TV shows such as ''

The Fall Guy ''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who mo ...

'' and ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

'' and daytime soap operas like ''

''. Barton saw his popularity dwindling by the end of 1983, and he "wanted to give up acting". However, he became involved in the burgeoning teen horror/thriller film genre, beginning with ''

Hell Night ''Hell Night'' is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Tom DeSimone, written by Randy Feldman, and starring Linda Blair. The film depicts a night of fraternity hazing set in an old manor, during which a deformed killer terrorizes and mur ...

'' (

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

) and followed by '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

). After outgrowing his ability to appear as a teenager, Barton acquired mostly television roles as an adult. He starred on '' Burke's Law'' with

and the soap opera '' Sunset Beach''. His last appearance to date was in the 2005 film '' Repetition''.

Personal life

On July 16, 2012, a man in Illinois named Ray Fulk died at age 71. Fulk, who had no family of his own, was a fan of Peter Barton and Barton's friend, '' Lucan'' star Kevin Brophy. Despite never having met either actor, Fulk bequeathed half of his $1.3m estate to each of the actors. The story of their good fortune was featured in Episode 103 of the TLC show ''Suddenly Rich''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Peter 1956 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from New York (state) American male film actors American male television actors American male soap opera actors People from Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream North High School alumni Nassau Community College alumni