- Born
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- John showed an early interest in the performing arts, beginning at age ten when he and his best friend built an amateur radio station that broadcast to the neighborhood. Later, after attending high school in England, he first worked in radio at age 17... with his childhood friend.
In college and in the Navy, this interest continued as he performed voice talent for production companies and ad agencies in the Southeast. John left the Navy while his ship was deployed in the Mediterranean and he remained in Europe, eventually working as a translator and dialog replacement talent for a motion picture being produced in Paris.
In 1974, John returned to his home town of Columbus, Georgia where he continued his career in radio and television. It was during this period that he was asked to audition for a role in the State Theatre of Georgia's production of "Dial 'M' for Murder". The audition won him the lead role of Tony Wendice and favorable reviews. Other roles followed, including leads in "Pack of Lies", "Christmas Carol" and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". Other stage roles include Max the brutal Kit Kat Klub owner in a gritty production of Cabaret and the Father roles in The Yellow Boat.
After appearing as an extra in the TV series In the Heat of the Night (1990), John sought guidance from the show's casting director Shay Griffin who was instrumental in securing roles in commercials and industrial films. In 1991, he moved to Florida where he performed in numerous commercials and industrial films, on HGTV's "All In Good Taste" and ultimately in the Tom Hanks HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (1998) and with Brion James in the independent motion picture Jekyll Island (1998).
As of 2014, John was living on the coast of Georgia where he spends most of his time behind the microphone narrating documentaries and performing voice talent for commercials, movie trailers and video presentations.- IMDb Mini Biography By: johndrew@johndrew.com
- SpouseGail Mellencamp(April 23, 1995 - September 24, 2004) (divorced, 3 children)
- One of his favorite roles was Swiss diamond smuggler Dietrich Mueller in Jekyll Island (1998). "It was the accent that got the role for me. I'd done an Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation for my kids for years, and just adapted it a bit for Mueller. I love to do character voices".
- In a national commercial for Major League Baseball on Fox, John, played a secret government agent who gave New York Yankees pitcher Dave Cone a bionic arm to replace his famed pitching arm. A few days later, Dave nearly lost the use of his real pitching arm from a burst artery. The commercial only showed for a few days before the incident, after which it was quickly pulled by the network.
- He loves everything Italian - food, wine, fashion, architecture, opera, automobiles, language. His selection as co-host of HGTV's "All In Good Taste" was due in part to his talents in the kitchen as well as in front of the camera. He is a gourmet cook who has collected recipes from France, Spain, Greece and Italy that he recently assembled in a cook book illustrated with his own photography of Europe.
- From 1991 to 1998, John acted in numerous films for the US Treasury's Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. His roles included an IRS CID agent, a money laundering drug smuggler, a Border Patrol officer and a particularly unsavory Southern criminal defense attorney... one of his favorite roles.
- John's selection as co-host of HGTV's "All In Good Taste" was due in part to his talents in the kitchen as well as in front of the camera. He is a gourmet cook who has collected recipes from France, Spain, Greece and Italy, specializing in northern Italian cuisine.
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