Todd McKee(I)

Son of two ad agency professionals, Native Californian Todd McKee enrolled in drama school at an early age and glanced the packaging of "G.I. Joe"-action figures as a child. In his third year at University of Southern California, McKee got an agent and started auditioning. Besides a McDonalds commercial, acting gigs remained sparse as he was often called "too tall". In 1984, he was eventually cast as Ted Capwell as part of the original cast of Santa Barbara (1984). While the daytime drama was struggling ratings-wise for most of its run in the US, the show and its stars - including 21 year old Todd McKee who headlined the young generation - became cult favorites around the world. He played the part for 5 years, yet worked as a real estate agent in his spare time, before leaving on a world tour alongside fellow cast-member Lane Davies. After he returned home, McKee was quickly snatched up by another soap-opera. From 1990-1992 he appeared as Jake Maclaine on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) in a heavily publicized male rape story-line and alongside movie star Tippi Hedren who played his on-screen mother. During the 1990s McKee scored guest-starring roles on several TV shows and minor movie parts. Therefore in 1999, at age 35 the former soap-star focused on a completely different career path and joined Merryl Lynch as a financial advisor in one of their California wealth management offices. In the early 2000s he sometimes still took acting jobs, but was basically retired when executive producer and head writer Bradley Bell convinced him to return The Bold And The Beautiful as a recurring character in 2007.