Scott Bakula came from a musical family. In the fourth grade, he started a rock band and wrote songs for them. Later, he sang with the St. Louis Symphony. He studied Law at the University of Kansas. In 1976, he was first hired professionally in the role of Sam in "Shenandoah" and went to New York. After several small roles on TV, he made "Quantum Leap" (1989).

He won a Golden Globe in 1992 for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series - Drama for "Quantum Leap" (1989) and was nominated for a Tony award in 1988. Today, he lives in Los Angeles and has a farm in upstate New York.

The only actor to have two roles included in TV Guide's "25 Legends of Sci-Fi," One entry noted the character of Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap (1989), while the other entry noted all of the Captains from the various Star Trek series, which would of course include his role of Jonathan Archer from Enterprise (2001).