'L.A. Law' star recounts acting career

A Wharton dropout, Alan Rachins told students of his years in the movie and television industries. Alan Rachins, famed L.A. Law actor and former Wharton student, is living proof that a Wharton education teaches more than investments, stocks and bonds. Rachins, who left the University after two and a half years to pursue an acting career in New York City, spoke to a packed house in the Annenberg School for Communication last week. He was on campus to serve as master of ceremonies for the Homecoming alumni functions this weekend. Though billed as a discussion on "How to make it big in the entertainment industry with a Penn education," the speech focused primarily on Rachins's acting career. His prepared remarks lasted only about five minutes, followed by a long question-and-answer period. Rachins said he began his Wharton education under pressure from his father to take over the family business after graduation. But the young Rachins secretly preferred to pursue his dream as an actor. Still, he chose not to participate in theatrical productions at the University, since he feared that failure at the college level would intimidate him from pursuing a professional career. After leaving the University in 1963, Rachins moved to New York City, where he lived on his college allowance of $50 a week. After several years of acting classes and assorted small roles in plays and operas, he enrolled at Empire State College -- part of New York State's "University without Walls." Rachins's program at Empire State spurred a new interest in writing, culminating in a script he used to apply to the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. After two years at the Institute, he began writing for television shows and soon became involved in L.A. Law. Rachins played Douglas Brackman for the entire run of the show, from 1986 to 1994. He remembered it as a "really exciting job," giving most of the credit for the show's success to its talented writers. Following the end of the series in 1994, Rachins said he tried out freelancing for Heart to Heart, The Fall Guy and Knight Rider. He also continued his career with a part in Showgirls and is currently writing a two-part series for ABC's Lois and Clark. Though the speech was a refreshing change from the daily grind of classes, Wharton freshman Michelle Mendoza said she wished it was geared more toward her interests. "I am interested in marketing, perhaps in the entertainment industry, and I was interested in what someone with experience would say," she said. "Unfortunately, [Rachins] focused more on the acting side of the business." Last Thursday's speech was sponsored by the Undergraduate Communications Society.