Bio

Rick Springfield, born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on August 23, 1949 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Rick Springfield started playing piano at age 9 and playing the guitar at age 13 then writing songs at 14. In 1967, Springfield dropped out of high school to begin his music career. His first appearance in a band was as a singer/guitarist in the band Rock House. In 1968, the band changed the name to MPD, Ltd, then embarked on a tour of Vietnam to entertain the troops stationed there.

In 1969, when Springfield returned to Australia, he formed a band named Wikety-Wak. Later that year, he joined the band Zoot. Zoot became one of the most popular Australian groups of the late Sixties. Zoot broke up in In May 1971. The Rick Springfield went solo and had a #1 hit single in Australia, "Speak to the Sky."

Springfield relocated to Hollywood, California in 1972. Capitol Records signed him, and he recorded his first album Beginnings. "Speak To The Sky" was re-released as a single in the US, and charted as #72 in the Billboard Top 100 for 1972. Exposure on American Bandstand, as well as being regularly featured in teen fan magazines like 16 magazine and Tiger Beat, sparked interest amongst teenage girls. In 1973 a Saturday morning cartoon called Mission:Magic was centered around Springfield and ran for one year, with a soundtrack album also released.

Because of an unsubstantiated rumor that the record company was paying people to purchase the album, radio stations became suspicious and they stopped playing Springfield. He was subsequently dropped from the Capitol Records label. However, in 1973 he was signed by Columbia Records, who released his second album Comic Book Heroes (1974). It was hailed as a "concept record", received very good reviews from Rolling Stone Magazine, but it failed to chart. He was dropped from that label as well. Plans to release an album entitled "Springfield" were also scrapped.

In 1976, Springfield released a third album Wait For Night under the Chelsea Records label. While Springfield was out touring to promote the album, the record company went bankrupt, and the album fell off the charts. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Springfield performed in various clubs on the Sunset Strip and throughout Los Angeles, but was unable to maintain a career at the top of the charts.

Springfield had starred in the cartoon series Mission: Magic, produced by Filmation in 1973, where he appears in the animated format, along with the teacher Miss Tickle and her teenaged students.

In 1978, He became one of the last contract actors signed to Universal Studios, and appeared in several guest roles including The Incredible Hulk and The Rockford Files. He had a successful acting career, beginning with a brief role as Zac in the 1978 movie Battlestar Galactica. He also had a small recurring role on the soap opera The Young and The Restless.

In 1981, Springfield became a soap opera star on General Hospital. He played the role of Dr. Noah Drake from 1981 through 1983, while simultaneously going on tour with his band. This is the year that the huge hit Jessie's Girls was released. Rick Springfield won a Grammy in 1981 for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Jessie's Girl".

In 1984, Springfield made one full length feature film "Hard To Hold. It was considered a box office failure, but the movie did produce a successful soundtrack with a top ten song Love Somebody.

Throughout the 1990s, Springfield acted in several several made for TV movies, and had appearances in television shows such as Suddenly Susan. From 1994 to 1996, he also starred in the detective series, High Tide.

In addition to the roles on television and in film, Springfield also acted in musical theatre. In 1995, he was a member of the original Broadway cast of the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe. This Tony Award nominated musical featured the songs of rock & roll songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. From February 2001 through December 2002, Springfield performed in EFX Alive! at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada to critical acclaim.

Rick Springfield also played the role of Nick Knight in the original Forever Knight TV movie, a role later taken up by Geraint Wyn Davies.

In December 2005, Springfield returned as Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital. His run was subsequently extended, although he remains a guest star and not a full cast member.

In 2006, after nearly 34 years of residing in the United States, Springfield became an American citizen. He still retains Australian citizenship as well.