Sam Groom

Biography: Though a film actor from 1963 and a stage performer before that, American leading man Sam Groom is best known for his work in the field of soap operas. After playing such supporting roles as Tom Eldredge in the 1965 As the World Turns prime-time spin-off Our Private World, Groom spent four years as Dr. Ross Mathews on NBC's Another World. Eventually leaving the series because he felt that daytime dramas offered "no dignity," he accepted the title role in the Canadian-produced nighttime series Dr. Simon Locke (1971). Though the series proved unsuccessful when it was syndicated to the U.S., its sponsor, Colgate-Palmolive, liked Groom enough to spin off the Locke character into another syndicated weekly, Police Surgeon, which ran until 1974. Sam Groom's most recent TV starring vehicle was the 1985 fantasy offering Otherworld.