Casper Robert Van Dien, Jr. (born December 18 1968) is an American actor, best known for his role as Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers and most recently as bodyguard Andre in My Network TV's Watch Over Me.

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" (1990) and "Ty Moody" in "One Life to Live" (1968). 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 (1997) (TV), the lead (Johnny Rico) in Paul Verhoeven (I)'s hit science-fiction adventure, Starship Troopers (1997). He became the 20th screen Tarzan in the Warner Bros. Village Roadshow film Tarzan and the Lost City (1998). He then starred in Omega Code, The (1999) with his wife Catherine Oxenberg and the Vector File, The (2002) (TV) also starring India Oxenberg. Next came Tim Burton (I)'s Sleepy Hollow (1999) with Johnny Depp.

Casper grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey on Van Dien Avenue (Named after his great great Grandfather). When he and his family moved to Florida, he attended Admiral Farragut Academy where he graduated third in command. Later, he attended Florida State University. He then moved LA to pursue an acting career where he found success in many different series and television movies. His breakthrough role was as the lead in Paul Verhoeven (I)'s masterpiece Starship Troopers (1997). Sony/Touchstone Picture's "Starship Troopers" was one of the most talked about films of 1997 and has had a huge cult following. He was also in Tim Burton (I)'s critically acclaimed film Sleepy Hollow (1999), which is based on the classic Washington Irving story of Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) and the Headless Horseman (Christopher Walken). In this film by Paramount Pictures, Casper starred as Brom van Brunt, a suitor of Katrina vanTassel (Christina Ricci). Van Dien starred as "Lord of the Jungle" in the Warner Bros. film Tarzan and the Lost City (1998). Other film credits include Big Spender (2003) (TV) with Graham Green (I), James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997) (TV) with Robert Mitchum, Curse of King Tut's Tomb, The (2006) (TV) for Hallmark Entertainment and the Surprise hit Omega Code, The (1999) with his wife Catherine Oxenberg. Catherine and Casper have worked together on several different projects including a TV series they produced and starred together in for Lifetime Television called "I Married a Princess" (2005). They have formed a company together with a unique vision to produce socially responsible, quality family entertainment with the intention of uplifting and transforming people.