The J. Peterman Life

Let's begin at the end.

John O'Hurley points across the table at the conclusion of an interview and says, "What you imagine, you must do."

But it's not all backwards, because O'Hurley also said pretty much from the get-go, "I live my life by, 'What I imagine, I have to complete.' Everything in my life has been the result of what I imagine."

And most people only know the half of what he has done so far. The 52-year-old actor covers several bases of popularity that don't necessarily overlap, thanks to "Seinfeld," "Dancing with the Stars" and hosting "Family Feud."

O'Hurley commutes to Los Angeles to tape batches of "Feud" while starring as King Arthur in "Monty Python's Spamalot" seven times a week at Wynn Las Vegas. It's a job he enjoys so much that he extended his contract another month, through Sept. 27.

O'Hurley even wants to come back to the show in January, after taking time off to promote his second book, which he has spent six months preparing for a fall release: "Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have to Do It: Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog to a Young Boy."

His enthusiasm for "Spamalot" is more remarkable considering the show is basically a hobby for him. "A hobby and a joy," he says. "It's what keeps me happy."

Acting is "the least of what I do," O'Hurley says, because he is the owner of eight companies. Scratch that: "I just bought No. 9 last week... I own stuff now you have no idea."

His partnerships and investor groups range from the one that did make the news -- the J. Peterman Company -- to Era Aviation in Alaska and the Piccadilly cafeteria chain in the South.

"I am J. Peterman. I live that way," he says of the "Seinfeld" character, who was based on the real creator of a mail-order company known for waxing poetic about his travels.

It's hard not to hear the grandiloquent Peterman voice when reading O'Hurley's quotes in print, especially when he says things like, "You can have an ordinary life or an extraordinary life. I chose to have an extraordinary life." But his offstage voice, while still extremely confident and direct, dials down the swagger and is more that of a motivational speaker.

The Maine native wanted to be an actor since he watched Lloyd Bridges on "Sea Hunt" as a child. "At 3 years old, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life," he says.

The signature voice was created even before he joined "Seinfeld" for the sitcom's sixth season in 1995.

"I grew up in the '70s, when all the great radio voices were still a presence, the great DJ voices," he says. "J. Peterman was basically a combination of a bad '40s radio drama and a little bit of a bad Charles Kurault."

"Seinfeld" ended in 1998 but the character didn't. "I found it much more lucrative to create an advertising vehicle using him," he says. "For every $100,000 I earned as Peterman, I earned a million playing myself as Peterman for years after that. I've had a very long and lucrative career keeping this character alive for up to 15 different companies."

Life imitated art when the real Peterman's company overexpanded and went bankrupt. Peterman turned to O'Hurley, and the two bought back the intellectual property rights to begin turning the company around. O'Hurley now is a principal with two private-equity firms, Round One Investments and Heritage Capital Advisors.

His latest acquisition is called Politeview, a software he bought from investor Michael Milken. It's an alternative to streaming technology, allowing a file to begin playing as it's downloading and lowering the chances of a system crash. O'Hurley says he has started shipping computers and educational software in Africa.

"They can't build the classrooms. There's no way to do it quick enough," he says. "The charity starts with a middle economy. When you create a consumptive middle class, they will take care of the lower class."

O'Hurley's business interests sound intense enough to keep him from the golf and spas that sweeten the Las Vegas deal for him. He credits "a very tight group" of partners. "Usually I make the decisions, but the problem has been deciphered before it gets to me."

That gives him and Lisa, his wife of three years, time to enjoy what he calls the "sensuality" of Las Vegas. He believes the city should ditch the "What happens here" campaign and market to the couples who will be here long after the party boys wake up regretting a $1,000 bottle-service shakedown at the nightclub.

"In my bachelorhood (after his first marriage ended in 1994) this was a place of joy and decadence," he says. "I was out there every weekend. I would bring the plane out, load it with people."

But he says he likes Las Vegas even more as a family man. The couple is raising their 7-month-old boy in a house at Red Rock Country Club. But O'Hurley doesn't duck out the backstage door. He's known at every Wynn restaurant and likes to wind down after shows with a $250 Australian lobster in the SW Steakhouse.

He says it's a happy coincidence that he ended up doing "Spamalot" in the hotel operated by his longtime friend Steve Wynn. "I pursued this show, not this place," he says, while playing Billy Flynn in "Chicago" on Broadway.

While the King Arthur role is a perfect fit for the Peterman voice -- "They are the same lunatics," O'Hurley says -- his version is a departure from what he calls the "lumpy character actors" who have played the part since Tim Curry created it on Broadway.

"Tim walked through the show. I almost wanted to slap him," he says. "I made a commitment that I was going to be higher energy than anyone on the show. At the very least, I've got to drive the show." And drive it he does. "I'll talk to (the other actors) offstage. It's like I'm a coach. I know when we're behind. This show is aerobic exercise. If you take a breath, the audience does, too, and you've got to start all over again."

O'Hurley's name has been floated as Bob Barker's replacement on "The Price Is Right," but he says, "They can't afford me. ... They threw one offer at me early on and I said, 'It's not even close.' "

He has raised the ratings for "Feud," which is produced by the same company, and wants to take "Feud" to Iraq as a USO show for the troops. He got the idea when he saw Toby Keith entertaining the troops and said, "Why haven't we done this? No show has ever done this? I'm gonna do a week over there."

And you know what happens when he imagines something. "I've got to do it."