Talented and dependable character actor whose career has spanned over 25 years. Particularly called upon to play various delinquents, wackos and psychos in his earlier years, he has matured into a fine screen character actor. His career began in the early 80s with a number of bit parts in movies such as Escape from New York with Kurt Russell and Stripes with Bill Murray amongst others before landing a co-starring role in the pilot for Miami Vice 1984 playing Hawiian shirt clad Detective Larry Zito. He continued his role in Miami Vice for three series before quitting to pursue other roles. He continued his film career and has since appeared in over 70 movies and has made over 40 guest appearances on TV. Notable film credits include _Motorama_ (1991) , _Mo' Money_ (1991 , Falling Down, two John Grisham film adaptations The Client and A Time to Kill, _Stargate_ (1994) , Nixon and more recently _Pearl Harbor_ (2001) and a small role as dinosaur chow in _Jurassic Park III_ (2001) .

He is still working in movies and lives in Ojai, California with his singer wife Julie Christensen and son Jackson, b. 1993.


Made his professional boxing debut on December 21, 1985, at the Miami Beach Convention Center on 17th Street in South Beach. Diehl knocked out Deboe Bickering in one round. Probably most familiar to TV audiences as Det. Larry Zito on the smash hit 1980s cop series "Miami Vice" (1984) and most recently as the spirit of pioneering GM auto designer Harley Earl in a series of commercials for Buick.