Kenneth Joseph "Ken" Howard, Jr. is an American actor, best known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show The White Shadow. He was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in September 2009 and elected to a second term in September 2011. Howard was born in El Centro, California, the son of Martha Carey and Kenneth Joseph Howard, Sr., the older of their two sons. His younger brother, the late Don Howard, was also an actor. He stands approximately 6'6" which in high school earned him the nickname... "Stork." He grew up in the Long Island, New York community of Manhasset. Howard had basketball in his blood well before The White Shadow debuted. The nickname "The White Shadow" was given to him by the Long Island press in 1961, as Howard was the only Caucasian starter on the Manhasset High School varsity basketball team. Howard turned down several offers of basketball scholarships in favor of a more focused academic education. He is a graduate of Amherst College, where he served as captain of the basketball team.
more