Dean Stockwell ‘Quantum Leap’ Actor Passed Away At 85

RIP

Dean Stockwell, the American actor best known for his role in Blue Velvet and for playing Al in sci-fi series Quantum Leap, passed away at the age of 85. He died in November 7 of natural causes.

He was born on March 5, 1936, in North Hollywood. At 7 years old, he was already on Broadway.

He was an accomplished actor with stage, film and TV career that spanned more than 70 years. Stockwell appeared in Anchors Aweigh with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly; Kim with Errol Flynn; Gentleman’s Agreement; and in the controversial 1948 movie The Boy with the Green Hair.

He was nominated for an Oscar for Married to the Mob and won a Golden Globe award for Gentleman’s Agreement.

“I didn’t enjoy acting particularly when I was young, I thought it was a lot of work,” he said in in 1995. “There were a few films that I enjoyed, they were comedies, they were not important films, weren’t very successful, so I was always pretty much known as a serious kid. I got those kind of roles, and I didn’t care for them very much.”

He retired from acting in 2015 and pursued a career in art. He held exhibitions around the U.S. under his full name, Robert Dean Stockwell.

He is survived by his wife, Joy, and their two children, Austin and Sophie.