He is the 6th Casper in his family (his son is the 7th). His father was a Navy commander/pilot; both his grandfathers were in the military, one as a Marine infantryman, the other as a naval doctor. He attended Florida's Admiral Farragut Academy, graduating third in command of his class. He went to Florida State in 1988. There he became interested in acting and moved to Los Angeles. He landed many different TV series parts. "Griffin Stone" in Beverly Hills, 90210 and "Ty Moody" in One Life to Live. His son, Cappy Van Dien, was born in September of 1993; his daughters, Grace Van Dien, in 1996, Maya Van Dien on September 20th 2001 and Celeste Van Dien on Oct 3rd 2003. His movie credits have included the title role in James Dean: Race with Destiny, the lead (Johnny Rico) in Paul Verhoeven's hit science-fiction adventure, Starship Troopers. He became the 20th screen Tarzan in the Warner Bros. Village Roadshow film Tarzan and the Lost City. He then starred in The Omega Code with his wife Catherine Oxenberg and the The Vector File also starring India Oxenberg. Next came Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp.


Going Back (2001): $800,000.00
The Omega Code (1999): $500,000.00
Shark Attack (1999): $750,000.00
Tarzan and the Lost City (1998): $500,000.00

He has encountered a number of coincidences with his name during his life: when he was young, his family lived on Van Dien Avenue; he played James Dean (the name Dean is a derivative of Van Dien), Starship Troopers (1997), which he starred in, was filmed in Casper, Wyoming; and the character he played in Sleepy Hollow (1999) was named Van Brunt and, apparently, the Van Brunts are distant relatives of the Van Diens. Chipped two teeth in Starship Troopers (1997) when he was on the back of a "tanker" bug. Casper grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, coincidentally on Van Dien Ave. The street itself is named for a relative. Son, Cappy Van Dien (Casper Robert Mitchum Van Dien) (named for his great grandfather, legendary actor Robert Mitchum.) [23 September 1993] Daughter, Grace Van Dien, born Oct 15th 1996 His son Cappy Van Dien is named Casper. Every first born son of the family is named Casper. His son is the 7th. His mother is an Interfaith Minister, nurse, teacher, sailing instructor, and has been married to Casper's father for over 40 years. She married both of Casper's sisters to their husbands. Grew up living on the same block as actor Robert Sean Leonard. They raced each other in go-carts down Bobby's (Robert's) street. He played the trumpet for 7 years. (played the bugle for taps and reveille during boot camp for Starship Troopers) Graduated from "Admiral Farragut Academy" as Operations Officer (3rd in command) in 1988. Mark Twain is his great great great uncle. Kenny Johnson, Jim Morse , Pablo Espinosa and Garrett Warren are his best friends.