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Paul Michael Glaser (born March 25, 1943) is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the `70s television series Starsky and Hutch; he also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the 1999 to 2005 NBC series Third Watch. Glaser, the youngest of three children, was born Paul Manfred Glaser in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Dorothy and Samuel Glaser, who was an architect. Of Jewish heritage, Glaser attended the Cambridge School of Weston for high school, and Tulane University, where he was roommates with film director Bruce Paltrow, and earned a Master`s degree in English and theater in 1966. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He earned a second master`s degree from Boston University in acting and directing in 1967. After appearing in several Broadway productions, Glaser appeared in his first feature film in 1971, playing Perchik in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof. He first gained notice on television playing Dr. Peter Chernak on the daytime series Love is a Many Splendored Thing, and made guest appearances on shows such as The Rockford Files, but found fame playing Detective David Starsky opposite David Soul in the television show Starsky and Hutch, of which he directed several episodes. It ran for four seasons (1975-1979) on ABC. After the series, Glaser continued to act on television and in films, and directed the 1987 movie The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as the 1992 movie The Cutting Edge. He also directed episodes of several well-known TV series, including Miami Vice, Robbery Homicide Division and Judging Amy. Glaser returned to the big screen in 2003 in Something`s Gotta Give, as Diane Keaton`s ex-husband, and with a brief cameo in the 2004 film version of Starsky & Hutch, where his old role was reprised by Ben Stiller. He also directed the children`s film Kazaam starring Shaquille O`Neal. On November 30, 2007, Glaser starred as Captain Hook in a pantomime version of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn`t Grow Up at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Kent, England. He will take the lead role in the 2008 pantomime season at Sunderland`s Empire Theatre. In addition to television, film, and theatre, he is an avid photographer, writes poetry, and is currently working on several children`s and adult novels.

Glaser has been married twice. He married his first wife, Elizabeth (Meyer) Glaser, in 1980. In August 1981, Elizabeth contracted HIV through a blood transfusion while giving birth to the couple`s first child, Ariel. Elizabeth did not find out about the virus until four years later, at which time both Ariel and son Jake (born October 1984) were also found to be HIV positive. Ariel Glaser died in August 1988; Elizabeth Glaser died in 1994, after founding the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. After Elizabeth`s death, Glaser served as chairman of the foundation until 2002 and remains Honorary Chairman, roles in which he has testified before the United States Congress and met with national leaders, as well as headlining annual fundraisers for the organization. Glaser married producer Tracy Barone (*1962) in 1996; the couple had a daughter, Zoe, on 7 October 1997. Glaser filed for divorce in June 2007, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for ending his 10-year marriage. He was seeking joint legal and physical custody of their daughter.

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