- John Schneider is an actor who found fame playing Bo Duke on ‘Dukes of Hazzard’
- He also played Jonathan Kent, Superman’s human dad, on ‘Smallville’
- The star has four children, whom he admitted weren’t ‘speaking’ to him for a period of time
John Schneider has recently made headlines for his alleged controversial statement about President Joe Biden. The actor tweeted that the president should be “publicly hung” and is “guilty of treason” in response to a tweet the president made against Donald Trump, per Deadline. As a result, the Secret Service has reportedly opened an investigation into John’s comments.
However, he backtracked on the since-deleted tweet in a statement to the outlet: “This is my final comment on this. I neither said nor implied any such thing. Despite headlines claiming otherwise, in my post, I absolutely did not call for an act of violence or threaten a U.S. president as many other celebrities have done in the past. I suggest you re-read my actual post and pay attention to the words before believing this nonsense.”
Earlier this year, John mourned the death of his wife Alicia Allain, who passed away from cancer on February 21, 2023 at 53 years old. “My beautiful Smile is pain free, living in her new body alongside Jesus,” the Dukes of Hazzard actor wrote on his Instagram at the time, alongside a gorgeous photo of his producing partner, whom he married in 2019.
Alicia was the veteran star’s third wife. From 1983 to 1986, at the height of his popularity during Dukes of Hazzard’s run, John was married to Miss America Tawny Elaine Godin. The short union was followed by a marriage to Elly Castle, which began in 1993 on a high and ended on a very dramatic note in 2014, including John spending time in jail for failed alimony payments, per TMZ.
During their marriage, John and Elly (Elvira) welcomed a daughter named Karis. John also became a father to Elly’s children from her first marriage, Mandy, Leah and Chasen. “My wife and I have four kids – Mandy, Leah, Chasen and Karis – and I’m father to all of them, but I’m Karis’s biological father, ” he told Father.com in 2012. “So when I married Elly, she had three children, and we immediately became a family because I wanted to be a dad … wanted, wanted, wanted to be a dad.”
Learn more about John’s four adult children, and why they weren’t on “speaking terms” for a period of time, according to John, below.
Karis
John and Elly welcomed their daughter, Karis, in 1997. Little is known about their only biological child, although she appears to be a firefighter.
Mandy & Leah
Very little is publicly known about Mandy and Leah, the daughters from Elly’s previous marriage. Leah has reportedly worked as behind the scenes in Project Runway (2005-2013) and Project Runway All Stars (2013-2014).
John spoke out on how he didn’t want to appear absent to his daughters while he worked in Hollywood. “My desire was, I didn’t want to be a guest in my house. I wanted my kids to know that I kept coming back so that I could just hang out with them and be a dad at home,” he told Father.com. “And I believe it worked; they have that impression that Dad is somebody that went away to work, but that he lived here, you know. He was here. It’s really tough.”
Chasen
Chasen was born in Los Angeles on December 31, 1991 and although not biologically related to John, he followed in his father’s acting footsteps. He worked on The Secret Life of The American Teenager (2008-2011), Anderson Bench (2016), and Hate Crime (2017). Then he up and moved to Britain to hone his craft.
“He applied to several British drama schools including RADA, Guildford, Royal Scottish Academy and LAMDA,” according to his IMDb bio. “He lived in London and received full training in classical, modern theatrical and film acting, as well as movement, stage combat, dance, voice, singing, theatrical clown, voice acting and various other disciplines.”
Chasen now reportedly lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Why The Kids Reportedly Stopped Speaking to John
As mentioned, John and Elly’s divorce wasn’t a walk in the clouds. John was ordered to pay his ex over $18,000 per month in alimony, and after he reportedly ran up a tab of over $150,000 in back alimony, he was sentenced to three days behind bars in the L.A. County Jail in June 2018. Although he was released the same day, he was reportedly ordered to complete 240 hours of community service to make up for the failed alimony payments.
While its unclear how this affected his relationship with his four children, John revealed they were not talking to him around the time he appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2018. “I’m hoping that I will do my family proud, I’ll do my love over there proud,” John said, per PEOPLE, referencing his girlfriend at the time, Alicia, before adding, “and maybe my children will speak to me again.”
Later in the episode, he added, “I never thought, in the vision of my life, [what I never saw] was not having a relationship with my children. It more than hurts. ‘Hurt’ is a tiny, tiny word. I don’t have a word for what that feels like.” The singer did note ghat he wanted to reconcile with his kids. “I think they know that, and it’s kind of up to them what they do with that,” he said.
It is unclear if John and his kids have mended their relationship.