Actor Dean Stockwell, who is immediately remembered for his role as Al Calavicci on NBC science fiction fantasy drama Quantum Leap, died of natural on Monday, November 7.
Actor Dean Stockwell, who is immediately remembered for playing Al Calavicci on NBC time travel drama Quantum Leap, not to mention a string of memorable films including Blue Velvet, Married to the Mob and Paris, Texas, died of natural on Monday, November 7. He was 85. Born on March 5, 1936 in North Hollywood, California, Stockwell got his start as a child actor with small roles in three films in 1945: drama The Valley of Decision, musical Anchors Aweigh, and comedy Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. Other appearances on film as a pre-adult included Son of the Thin Man, Kim and Gentleman’s Agreement, which resulted in a Golden Globe Award as Best Juvenile Actor. In 1957, Stockwell, at age 21, appeared on the Broadway stage in Compulsion with Roddy McDowall, and he reprised his role in the 1959 film version. That resulted in his first of two Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Stockwell also starred in Sons and Lovers and Long Day’s Journey Into Night with Katharine Hepburn, which netted his second Best Actor prize at Cannes. Stockwell segued onto television with four appearances on anthology series Matinee Theatre in 1956, followed by a variety of early guest appearances in TV shows like Climax!, Cimarron City, Checkmate, Combat!, The Defenders, and the original Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and Burke’s Law.
