Matthew Laurance

After attending university, Matthew Laurance studied theater at the Neighborhood Playhouse and HB Studio in New York before landing a dream gig in 1980 as part of the ensemble cast of the classic comedy sketch program "Saturday Night Live." He left there the next year and made a move into films with a small role as the brother of Treat Williams's dirty cop character in the critically acclaimed Sidney Lumet-directed crime thriller "Prince of the City." In 1983, he got a much higher-profile role as the bass player in the fictional band Eddie and the Cruisers in the film of the same name. He would later reprise that role in 1989 in the sequel, "Eddie and the Crusiers II: Eddie Lives!," which was made after the original film finally found success on cable and late-night television, years after its initial release. In 1991, he landed the role for which he is best known, dentist Mel Silver, father to Erin and David Silver, on Aaron Spelling's hit teen drama "Beverly Hills, 90210," a role he went on to play for nine seasons. Not long after, he tired of Hollywood and relocated to Durham, North Carolina, where he began a successful career as a sports broadcaster.