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Dean Stockwell

Dean Stockwell (born March 5, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-nominated, Cannes Award and Golden Globe-winning American film and television actor, active for over 60 years. He played Rear Admiral Albert "Al" Calavicci in the NBC television series Quantum Leap, and currently appears in the Sci Fi Channel revival of Battlestar Galactica as Brother Cavil. He also had a small role in Blue Velvet.

Biography

Career

Stockwell began his acting career at age seven. Some of his notable child roles include that of Robert Shannon in The Green Years (1946), as well as playing Gregory Peck's son in Gentleman's Agreement (1947). He also starred in the lead role of the film The Boy With Green Hair in 1948, and in a film adaptation of The Secret Garden in 1949. Unlike many child actors, he continued to act past his teenage years. In 1945 he appeared in a main character role (Donald Martin) in the musical movie "Anchors Aweigh" alongside Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. In 1950, he appeared in a lead role alongside Errol Flynn in Kim, the film of Rudyard Kipling's novel of the same name.

In 1959, Stockwell appeared in the film Compulsion, based on the famous case of Leopold and Loeb (with characters names changed to "Steiner and Strauss"), playing Judd Steiner. Compulsion also starred Bradford Dillman and Orson Welles as the Clarence Darrow-based lawyer Jonathan Wilk. In 1962, Stockwell appeared in an adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey Into Night along with Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson and Jason Robards. In 1965, his performance as an escaped convict who develops feelings for a 15-year-old girl in Rapture drew both praise and controversy. Nevertheless, his dynamic talent as a thespian was recognized.

In 1973, Stockwell was the leading actor in a B-rated horror flick called The Werewolf of Washington. Dean played Jack Whittier, a reporter who had an affair with the daughter of the U.S. President and is sent to Hungary. There he is bitten by a werewolf, and then gets transferred back to Washington D.C., where he gets a job as Press Secretary to the President. Then bodies start turning up all over the city.

In 1984, he appeared in Wim Wenders' critically acclaimed film Paris, Texas, and in that same year, in David Lynch's film version of Dune as the traitor Dr. Yueh. In 1986, Stockwell made a memorable appearance in another Lynch production, the controversial neo-noir classic thriller Blue Velvet. In 1988, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Mafia boss Tony "the Tiger" Russo in the comedy Married to the Mob. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 29, 1992 (Leap Day) following the success of Quantum Leap.

Personal life

Stockwell was born Robert Dean Stockwell in North Hollywood, California, the son of Betty Veronica Olivette (née Elizabeth Margaret Veronica), an actress and dancer, and Harry Bayless Stockwell, or Harry Stockwell, an actor and singer. He is the younger brother of actor Guy Stockwell (aka Harry Guy Stockwell). He has been married twice:

Millie Perkins (1960-1962) (divorced)
Joy Marchenko (1981-2004) (divorced); one daughter (Sophia Stockwell) and one son (Austin Stockwell).

Stockwell is an accomplished artist. He creates both digitally enhanced photographs and original collages in the style of his friend and fellow artist, Wallace Berman. During his time at the University of California, Berkeley, he immersed himself in music and wrote several small, but challenging compositions. He is also a friend of musician Neil Young and designed the album cover art for American Stars 'N Bars. Together they would direct Human Highway, which Stockwell also co-wrote. The title track from Young's 1970 album After the Gold Rush is based on the title of a screenplay written by Stockwell.Interestingly, after his time at UC Berkeley he spent some time living in the California "gold country" where he briefly worked on a railroad.

Stockwell is an avid golfer and would play golf during breaks in filming episodes of Quantum Leap. He is also a martial artist, holding instructor rank in Modern Arnis.