Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American actor and writer, who''s perhaps best known for playing the role of Eric Camden on the long running television series 7th Heaven. Collins was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Madeleine (née Robertson) and Cyrus S. Collins, an airline executive. Collins is the great-great-grandson of General James Baird Weaver, the 1880 Greenback Party presidential candidate and the 1892 Populist Party ("People''s Party") candidate for president. Collins was raised with his 2 older brothers in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York and attended Amherst College, graduating cum laude. He played bass guitar and rhythm guitar in a number of rock and roll bands at Amherst, including Tambourine Charlie & The Four Flat Tires, The Naugahyde Revolution, and The Flower & Vegetable Show (he has played his guitar on 7th Heaven, It''s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and in the movie Because I Said So).