Vale: Dean Stockwell
Veteran US actor Dean Stockwell, best known for Quantam Leap, has died.
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Veteran US actor Dean Stockwell, best known for Quantam Leap, and the films Air Force One, Dune and Blue Velvet, has died aged 85.
Reports indicate he died peacefully in his sleep at home of natural causes.
His career spanned 7 decades, including as Admiral ‘Al’ Calavicci in sci-fi series Quantum Leap from 1989 and 1993. The womanising, larger than life character was the foil for Scott Bakula’s role as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who engaged in space time experiments. It led to a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor in 1990.
Stockwell’s series credits also include Battlestar Galactica, JAG, The Tony Danza Show and NCIS: New Orleans among others.
He began as a child actor on Broadway and would go on to appear in Anchors Aweigh, Kim, Gentleman’s Agreement, The Boy With the Green Hair, Sons and Lovers, Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Stockwell was on the verge of a career change when he received a phone call from Harry Dean Stanton, who convinced him to join him on the set of Wim Wenders’ film, Paris, Texas. It led to a string of memorable film roles in Blue Velvet, Dune, Married to the Mob, The Rainmaker , Air Force One and The Player.
Source: Deadline
4 Responses
Total Respect….loved all his work…another good one gone…😢
I was a massive Quantum Leap fan and Dean played Al so brilliantly. It was a joy years later to see him go up against Scott Bakula again in Star Trek : Enterprise, that chemistry having faded not one jot in the intervening years. Much love to the bloke.
That’s such a shame, I really enjoyed his work. He seemed very comfortable and natural as an actor, which I think made me comfortable watching him. Thanks Dean for your great work at entertaining so many of us.
I was so sad to hear this today. I’ve been a fan since “Anchors Away”. I loved him in “Quantum Leap”, and anything else he did. He was so talented. I’ve been watching re-runs of “JAG” on Ch12 , and his episodes have been on recently. He was just so good. Scott Bakula posted a beautiful tribute on Instagram, if you get a chance, it’s a beautiful read. RIP Dean and Thank You.