Wesley Eure

His father left the family when he was two years old, so his mother, Mary Jane Loper (February 6, 1927 - January 25, 2011), moved him and his elder sister, Gai (born September 10, 1950), to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where Eure's grandmother lived.

While Eure grew up in Mississippi, his mother obtained a bachelor's degree in psychology and began teaching.

She subsequently took positions in Texas and Illinois, and became a drug abuse counselor with the state of Nevada.

The Eures moved to Las Vegas, where his mother ran a methadone clinic and hosted a radio talk show about drug abuse.

He spent his senior year of high school in Las Vegas.

Eure wanted to be an actor since the age of five, his love of performing stemming from a need for attention.

While the family lived in Illinois, he enrolled in a summer program at Northwestern University, where he took acting lessons and won an award.

His first break came when he was 17 years old and working part-time at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas selling artwork.

He was hired as a driver for Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence during their summer tour.

Wesley Eure (born Wesley Eure Loper; August 17, 1951) is an American actor, singer, author, producer, director and educator.

Eure was born Wesley Eure Loper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 17, 1951.

He spent most of 1968 and 1969 as their driver.

After the Goulet-Lawrence tour ended in New York City, Eure decided he would not return to high school and stayed.

After a few short months of auditions and odd jobs, in 1970 Eure became a cast member at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut.

Hired more for his ability to make the cast and crew laugh than his acting skill, Eure worked with a dialect coach to get rid of his deep Southern accent.

During his time in Stratford, he worked with Jane Alexander in The Tempest, and appeared in Mourning Becomes Electra, Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, and many original works produced by the company.

At the Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania, he performed in West Side Story (portraying "Action" of the Jets) and then joined a musical comedy revue and traveled throughout the East Coast resort areas.

Eure's stardom in the 1970s led to a number of appearances on game shows.

He was repeatedly asked to appear on both Password Plus and Match Game.

He appeared on Password so often that he became a semi-regular on the show.

He earned $2,000 to do a week's worth of shows (five shows), which took a single day to shoot.

Eure moved to Los Angeles in 1973 after discovering it was cheaper to live there, but offered just as much opportunity to become an actor.

He was hired to star in a pilot for a Kaye Ballard TV series, The Organic Vegetables, created and produced by the team behind The Monkees.

When that series was not picked up due to the 1973 writers' strike, Eure answered an ad in an industry trade publication to audition for a television show.

He learned that David Cassidy was threatening to leave The Partridge Family, and that the audition was for a role as a "neighbor boy" who would take over the lead in the family band from Cassidy.

Eure won the audition, but never joined The Partridge Family after Cassidy agreed to stay on.

The show was canceled before the next season started.

He is best known for appearing as Michael Horton on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1974 to 1981, during which he also starred on the popular children's television series Land of the Lost as Will Marshall.

In 1974, Eure auditioned for and won a role on NBC's Days of Our Lives.

Eure had previously met producer Sid Krofft and was committed to do an audition for a new children's show he was working on.

When Eure flew to New York City at the request of Broadway producer David Merrick to try out for a role in a theatrical production of Candide, he didn't want to audition for Krofft due to his commitment to Days (and because he'd be playing a 16-year-old boy).

But Eure auditioned and won the role of Will Marshall on Land of the Lost.

He kept his commitment to both shows after the Kroffts repeatedly asked him to star on Land of the Lost.

From 1974 to 1981, Eure starred on NBC's Days of Our Lives, playing the role of Mike Horton.

He also starred as Will Marshall in Sid and Marty Krofft's children's adventure series, Land of the Lost from 1974 to 1976, filming this show and Days of Our Lives simultaneously.

(The gold chain he wore on the show was a gift from his then-lover.) As a publicity stunt, Eure agreed to be billed simply as "Wesley" on Land of the Lost, although he later regretted the decision.

He later hosted the popular children's game show Finders Keepers in 1987 and 1988, and co-created the children's educational television show Dragon Tales in 1999.

He has also published several books, produced plays and been an organizer and fundraiser for several charities.

In 1987, Eure became host of the Nickelodeon children's game show Finders Keepers, and continued in this role through 1988.

When the show was sold to Fox for its 1989 (and final) season, Fox declined to hire Eure as host and replaced him with Larry Toffler.