Dean Stockwell, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his role in the hit film Married to the Mob, and both popular and critical plaudits for his starring role in Tucker, is perhaps best known as the wisecracking scientist and holographic observer, Al, from the award-winning NBC series Quantum Leap (for which he earned several Emmy nominations and received a best supporting actor Golden Globe).
As a child, he starred in such classics as Anchors Aweigh, the celebrated The Boy With Green Hair and Kim. Stockwell's pivotal role in Long Day's Journey Into Night stands side by side with his memorable performances in Paris, Texas; To Live and Die in L.A.; Gardens of Stone; Beverly Hills Cop II; Limit Up; and Palais Royale.
Stockwell was 6 years old when his father, Harry, a musical comedy performer (and the voice of Prince Charming in the Disney film Snow White), urged his wife to take Dean to a New York audition. Before he really knew what was happening, Stockwell was cast as the lead on stage in Innocent Voyage. A savvy talent scout spotted him, and he was quickly whisked away to Hollywood.
As a young man, he went on to star in Compulsion, a trailblazing film that enjoyed phenomenal success, and in 1962's memorable Long Day's Journey Into Night, with Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson and Jason Robards.
He revitalized his screen career in the mid-1980s by specializing in spooky and eccentric characterizations, such as the suavely perverse Ben in David Lynch's Blue Velvet; the Mafia don Tony "The Tiger" Russo in Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob, for which he earned an Oscar nomination; and a particularly eerie cameo as Howard Hughes in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream. He has remained active in supporting roles, in such features as Robert Altman's The Player, the comedies Mr. Wrong and McHale's Navy, and the action film Air Force One.
Stockwell turned frequently to television roles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had made his telefilm debut in 1971 with Paper Man, but he didn't appear regularly on a series until Quantum Leap. In Madonna: Innocence Lost, Stockwell played the singer's father, and he co-starred in the ABC miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Langoliers. In 1990, he provided the voice of Duke Nukem, an unsavory character on the TBS animated series The New Adventures of Captain Planet, and later hosted Popular Science (based on the magazine) for the Learning Channel. Stockwell also guest-starred as the Secretary of the Navy on the popular CBS series JAG, and he appeared in the big screen remake of The Manchurian Candidate.