Bottoms made his screen debut in the television movie
Trouble Comes to Town. A year later he played the role of
Robin Lee Graham, in
The Dove, a real-life story about a teenager sailor's voyage around the world. In the 1978 mini-series
Holocaust, he starred as Rudi Weiss, a German Jew who joins the
Jewish partisans. A year later, he appeared in
The Black Hole, a science fiction film that grossed over $35 million at the U.S. box office. In 1981, he made his
Broadway debut in
Fifth of July. The play made its Broadway debut at the New Apollo Theatre on November 5, 1980, directed by Mason with Jeff Daniels reprising the role of Jed,
Christopher Reeve as Ken and
Swoosie Kurtz as Gwen. In 1984, he starred with
Kirstie Alley in
Blind Date. From 1985 to 1986, he was a series regular on
Santa Barbara. In 1990, he began a guest arc on the Canadian television series
Street Legal. In 1991, he played the second Cal Winters in
Days of Our Lives. In 1998, he was cast as a series regular in
The Net. His latest screen appearance was in 1999 in the TV series
V.I.P.. ==Personal life==