Born as Anthony Calzaretta (October 31, 1954), this Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe winning American film and television actor is best known by his stage name, Ken Wahl.
Wahl made his screen debut starring in the 1979 film The Wanderers. In 1981 Wahl appeared in Fort Apache, The Bronx. He was cast as a blackjack dealer opposite Bette Midler in the 1982 Jinxed!, a production that resulted in Wahl making uncomplimentary remarks about his co-star that led to a threatened lawsuit. (The actor stated he thought about his dog during their romantic scenes.) He also appeared in the movies The Soldier (1982), Purple Hearts (1984), The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991), and major flop The Favor (1992, released 1994).
Wahl is best known for the lead role of "Vinnie Terranova" on the television show Wiseguy from 1987 to 1990. The show brought Wahl a Golden Globe award, acclaim as "prime time's top hunk," and criticism for being "what publicity agents term uncooperative." His final film appearance to date was the 1996 TV film Wiseguy, which brought back the supposedly dead Terranova with little explanation. His performance, however, was deemed "virtuostic," by The New York Times, though the paper's critic noted that serious health issues hampered his acting: "He is clearly not fully recovered from a serious motorcycle accident and spinal injury three years ago. He moves gingerly. He's heavier, even puffy, and his face, carefully lighted, has a slightly battered look. In a shower sex scene, the camera stays carefully at shoulder level."
The actor suffered severe back injuries in a fall in August 1992. A year later, he suffered a serious spinal injury in a motorcycle accident. He has not worked as an actor since 1996, and his website states that he is now disabled.
In 1996, Wahl was arrested for allegedly threatening a hotel bartender with a hunting knife and later entered an alcohol addiction recovery program.
In recent years, Wahl has been involved in animal rescue programs.
From 1984 until 1991, Wahl was married to Corinne Alphen, a Penthouse Pet of the Month in June 1978 and again in August 1981, and Pet of the Year in 1982. They had one child, Raymond. According to the actor's website, he also has three other grown children, Louie, Cody, and Kyra, though their mother, apparently the actor's second wife, is not identified.
In September 1997, Wahl married Shane Barbi, a former Playboy centerfold. In 2003, Barbi and her twin sister, Sia, sued Hustler publisher Larry Flynt for $10 million, declaring that he had no right to publish photographs that Wahl had taken of the two women engaged in what the lawsuit called "intimate sexual acts". According to the lawsuit, the women stated that "The dissemination of sexually graphic photographs depicting the Barbi Twins engaged in erotic acts will damage their image and reputation and adversely impact their business ventures." In an interview on The Howard Stern Show on the E! Network (and as reported in the January 2004 Hustler magazine article) Shane Barbi claimed that she "shares" Wahl with her sister.
In the January 9th, 2008 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Leno revealed that Ken Wahl was his least favorite guest of all time, adding (lightheardedly) that Wahl was "a pain in the ass."
