Legendary character actor, Dean Stockwell, whose career spanned eight decades, has passed away.
He died peacefully at home of natural causes, a representative for the family confirmed to Deadline.
Stockwell was probably most known for his role as Admiral Al Calavicci, opposite Scott Bakula, in NBC’s hit time-travel adventure show, “Quantum Leap,” that ran from 1989 to 1993.
That star turn led to more television work through the end of the millennium, like “Battlestar Galactica,” “JAG,” “The Tony Danza Show,” and “NCIS: New Orleans.”
Through most of his TV work, Stockwell exuded a sly but affable nature. It was in his cult film appearances though -- most notably the sleazy party host, Ben, in David Lynch’s dark classic, “Blue Velvet” -- where he twisted that affable nature into something more suspicious.
Stockwell is one of a passing breed. Born in 1936, he was the son of a theater family. His experiences go back as far as witnessing the end of vaudeville when starring on Broadway as a child. He later co-starred in films with classic figures like Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Errol Flynn; and was the lead in the bizarro 1948 family drama, “The Boy with the Green Hair."
While palling around with Marlon Brando and others of the rebellious method acting scene in NYC, he cemented himself in the pantheon of acting rebels, while also snaring solid early TV roles, like on "The Twilight Zone." There was more Broadway work ("Compulsion" with Roddy McDowall), and ultimately Stockwell survived through the wild, drug-filled late-60s/early-70s "New Hollywood" era that claimed some of his artist friends.
Just as he was about to ditch the movie business in the early 1980s, his friend Harry Dean Stanton convinced him to be in Wim Wenders' "Paris, Texas" in 1984, which led to a busy second act throughout the 1980s.
Stockwell then made a name as a reliable film presence in many 1980s films as diverse as Lynch’s original "Dune," "Paris, Texas," "Once Bitten," "Beverly Hills Cop II," "The Player," and "Married to the Mob," which garnered him an Oscar nomination.
Along the way he consistently received critical praise, two Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival, and was Emmy and Oscar-nominated numerous times. The breadth of his acting career experience is nearly unrivaled.
He made it well into into the streaming age before retiring in 2015 to pursue a career making art and exhibiting around the U.S. under his full name, Robert Dean Stockwell.
He is survived by his wife, Joy Stockwell; and their two children, Austin and Sophie Stockwell.
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