Dennis Quaid

**Dennis Quaid** portrayed Malcolm Sloan in *The Guardians*.

## Life & Career

Dennis William Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Juanita B. "Nita" Quaid, a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. Quaid has English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Cajun (French) ancestry. He attended Paul W. Horn Elementary School in Bellaire, and Pershing Middle School in Houston. He studied Mandarin and dance at Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas, and later in college, at the University of Houston, under drama coach Cecil Pickett, who had previously taught at Bellaire High and whose daughter is actress Cindy Pickett. He was raised in the Baptist faith. He is the younger brother of actor Randy Quaid.

Quaid dropped out of the University of Houston before graduating and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He initially had trouble finding work but began to gain notice when he appeared in *Breaking Away* (1979) and earned good reviews for his role as astronaut Gordon Cooper in *The Right Stuff* (1983).

Known for his grin, Quaid has appeared in both comedic and dramatic roles. Quaid had starring roles in the films *The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia* (1981), *Jaws 3-D* (1983), *Enemy Mine* (1985), *Innerspace* (1987) and *The Big Easy* (1987). He also achieved acclaim for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in *Great Balls of Fire!* (1989). In 1989, he also appeared throughout the Bonnie Raitt music video for the song "Thing Called Love."

Quaid's career lost steam in the early 1990s, after he fought anorexia nervosa brought on when he lost 40 pounds to play the tuberculosis-afflicted Doc Holliday in *Wyatt Earp* and recovered from a cocaine addiction. He continued to garner positive reviews in a variety of films, however. Quaid was also the guest star of a season 2 episode of *Muppets Tonight* (1997). He starred in the lead role in the 1996 adventure film *Dragonheart*, the remake of *The Parent Trap* (1998), playing the part of the twins' father, and as an aging pro football quarterback in Oliver Stone's *Any Given Sunday* (1999). In 1998, he made his debut as a film director with *Everything That Rises* a television movie western in which he also starred.

Some of Quaid's more recent film credits include *Frequency* (2000), *The Rookie* (2002), *Far from Heaven* (2002), *Cold Creek Manor* (2003), *The Flight of the Phoenix*(2004), *The Alamo* (2004), *In Good Company* (2004), *The Day After Tomorrow* (2004), *Yours, Mine and Ours* (2005), *Vantage Point* (2008), *G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra*(2009), and *Pandorum* (2009).

In 2009, Quaid guest starred in an episode of *SpongeBob SquarePants*, playing Mr. Krabs' grandfather, Captain Redbeard.

He portrayed U.S. President Bill Clinton, alongside Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton, in the 2010 film *The Special Relationship*.

In 2012 and 2013, Quaid played Sheriff Ralph Lamb in the CBS TV drama series *Vegas*.

In 2017, he starred in *A Dog's Purpose* as Ethan Montgomery, billed as "a celebration of the special connection between humans and their dogs".

In 2018, Quaid starred in *I Can Only Imagine*, where he played Arthur Millard, the father of singer and songwriter Bart Millard, and *Kin*, where he plays Hal, the father of the film's two protagonists.

In March 2018, it was confirmed by director Sean McNamara that Quaid would portray President Ronald Reagan in an upcoming biopic, titled *Reagan*. The film is slated to have a summer 2019 release.