Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor.

He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut single, "Speak to the Sky", which reached the top 10 in Australia in mid-1972.

1 hit with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981 in both Australia and the US, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

As an actor, Springfield starred in the film Hard to Hold in 1984 and the television series High Tide from 1994 to 1997.

He portrayed Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital (1981–83, 2005–08, 2012), returning in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary with his son, actor Liam Springthorpe.

Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on 23 August 1949 in Guildford,[1] a western suburb of Sydney.

[2][3] He is the son of Eileen Louise (Evennett) and Norman James Springthorpe, an Australian Army career officer.

[7] Go-Set journalist Molly Meldrum produced Wickedy Wak's single, "Billie's Bikie Boys", with Beeb Birtles of pop rock group Zoot as a backing vocalist.

[8][10] The publicity gimmick brought attention to the group and attracted numerous teenage girl fans, but caused problems in establishing their credibility as serious rock musicians.

[10][15][16] Springfield signed with Sparmac Records and issued his debut solo single, "Speak to the Sky", in October, which peaked at No.

[19] However, follow-up success was hampered by rumours that Capitol Records paid people to purchase Springfield's albums, which led to some radio stations boycotting his music.

[9] Springfield was promoted as a teen pop idol similar to David Cassidy and Donny Osmond.

"[21] He went on to say that someone asked to take a photo of him in a white suit and thought that it was "a bit dull", so he took some crayons and "scrawled an R with a lightning bolt going through it ... which became my emblem.

"[21] From September to December 1973, Springfield starred as "himself" in the ABC-TV Saturday morning cartoon series Mission: Magic!, for which he usually wrote and performed an original song in each episode.

In 1984, Springfield starred in his own film, Hard to Hold, and recorded the majority of the material on the accompanying soundtrack.

The Morris Springfield Project released Jack Chrome and the Darkness Waltz in October 2021 which debuted at number 34 on the ARIA Charts.

[27] Springfield made his acting debut on The Six Million Dollar Man on 30 October 1977, in an episode entitled "Rollback".

Later in 1978, Springfield played the character of Zac in Saga of a Star World, which was, with some differences, the pilot episode of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series.

In 1992, he played the title role in the short-lived ABC series Human Target, based on the DC Comics character of the same name.

[31] This Tony Award-nominated musical featured the songs of rock & roll songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

His first appearance was in episode 3 on 11 October 2009, in which he plays a "twisted version of himself"; a "hedonistic Rick Springfield" from the past.

[34] In December 2005, Springfield was asked by the General Hospital producers to return to the show in his role as Dr. Noah Drake after a 23-year absence.

[35][36] His run was subsequently extended as a recurring guest star and not a full contract cast member until 2008.

He played the role of a toll booth worker who pretended to be the famous singer/musician Rick Springfield in an attempt to impress women.

In 2016, Springfield was cast in the twelfth season of The CW series Supernatural where he played rocker Vince Vincente and Lucifer.

[42] In October 2017, Springfield appeared as Pastor Charles on FX's American Horror Story: Cult.

[43] "I hang suspended for fifteen or twenty seconds and am just sliding into unconsciousness when the knot tying the rope to the beam somehow unravels.

"I want them to have hope ... and know that the moment will pass," Springfield said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Paula Faris.

[2] In 1985, when his first son was born and after the release of his Tao album, Springfield took a break from his musical career to spend more time with his family and to deal with the depression that had affected him since his adolescence.

[54] In 1985, Jimmy Hart recorded the song "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield", featured on The Wrestling Album.