Dean Stockwell

Actor

Born Robert Dean Stockwell on March 5, 1936 in Hollywood, CA

Dean Stockwell was born into a show business family. His father was Harry Stockwell, who provided the voice of Prince Charming in Walt Disney’s 1937 classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." His mother, Betty, was an actress and dancer, and his younger brother, Guy, was also an actor.

He made his Broadway debut with Guy in 1943’s “The Innocent Voyage” and two years later, he was signed to MGM where he made his film debut in “The Valley of Decision” with Greer Garson and Gregory Peck. That same year he starred with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson in the classic musical comedy “Anchors Aweigh.”

By the age of 15, he had made 20 films, but he left the business at 16 and spent the next five years working odd jobs as we he traveled the country. He returned to acting in 1956 and appeared on Broadway in 1957 in “Compulsion.” He reprised his role in the 1959 film version. He also appeared opposite Katharine Hepburn and Ralph Richardson in the 1962 film version of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”

Stockwell turned on and dropped out in the 1960s becoming a hippie. He made another comeback in the early 1970s appearing in TV movies, only to leave the business in 1976 and move to Santa Fe where he became a real estate broker.

He returned to the fold in the early 1980s, appearing in David Lynch’s 1986 surreal classic “Blue Velvet” and earning a best supporting actor Oscar for Jonathan Demme’s 1988 comedy “Married to the Mob.”
Stockwell found a new generation of fans on the 1989-93 NBC sci-fi series, “Quantum Leap,” playing Admiral Al Calavicci. From 2006-09 he played John Cavil on SyFy’s acclaimed “Battlestar Galactica.”

— Susan King for the Los Angeles Times June 28, 2010