Dean Stockwell: Celebrating a career that spanned a lifetime

Oscar and Emmy-nominated actor Dean Stockwell passed away on Sunday, November 7, 2021, at the age of 85. The iconic entertainer began his seven-decade acting career as a child who was age 7. His first appearance was on Broadway in 1943, in “The Innocent Voyage.” He later had major roles in films including “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night” in 1962 and “Blue Velvet” in 1986. He might be best known for making his mark in television, as the cigar-smoking Al Calavicci on the hit science fiction series “Quantum Leap,”

He was born Robert Dean Stockwell on March 5, 1936, to Harry Stockwell, an actor and lyric baritone singe Elizabeth "Betty" Stockwell, a vaudeville actress, Mr. Stockwell had a love/hate relationship with acting that led him to leave show business for years at a time. Even so, he obtained more than 200 television and film acting credits between 1945 and 2015. Stockwell began his career in the films "Gentleman's Agreement" and "Deep Waters He also occasionally took on stage roles.

Stockwell appeared in Anchors Aweigh in 1945 just before turning 10 and held his own with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. He said that Sinatra was ajoy to work with but Kelly seemed annoyed by a child star and was not friendly to him. In 1949 he was in The Secret Garden which can be seen on Turner Classic Movies.Dean did not, however, have fond memories of being a popular child star. "

During a telephone interview at age 76 the actor said the following "Not great fun, no. It was work," "It was six-days-a-week work, and I'd have to work at least eight hours a day and I'd have to fit three hours of schooling in somewhere through the day, in minimum 15-minute segments. So if the assistant director said, 'Go to school' after we'd finish a shot, I'd go in there and I'd have to stay in there 15 minutes, and they'd be waiting at the door for me to come out and block the next shot. So it meant zero education."

Dean Stockwell was a rarity as he successfully transitioned from a child star into an adult entertainer. He received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in married to the mob and he has been up for four Emmy Awards and four Golden Globes for playing cigar-smoking Rear Admiral Albert Calavicci in the sci-fi series "Quantum Leap." Stockwell also earned a fifth Golden Globe nomination to his credit for 1960's" Sons and Lovers."- In addition, he has two best-actor honors from the Cannes Film Festival.

During the mid-1960s, Stockwell walked away from show business and became a part of the Topanga Canyon hippie subculture. He became as a close friend of musician Neil Young .visual artists Wallace Berman and George Herms and fellow child actor Russ Tamblyn, who dropped out of acting. Stockwell said he did drugs and went to some love-ins. In later years he said "The experience of those days provided me with a huge, panoramic view of my existence that I didn't have before. I have no regrets."

The actor returned to acting with a supporting role in 1968's Psych-Out and guest starred on The Twilight Zone, The FBI, and Bonanza. In 1970 he co-starred with Sandra Dee, in the movie The Dunwich Horror. In 1971 he was in The Last Movie. He guest starred on The FBI a second time and had appeared on Night Gallery, Mission Impossible, Ellery Queen and Orson Wells Great Mysteries among other shows.He began working on Quantum Leap in 1989 which ran until 1994.

In 2000 he was in Batman Beyond: The Return of The Joker and later had parts in First Monday, Star Trek: Enterprise, he was reunited with Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap. He also had parts in Stargate SG-1, JAG, and Crash and a semi-regular role on Battlestar Galactica beginning in 2008. He reunited with Bakula in a 2014 episode of NCIS: New Orleans and was in the film En=ntertainment in 2015.

The actor suffered a stroke in 2017 and retired from acting. These are but a few of the accomplishments of Dean Stockwell's acting career. Be sure to catch some of his movies on Turner Classic Movies and HBO Max and watch his transition from a child star into a respected adult entertainer. Quantum Leap can be seen on various retro netoworks so check your local listings.