Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a working-class Greek American family, he first became hooked on acting when he was four years old and his mother took him to a local community theater. He studied theatrical arts at Saint Louis University and earned a master's degree in theatre from Indiana University. From 1971 to 1986, he toured with Peter Brook's international theatre company, performing improvisational and prepared theater pieces on stages ranging from Lincoln Center to barrios in Venezuela. In 1981-82, he appeared on the CBS daytime drama (soap opera) Guiding Light as Lucien Goff, a mysterious one-eyed man (he wore a patch over one of his eyes), who tried to kill the character Mike Bauer twice.