
He occasionally landed acting roles during this period with his first appearance in an episode of the soap opera Santa Barbara in 1986. One of the popular commercials he appeared in was for Jim Beam bourbon whiskey, known for Sorbo's repeated catchphrase "This ain't Jim Beam". In the mid 1980s, Sorbo traveled around Europe and Australia working in television commercials and appeared in over 150 commercials by the early 1990s.

To help pay for tuition, he began to work as a model for print and television advertising. Sorbo attended Minnesota State University Moorhead, where he double majored in marketing and advertising.


Sorbo was born in Mound, Minnesota, on September 24, 1958.
