Early in his career, he was sometimes billed under the names Steven Schnetzer, Stephen St. Paul, and Steven St. Paul. In 1976, he played Lucentio in a TV movie production of
The Taming of the Shrew and guest-starred on
Hawaii Five-O (credited for both roles as Stephen St. Paul). He guest-starred on
The Love Boat and
Fantasy Island. In 1980, he made his Broadway debut in
Filumena, playing the son of
Joan Plowright. The play was directed by
Laurence Olivier. On television, he appeared in the 1983 TV movie
Rage of Angels. He won a
Soap Opera Digest Award in 1989 for Outstanding Comic Actor for his work on the show. He also received Soap Opera Digest Award nominations in 1986, 1991, 1992, and 1999. He was nominated for a
Daytime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Lead Actor in 1990. During his time on
Another World, Schnetzer appeared in the TV movie
Shattered Innocence. He guest-starred on
The Cosby Mysteries and
Prince Street. He made guest appearances on
Law & Order and
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Schnetzer returned to Broadway in 2002, replacing
Bill Pullman in the role of Ross in
Edward Albee's
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? He went on to play the role of Martin in a production of
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? at
Lyric Stage in
Boston, opening in February 2006. He starred as Garry Lejeune in
Noises Off at
Arena Stage in
Washington, D.C. from December 2006 to 2007. He co-starred with his son,
Ben Schnetzer, in the 2007 film ''Ben's Plan''. From 2008 to 2013, he had guest-starring roles on
The Wire,
Fringe,
Damages,
The Good Wife,
Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and
Person of Interest. He returned to the same venue in September 2009, appearing in
The Quality of Life, co-starring with
Annette O'Toole and
Kevin O'Rourke. In October 2015, he starred in
Arthur Miller's
Broken Glass at the
Westport Country Playhouse in
Connecticut. Schnetzer appeared in the 2017 film
Aardvark. He starred as Richard in the independent film
A Case of Blue. In 2024, it was announced that he would be returning to
Days of Our Lives as Steven Olson. ==Personal life==