Biography for
John Diehl More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

1 May 1950, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Nickname

South Beach

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

Talented and dependable performer whose career has spanned over 30 years. Particularly called upon to play various delinquents, wackos and psychos in his earlier years, he has matured into a fine screen character actor. His career began in the early 80s with a number of bit parts in movies such as Escape from New York (1981) with Kurt Russell and Stripes (1981) with Bill Murray amongst others before landing a co-starring role in the pilot for "Miami Vice" (1984) playing Hawiian shirt clad Detective Larry Zito. He continued his role in "Miami Vice" (1984) for three series before quitting to pursue other roles. He continued his film career and has since appeared in over 80 movies and has made over 40 guest appearances on TV. Notable film credits include The Client (1994), A Time to Kill (1996), Stargate (1994), Nixon (1995) and more recently Pearl Harbor (2001) and a small role as dinosaur chow in Jurassic Park III (2001).

He resides in Ojai, California with his wife, singer Julie Christensen and son Jackson, b. 1993.

IMDb Mini Biography By: abbaluvva

Spouse

Julie Christensen

(27 May 1992 - present) 1 son

Trivia

Made his professional boxing debut on December 21, 1985, at the Miami Beach Convention Center on 17th Street in South Beach. Diehl knocked out Deboe Bickering in one round.

Took his undefeated boxing record of 3-0 to the Sports Arena in Los Angeles to fight winless Gene Holly 0-6-0. Diehl lost the four-round decision on April 11, 1986, and retired from boxing after the fight.

Probably most familiar to TV audiences as Det. Larry Zito on the smash hit 1980s cop series "Miami Vice" (1984) and most recently as the spirit of pioneering GM auto designer Harley Earl in a series of commercials for Buick.

Attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.