Steve
was born Stefano Ernesto Bonino on February 1, 1957. An only child,
show business was already an important part of his family. His
father, Ernesto
Bonino, was an enormously successful singer of pop and
jazz standards in Italy. He earned the nickname "Mister
Swing" and toured Latin America in 1947 before moving to the United
States and pursuing his career in the nightclubs of New York, Chicago and
Miami.
His last name lent itself to a variety of nicknames, including "The Bone." When asked "Do you have a nickname?" in 16 Magazine (August 1977), he was quoted as saying, "At camp the guys called me ‘Snoopy’ - I always wore ‘Snoopy’ t-shirts. Besides that, they also called me ‘Banana’ because of my last name." Steve auditioned
for and was accepted to the
High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, New York as a voice major. He then
enrolled in college at The Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts
at The City College of New York, as a voice / acting major. It was
also reported that he joined the West Side Actor’s Company where he
became friends with fellow member Robby Benson. Like John and Cosie,
Steve performed on stage, In 1975, Steve made his first film appearance in the Robert Redford thriller 3 Days of the Condor, playing a smart-alecky kid in an elevator who presses all the buttons, elongating an already dramatically intense scene between Redford and Max Von Sydow. According to a
Teen Beat magazine article (January 1977), Steve came to The Kids from
C.A.P.E.R. in an interesting way: "It seems that one of his good
friends had already gotten the part of P.T. when he told Steve about the
show, thinking it would be neat if the two of them could work
together. Steve’s agent arranged an audition. At 10:30 a.m.
Steve walked into Don Kirshner’s It was a wise
decision on the part of the producers! Steve appealed to a lot of fans as P.T., who acted as the charismatic
narrator of the wacky proceedings and, as such, became the audience’s
direct connection to the happenings on the show. (When
asked on his Facebook page what P.T. stands for, Steve replied, "I
asked the producers of C.A.P.E.R. what P.T. stood for when I first got the
part. They said 'Whatever you want it to mean.' Based on that,
I leave it up to you to have it mean whatever you'd like it to.") Steve was quoted in
one Teen Magazine article (December 1976) as saying, "P.T. is more me
than I am. In other words, in real life I’m really dead and bland,
but when I go out in front of the camera, I portray the me I’d like to
see." As the youngest Kid (both on the show and in real life,)
Steve brought an incredible amount Fans were also able to see Steve on TV at the height of his C.A.P.E.R. popularity in the television series Eight is Enough. In the episode Hit and Run he played Michael Thompson, a very cool kid (he even got to drive a gold Corvette!) who asked Elizabeth to the prom, unaware that she had also been asked by two other suitors. Of course, when all three show up to escort her to the dance, comedy ensues! (It's funny to note that Cosie Costa was seen dating Elizabeth on an episode of Eight is Enough just a month before!) In the June 1977 issue of Tiger
Beat Star confirmed for one fan that Steve had made an appearance in the
sitcom Phyllis, playing a bass player in Bess' husband's band.
Bess was married towards the very end of the series (to a guy named Mark,
played by actor / musician Craig After C.A.P.E.R. was officially cancelled, Tiger Beat magazine reported about Steve in one article (May 1977) saying: "Since C.A.P.E.R. left the air, he's been spending most of his time writing his own compositions! Steve’s also been keeping in shape! He works out often -- by playing football, baseball, or just fixing things around the house!"
Steve also appeared
in the highly acclaimed made-for-TV movie Friendly Fire in April
1979, which starred Carol Burnett in a rare dramatic turn (and it should
be noted that Cosie Costa made an appearance in the film as well!)
His last acting credit was for the 1980 comedy film Gorp, an
outrageous camp comedy starring former Saturday morning competitor Michael
Lembeck (Kaptain Kool himself!) and Dennis Quaid. His character,
Batshit (so named But music always seemed to be Steve’s true passion and music is what he has concentrated on for most of his career. This was evident even back in 1976, when Tiger Beat magazine (October 1976) reported: "Steve Bonino is the writer of the group! He loves song writing and he’s really an accomplished musician. He plays the bass, guitar, keyboards and percussion!" His credits in the field of music are long and impressive, including vocals on albums by Screaming Jay Hawkins and Francis X and composing the music score for the video release Venus Flytrap in 1987 and original songs for two 2003 films from Indigo Entertainment entitled Maximum Thrust and Sexy Movie. Steve made an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, filling in as a bassist / vocalist with the German band Avtograph and has done work for Los Angeles-based public television station KCET as a guitarist / vocalist with the original band he co-founded called Tomorrow’s Game. Steve also performed guitar accompaniment for KCET specials with Barbie Benton and a Jacques Brel revue, as well as doing session vocal work for television shows on NBC, HBO and The Playboy Channel. But there’s
nothing like live performance when it comes to music, and Steve has
maintained Steve currently
performs with the popular cover band The
Trip, which, including Steve on
bass, consists of members Erik Johnson (guitar), Steve Fazio (guitar) and
Mike Lewis (drums). The group were finalists in the 2009
GigMasters Jingle Contest and have also won the title of "Best Rock
Cover Band in the USA" two years in a row!
They perform regularly around Southern
California in venues such as the Salt Creek Grille in Dana Point and both The Whitehouse
Steve has launched a new website and has now released his debut album, Peace Rocks, which is available from CD Baby and iTunes! The songs on the album are an interesting mix of rock and progressive rock with a little pop flavoring sprinkled in, while the lyrics are poignant, clever and meaningful. Steve is such a versatile songwriter and performer, we know you'll find the variety of music he offers quite impressive! So be sure to visit Steve's site and let him know what you think . . . he'd love to hear from you!
Websites: The Trip - Laguna Beach California Rock Band
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Go to Steve's NBC Biography Page
Go to our Exclusive Q&A with Steve
Contact us via C.A.P.E.R. E-mail (the next best thing to C.A.P.E.R. Band!)