Veteran character actor Dean Stockwell, best known for his roles in iconic sci-fi series like the early 1990s “Quantum Leap” and the mid-2000s “Battlestar Galactica,” has died. He was 85.
His representatives say that he died peacefully in his sleep at home. Stockwell’s career spanned more than seventy years from working as a child actor in 1945’s “Valley of Decision” through to his final role in 2015 indie “Entertainment”.
Stockwell’s best-known role was as Admiral ‘Al’ Calavicci in NBC’s “Quantum Leap,” a hologram whom only Scott Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett can see and whom helps Sam complete his ‘leaps’. He won a Golden Globe for his work in the role.
He also was well known for his part as Number One/John Cavil, arguably the most ruthless of the twelve human models of Cylons in 2003’s “Battlestar Galactica” reboot.
Small screen wise he guest-starred in everything from “Columbo” to “Mission: Impossible,” “Bonanza,” “Mannix,” “Miami Vice,” “Murder She Wrote,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “The A-Team,” “The Twilight Zone,” and numerous TV movies and mini-series like “The Langoliers” and “The Dunwich Horror”.
On film he had multiple classic movies under his belt from a memorably sinister turn in David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet,” to the morally compromised Dr. Yueh in Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of “Dune,” to a celebrated turn in Sidney Lumet’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” he landed an Oscar nomination for Jonathan Demme’s “Married to the Mob,” he was the voice of the elderly Tim Drake in “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker,” and he was the secretary of defense in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Air Force One”.
He also starred in Wim Wender’s “Paris, Texas,” Richard Fleischer’s “Compulsion,” William Friedkin’s “To Live and Die in L.A.,” Tony Scott’s “Beverly Hills Cop II,” Robert Altman’s “The Player,” Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Rainmaker,” Gregor Jordan’s “Buffalo Soldiers,” Jonathan Demme’s remake of “The Manchurian Candidate,” and Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s “C.O.G.”. He
Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends.
Source: Variety
