Dean Stockwell Has Died at the Age of 85

Dean Stockwell has passed. He died in his sleep of natural causes at the age of 85. I won’t pretend to know a lot about Dean Stockwell’s early career, which dates back 70 years to his work as a child star in the 1940s.

Dean Stockwell. What a cute little boy he was. pic.twitter.com/cDzpWqiLid

— tanny lee (@tweetannylee) November 9, 2021

I am familiar with a number of his film roles, as anyone who has watched movies in the last 50 years would be. Dune, Paris, Texas, To Live and Die in L.A., Blue Velvet, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Player, and Air Force One, are among his 204 acting credits. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in Married to the Mob. He had more performances and awards than we could possibly list before he retired in 2015.

Dean Stockwell was one of the greatest actors of his generation. Less showboaty and affected than many of his more famous contemporaries, but often more nuanced and interesting. I wanted him badly for my Showbiz Kids doc but he politely refused, he was done with the camera. RIP https://t.co/Xb4A92VzRv

— Alex Winter (@Winter) November 9, 2021

But like so many of my generation, I know Dean Stockwell best for his role of Al in five seasons of the spectacular time-traveling series Quantum Leap. I’m sure I’ve seen every episode at least twice through, and in the 97 episodes of that series, this is still the scene that I remember most, the one that still makes me ache to think about, and the scene that I choose to remember Dean Stockwell by: Al dancing with his wife Beth to Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind.”

Rest in peace, Dean Stockwell.