Olympian Greg
Louganis Joins Old Dogs & New Tricks
as Recurring Special Guest Star
Olympic
gold-medal athlete, actor, author and animal & gay rights activist Greg Louganis has joined the cast of
the award-winning web sitcom Old Dogs & New Tricks for a
three-episode arc in its second season, producers have announced.
Louganis
will play “Dirk Evans,” a formerly notorious ‘90s WeHo circuit boy who turns
over a new leaf to marry one of the show’s regular characters in mid-season.
Old Dogs & New
Tricks follows four middle-aged gay best friends living
in youth-obsessed West Hollywood. Leon Acord, Jeffrey Patrick Olson, Curt Bonnem and David Pevsner star as the four friends; cabaret star Amanda Abel and Ryland Shelton co-star.
Louganis
first shot to fame as an Olympic athlete in 1976, winning a Silver medal at age
16, he went on to become the only male to win gold medals on both 3 meter
springboard and 10 meter platform in consecutive Olympic Games (1984, 1988) –
and is considered the greatest diver in history. In 1995, he stunned the world
with his courage when came out as a gay man on both Barbara Walters’ 20/20 and the Oprah Winfrey Show.
He
went on to tell his story in the autobiography Breaking the Surface,
which was adapted into a TV movie featuring Mario Lopez as Louganis.
He
continues to work with the Olympics as Vice President of the U.S. Olympian
Association, for animal causes, and as a tireless advocate for diversity, GLBT
and HIV issues. He is also writing a new
book about creative learning and peak performance.
As
an actor, Louganis has appeared in the films D2: The Mighty Ducks, It’s My Party¸ Dirty Laundry and Touch
Me. He most recently played himself in the
cult hit comedy series Portlandia starring Saturday
Night Live’s Fred Armisen
“Greg
is not only just a gay role model,” says show creator/actor Acord. “He’s the epitome of the vital, attractive,
over-40 gay man that our show is all about!
We are honored that he’s coming aboard!”
Written/created
by Acord, and developed for the web by Arvin
Bautista, Old Dogs’ first season
was honored as “Outstanding Dramedy
Program” and “Outstanding Ensemble
Cast in a Dramedy” at the 2012 LA
Web Fest.
Old Dogs & New
Tricks begins shooting Season 2 in late summer 2012 and
will premiere Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The
show is raising funds via the crowd-sourcing site IndieGoGo. To help, please visit http://www.indiegogo.com/olddogsnewtricksseason2.
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