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Bakula was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Sally and J. Stewart Bakula, a corporate lawyer. He graduated from Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Missouri in 1973. During high school, he was active in soccer, tennis, and theatre. Also during high school, he had the lead roles in Godspell and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at First Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood. He also played Tevye in an Independent Theatre Production of Fiddler on the Roof at Kirkwood High. Bakula attended college at the University of Kansas, studying law, until his junior year. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta while attending the University.

Bakula left college to pursue acting, having been cast in the leading role in a national tour of Godspell. The tour was canceled before it began and he soon moved to New York. Shortly after, he was cast in a dinner theater production of Shenandoah in North Carolina.

In 1983, Bakula, having previously appeared as a standby, made his Broadway debut playing Joe DiMaggio in Marilyn: An American Fable. His television debut came in commercials for Canada Dry and for de-caffeinated Folgers coffee. He also appeared in an off Broadway production of "Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down".

His performance in the Broadway musical Romance/Romance and subsequent Tony Award nomination helped Bakula win the lead role opposite Dean Stockwell in the critically acclaimed television series Quantum Leap.[citation needed] In this science fiction series, Bakula played the time traveler Dr. Sam Beckett who was trapped by a malfunction of his time machine to correct things gone wrong in the past. His performance in this program would earn him a Golden Globe award (along with three nominations) and four Emmy nominations for Best Actor as well as five (5) consecutive Viewer. For Quality Television Awards for Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series. Low ratings for this series caused its cancellation in 1993.

In 1995, Bakula appeared on the cover of Playgirl. In 1997, Bakula voiced Danny Cat in Cats Don't Dance, a high-rated, but little-known, animated movie, singing in one number with Natalie Cole. In 1998, Bakula played the aging veteran pitcher Gus Cantrell in Major League: Back to the Minors, the final movie in the Major League (film) trilogy. He also played Jim Olmeyer, partner of Sam Robards' Jim Berkley, in the Academy Award-winning American Beauty in 1999. Bakula, as Captain Jonathan Archer, meets U.S. Navy Sailors of the Year for the year 2001 on February 28, 2002, onboard the U.S. Naval vessel USS Enterprise (CVN-65), photo courtesy U.S. Navy.

As Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise, Bakula played the captain of Earth's first long-range interstellar ship. In 2006, he reprised the role of Archer for the Star Trek Legacy PC and Xbox 360 video games as a voiceover. Bakula starred in the musical Shenandoah, a play which also provided his first professional theatrical role in 1976, at Ford's Theatre, in 2006.

Bakula is heard singing "Pig Island" on Sandra Boynton's children's CD Philadelphia Chickens, which is labeled as being "For all ages except 43." Some of Bakula's other musical appearances include the Hollywood Bowl in 1996 and 2004, Carnegie Hall, a benefit performance of Stephen Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle in 1995, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1993 and 2003, in honor of Sondheim and Carol Burnett, respectively.

Bakula performed various songs from his career for one night only performance entitled "An Evening with Scott Bakula" at Sydney Harman Hall on January 18, 2008, as a benefit for the restoration of the historic Ford's Theater. Bakula has three upcoming appearances in 2008. He appeared as Atty. Jack Ross in an episode of Boston Legal, "Glow in the Dark", which aired on February 12, 2008 on the ABC network. From March 4 - April 20 he starred as Tony Hunter in the world premiere of Dancing In The Dark at The Old Globe in San Diego, California. "Dancing in the Dark" is based on the 1950s movie "The Band Wagon" which starred Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. He will also appear as the character Chris Fulbright in the five episode run of the new Tracey Ullman sketch comedy series State of the Union on Showtime; it premieres March 30.

A March 31, 2008 article in Variety announced that Bakula has been cast in the role of Brian Shepard in the upcoming movie The Informant, Steven Soderbergh's espionage dark comedy thriller for Warner Independent. The movie will also star Matt Damon. Shooting is scheduled to begin in May in Decatur, IL.

Bakula married Krista Neumann in 1981. The couple had two children, Chelsy (born 1984), Cody (born 1991 - adopted) and divorced in 1995. In 1996, he began a relationship with actress Chelsea Field. The couple have two children: Wil and Owen.