Young & the Restless’ Thom Bierdz will go from Genoa City to WeHo this fall, joining the cast of the web sitcom Old Dogs & New Tricks as a recurring special guest star.
Bierdz will play “Bobby Burton,” a FOX Sports anchor and potential love interest for Muscles (Jeffrey Patrick Olson).
Well-known to soap fans, Bierdz portrayed teenage heir “Phillip Chancellor III” in the mid-1980s on Y&R, until his character was killed off in an automobile accident. In 2009, Bierdz returned to the show, where his character explained he’d faked his death to protect his family from discovering his homosexuality – making Chancellor the first major gay character in Young & the Restless’ long history, and earning Bierdz the historic honor of being the first openly gay actor hired for a contract role on a soap opera.
His other acting credits include St. Elmo’s Fire, and television’s Melrose Place, Murder She Wrote, Matlock and Highway to Heaven.
Bierdz is also an accomplished author and painter. His memoir Forgiving Troy has won many awards, including “Best Indie Autobiography” from USA Books News and a nomination for a Lambda Literary Award. He is the 2006 recipient of the “Key to the Light” award from Thalians/Cedars Sinai. His paintings have raised over $100,000 for charities across the country, and earned him the title “Best Emerging Artist Los Angeles” from Out Magazine in 2005. The Belsito-Roche Gallery (www.belsitorochegallery.com) in Long Beach hosts a show of his artwork November 19. Learn more at his website at www.thombierdz.com.
"I'm so excited to work with Thom!,” says actor Olson. “He’s won such respect building an honorable life as an artist, being true to himself …. It will be so surreal working together as I've been a fan since his initial run on Y&R (my only soap) in my late teens on study breaks from Organic Chemistry.”
Old Dogs & New Tricks begins shooting in November, and will premiere Jan. 8, 2012 with a two-part episode. The show is raising funds for its first season via the crowd-sourcing site IndieGoGo. To help, please visit http://www.indiegogo.com/Old-Dogs-New-Tricks-First-4-Episodes.
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