During his heyday as a teen idol, Scott Baio received 5,000 letters
per week from adoring fans. Just as the urban edge had worked for a
number of rising screen stars in the 1970s (i.e., John Travolta),
Baio adopted a similar stance. His thick Brooklyn accent, disco mop
of hair, bronze color and tight jeans were turn-ons for young teens
who tuned into "Happy Days" to watch him as Chachi Arcola. Baio gave
them not just sitcom froth, though, but also a host of dramatic
performances of teens in trouble. When the teen idol days petered out
and the offers for feature films and dramatic roles dissipated, Baio
turned to silly sitcoms such as "Charles in Charge" (which also
allowed him to move behind the camera as director). and he continued
to maintain a TV following. In 1997, he was expected to return to
primetime as the star of the Fox sitcom "Rewind", as a marketing
executive who keeps flashing back to his teen years. But, two weeks
before the series' premiere, the network pulled the show for "re-
tooling".

Baio was a rambunctious and tough Brooklyn street kid whose mother
feared he was heading for a life of juvenile delinquency. Since his
cousins Joey and Jimmy Baio had broken into TV commercials and sitcom
acting, he was sent to auditions. He not only began to land jobs but
also enjoyed the work and straightened out his behavior. In 1976,
Baio landed the lead in Alan Parker's British-made youthful gangster
send-up, "Bugsy Malone". Although Baio's thick Brooklynese was
sometimes difficult to understand, he brought a world-weariness to
the part and meshed well with leading lady Jodie Foster. Yet, feature
film work has remained somewhat elusive. He was alongside other TV
sitcom refugees in "Skatetown USA" (1979) and reteamed with Jodie
Foster for "Foxes" (1980). "Zapped!" (1982), a silly attempt that
cast Baio as a quiet science genius who develops secret powers, all
but finished his big screen career. (Although it did mark his first
teaming with future small screen co-star Willie Aames.)

After "Bugsy Malone", though, Hollywood had come begging for his
services. ABC won the bidding and the young thespian and his family
migrated to Southern California. But, the network had no starring
role for him; rather it put him as the youthful draw in the very
silly, short-lived Nancy Walker vehicle, "Blansky's Beauties" (1977).
Baio finally scored as a relative of Henry Winkler's Fonzie on the
hit sitcom "Happy Days". As Chachi Arcola, he was well-cast as the
young greaser who tried Mr. Cunningham's patience while romancing his
daughter. So popular were Baio and Erin Moran as Joanie Cunningham
that ABC gave them their own show, "Joanie Loves Chachi", in 1982,
but it failed to click with audiences and the duo were sent back to
Milwaukee and "Happy Days" for the duration of that series.

Baio next headlined the CBS sitcom "Charles in Charge" (1984-85),
about a college student who becomes an au pair to three kids in order
to pay his way through school. Dressed in ties and vest sweaters, the
character was a far cry from the jeans and T-shirt clad Chachi. While
CBS canceled the series after a brief run, it was revived in
syndication in 1987 and went on to last for three years. Baio also
made his directorial debut with episodes of the show. He returned to
ABC as the second male actor to play the lead in "Baby Talk", a
series loosely inspired by the big-screen hit "Look Who's Talking",
but the public tuned out the show. After a "Happy Days" reunion
special in 1992, Baio tried a dramatic series as the youthful
associate of Dick Van Dyke on the CBS series "Diagnosis, Murder", but
he departed after the show's first season (1993-94).

Over the years, Baio had demonstrated his dramatic abilities in a
number of TV dramas and movies, often cast as a youth in trouble. He
was a shy teen who becomes involved with marijuana and ruins his
brother's swimming career in "Stoned", a 1980 "ABC Afterschool
Special". That same year, he portrayed a kid more interested in the
bottle than in hockey in "The Boy Who Drank Too Much" (CBS). He was a
hemophiliac in "Senior Trip!" (NBC, 1980) and a high school football
star who, at first, follows his father's orders and rejects a gay
friend in "The Truth About Alex" (HBO, 1987). Baio has also served as
host for a number of programs aired on E! Entertainment Television as
well as several "Before They Were Stars" specials on ABC. Now older,
his face filled out a bit, the accent still evident, but lessened,
Baio has remained a bona fide albeit not prestige TV star. Baio
continued to appear on screen in a string of low- or no-impact TV
films, D movies and failed pilots--in the fall of 1998 he starred in
a show called "Rewind" which had been picked up by Fox but the
network cancelled the show before a single episode made it to air--
but the ex teen idol carved out a niche as a director of episodic
television, helming episodes of such series as "The Wayans
Bros.," "Unhappily Ever After," "Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher"
and "The Parkers." In 2005 he became one of the latest former co-
stars of executive producer/narrator Ron Howard to appear in a
recurring role on the critically hailed sitcom "Arrested
Development," playing the slick lawyer Bob Loblaw.

Off screen, Baio enjoyed a widespread reputation as a smooth
Hollywood ladies man, with an impressive dating history that included
Pamela Anderson, Brooke Shields, Nicolette Sheridan, Lesley Ann
Warren, Beverly D'Angelo, various Playboy Playmates and even one of
his "Charles in Charge" charges, Nicole Eggert. He was inducted
into "The Man Show's" hall of fame for his romantic history.

Also Credited As: Fredro, Scott Vincent Baio
Born: on 09/22/61 in Brooklyn, New York
Job Titles: Actor, Director, Producer, Singer

Family -
*Brother: Steve Baio. older
*Cousin: Jimmy Baio. was in TV series "Soap"
*Cousin: Joey Baio. was in the series "The Hero"
*Father: Mario Baio.
*Sister: older

Significant Others -
*Companion: Beverly D'Angelo. born in 1954; dated briefly; broke up
over age difference
*Companion: Heather Locklear. dated from 1984 to 1986
*Companion: Jeanette Ulrika Jonsson. born c. 1975; attending UCLA;
together since 1999
*Companion: Lesley Ann Warren. linked romantically after being
introduced by Warren's son, Chris Peters
*Companion: Nicole Eggert. co-star on "Charles in Charge"; dated
during the run of the series
*Companion: Nicolette Sheridan. dated in the late 1980s
*Companion: Pamela Anderson. starred in the TV series "Baywatch";
dated in 1989; engaged to be married; separated; reunited briefly in
1993

Milestones -
*1976 Film acting debut, the title role in Alan Parker's "Bugsy
Malone"
*1977 Played regular role of Chachi Arcola on "Happy Days" (ABC);
first teaming with Ellen Travolta as his mother
*1977 Appeared as regular in the ABC sitcom "Blansky's Beauties"
*1980 First TV-movie, "The Boy Who Drank Too Much" (CBS)
*1980 Starred in TV drama, "Stoned" (an "ABC Afterschool Special")
*1982 First screen teaming with Willie Aames, "Zapped!"
*1982 Starred opposite Erin Moran in the short-lived spin-off
sitcom "Joanie Loves Chachi" (ABC)
*1984 Starred with Willie Aames in the CBS sitcom "Charles in
Charge"; Travolta guest-starred on numerous episodes as his mother
*1991 Starred in ABC sitcom "Baby Talk"
*1993 Co-starred with Dick Van Dyke for one season in "Diagnosis
Murder"
*1995 Began hosting "Before They Were Stars" specials for ABC
*1997 Announced as star of the Fox sitcom "Rewind", but show was
pulled two weeks before its premiere
*2000 Starred in the comedy "Very Mean Men" also starring Matthew
Modine and Martin Landau
*2001 Wrote and starred in "Face to Face"
*2004 Cast as Bill Biscane/Kane in the comedy "Superbabies: Baby
Geniuses 2"
*Began career doing voiceovers and commericals at age nine
*Reprised role of Charles in the syndicated version of "Charles in
Charge"; made directorial debut