John Richard Schneider was born April 8, 1960, in Mt. Kisco, New York, to Shirley and John Schneider III, a pilot and U.S. Air Force veteran. His parents divorced when he was two. John began acting at the age of eight. He was in many plays in New York. He and his mother moved to Atlanta, Georgia, when he was fourteen. He got involved in the local theater and was in many local productions. He had a small part in Cours après moi shérif (1977) starring Burt Reynolds.
His big break came when he won the role of Bo Duke on Shérif, fais-moi peur! (1979) on CBS from 1979-1985. He auditioned for the role pretending he was a genuine country boy. He had a weeks growth of beard and held a beer can claiming he was from Snellville, Georgia. He later became a very successful country singer and had several hit songs including "I've Been Around Enough To Know" and "Country Girls." He has since opened Faith Works Productions in San Antonio, Texas. He also appears in Docteur Quinn, femme médecin (1993) as Daniel Simon/Red McCall.
