Richard Dean Anderson

After struggling to find his footing as an actor, Richard Dean Anderson became a cultural icon as the titular "MacGyver" (ABC, 1985-1992), a cunning non-violent action hero who wiggled his way out of one precarious situation after another with little more than duct tape and his trusty Swiss Army knife. For seven seasons, Anderson embodied the multifaceted MacGyver, while the character entered the national lexicon and lived on as a cross-generational hero. Prior to the show, Anderson spent five seasons as Dr. Jeff Webber on the daytime soap opera "General Hospital" (ABC, 1963- ) and had a brief stint on the short lived "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (CBS, 1982-83). After "MacGyver," he went on to another long-running series, "Stargate SG-1" (Showtime/Sci-Fi Channel, 1997-2006), where he played Jack O'Neill, the intrepid leader of an elite military unit exploring the galaxy and defending Earth from alien invaders. The cult favorite spawned a numbers of sequels where Anderson reprised O'Neill in the series' ever-expanding universe. Though he stepped back from his business schedule in order to concentrate on family, Anderson remained a stead presence onscreen while routinely demonstrating his talent and versatility in a wide array of other projects.