Career
Bergman originally auditioned for the All My Children casting director for the role of Dr. Jeff Martin. His first notable role was his portrayal of Dr. Cliff Warner on All My Children, which he played from 1979 to 1987 and again from 1988 to 1989. His character, Cliff, married Nina (Taylor Miller) four times (1980, 1982, 1986, and 1989) and divorced her three times. When the characters left the serial, their fourth marriage was intact.
In a Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup advertising campaign in 1986, Bergman told the viewing audience, "I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV." Chris Robinson, who played Dr. Rick Webber on ABC's General Hospital, was the original spokesperson in the ad campaign, which started in 1984. Bergman replaced Robinson after the latter experienced some legal difficulties. The writer of the commercial used this opening line as a disclaimer, because the then-existing "white coat rule" prohibited people from portraying doctors in commercials without some sort of clarification/disclaimer. The original commercial with Chris Robinson became the most-recalled TV commercial in the history of the Vicks brand. (Jay Leno later parodied the spot on The Tonight Show: "Not a doctor? Hey, pal, I've seen your show...you're not even an actor!")
Since 1989, Bergman has played the role of Jack Abbott on The Young and the Restless.
In 1997, Bergman portrayed Jack Abbott in an episode "The Heather Biblow story" on The Nanny, where he shared an on-screen kiss with fellow guest-star, Pamela Anderson. In 2001, Bergman guest starred as Jack on The King of Queens in the Season 3 episode, "Inner Tube." Carrie Heffernan tells Jack she can't believe that Doug lied to her. Jack, however, lets Carrie know he loves her, and is happy about the fact she's pregnant with her baby. They share a kiss. The sequence, however, is only a dream. Scott Reeves made an appearance in the episode as Ryan McNeil, and Melody Thomas Scott co-starred as Nikki Newman.
Bergman says that his success is a "series of accidents" because he didn't have huge aspirations, he just wanted to be a working actor.
Read more about this topic: Peter Bergman
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