Quantum Leap star Dean Stockwell passes away at age 85
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Dean Stockwell, a former Hollywood child actor, who reached his full stride in the 1980s when he starred in the sci-fi series Quantum Leap, and in a string of memorable film performances, passed away over the weekend at the age of 85.
Dean Stockwell died of natural causes, according to a family spokesperson. Photo by Alan Greth via ABC News.
Stockwell’s filmography included David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Wim Wenders’s Paris, Texas, and Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob, in which he was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a comic mafia kingpin.
He was also a four-time Emmy nominee in the 1990s for the American sci-fi television series Quantum Leap.
"Dean spent a lifetime yo-yo-ing back and forth between fame and anonymity," his family said in a statement.
"Because of that, when he had a job, he was grateful. He never took the business for granted. He was a rebel, wildly talented and always a breath of fresh air."
The late actor started his career as a child star and later became a Hollywood veteran by the time he reached his teenage years.
"I was very lucky to have a loving and caring and sympathetic mother and not a stage mother," Stockwell said in a 1989 interview.
Still, he confessed that it wasn't always easy, and by the time he reached sixteen, he had dropped out of the business.
"I never really wanted to be an actor," he admitted.
"I found acting very difficult from the beginning. I worked long hours, six days a week. It wasn't fun."
But Dean returned in his 20s. He starred on Broadway as a young killer in the play Compulsion, and played a role in prestigious films such as Sons and Lovers.
He won the best actor award twice at the Cannes Film Festival. The first was for the big-screen version of Compulsion in 1959, and the second time was for Sidney Lumet’s adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night in 1962.
His career also had some lean times. Photo from Turner Classic Movies.
His role in the 1988 hit Married to the Mob as Tony "The Tiger" Russo allowed him to land his most notable TV role the following year, as Admiral Al Calavicci in Quantum Leap.
"It's the first time anyone's offered me a series and the first time I've ever wanted to do one," he said in 1989.
"If people hadn't seen me in Married to the Mob, they wouldn't have realised I could do comedy."
Stockwell continued playing big and small roles both in films and on TV, including a regular role in another science fiction series, Battlestar Galactica.
In a 1989 interview, he proclaimed that his success was something he dreamt about for years.
“It's just one of the best feelings I've ever had.”
He called his success from the 1980s onward his “third career.” Photo from AP File via Chicago Sun Times.
Stockwell is survived by his wife, Joy, and their two children, Austin Stockwell and Sophie Stockwell.
With his passing, the world of film and performing arts has lost a true hidden gem in Hollywood.
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