Lucky Joseph Vanous (born 11 April 1961) is an American

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

and

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 became nationally known in 1994 after appearing in a series of commercials for

Diet Coke Diet Coke (also branded as Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Diet or Coca-Cola Light Taste) is a sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on ...

.Karen S. Peterson (October 27, 1994). Women refine a taste for beefcake. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''Paula Span (February 26, 1994). Advertising's Lust Horizon; Forget the Swedish Bikini Team. Men Are the Sex Objects in the Latest From Madison Avenue. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

Life and career

Vanous was born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

1st Ranger Battalion The 1st Ranger Battalion, currently based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is the first of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. It was originally formed shortly after ...

. Upon discharge, he studied at

University of Nebraska at Lincoln A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. He was discovered while visiting

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, and he moved there to model and continue his studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

.
• Article image at th
Internet Archive
/ref> He married Kristen Noel in 1989, and they were divorced in 1996. Notable acting roles include playing Matt Dunning for a season on '' Pacific Palisades'' and playing Chance Bowman on ''

18 Wheels of Justice ''18 Wheels of Justice'' is an American crime drama series that aired from 2000 to 2001 on TNN. It starred Lucky Vanous as federal agent Michael Cates (posing as a truck driver, with a Kenworth T2000 semi-truck), and G. Gordon Liddy as Jacob Cal ...

''.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1961 births Living people Male models from Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni American male television actors {{US-model-stub