Dean Butler (actor)
Dean Butler (born May 20, 1956) is a Canadian-American actor and producer of entertainment, sports and documentary programming. Biography. Early life. Born in Prince George, British Columbia, and raised in Piedmont, California, Butler studied communication arts at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Career. Butler's career as an actor started with a small part on the TV series "The Streets of San Francisco". His first major role was in the 1978 TV movie "Forever," based on Judy Blume's novel of the same title. Butler is best known for his portrayal of Almanzo  Wilder on the NBC family drama "Little House on the Prairie", which was based on the classic "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He appeared in the final four seasons of the show, the spin-off show "Little House: A New Beginning", and the three post-series TV movies. After "Little House" ended, he played Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin in the TV series "The New Gidget" and Buffy’s dad, Hank Summers, on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". During the 1980s and 1990s, Butler was a guest star on various television series, including "Murder, She Wrote", "Who's the Boss?", "The  Love Boat", and "JAG". He co-starred with the late Gary Coleman in "The Kid with the 200 I.Q.". He appeared in the movies "Desert Hearts" and "The Final Goal". Onstage, Butler has performed in the shows of Stephen Sondheim. He appeared on Broadway in the original company of "Into the Woods" as Rapunzel's Prince, internationally as Tony in "West Side Story" and regionally in "Company". Directing and producing. Butler now works largely behind the camera producing entertainment, sports, and documentary programming. Butler produces "Feherty" for Golf Channel, starring David Feherty. In addition, he is a West Coast correspondent  for "Broadway World", a provider of web content about the performing arts. Butler has directed, produced, written, and narrated bonus features for "Little House on the Prairie" DVD collections. He narrated a six-part documentary, "The Little House Phenomenon". Butler has produced two documentaries, "" and "Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura", which drew their inspiration from the Little House books of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Additionally, in 2012, Butler co-executive produced "Pa's Fiddle: The Music of America" for PBS. Personal life. Butler is married to actress Katherine Cannon, who played Felice Martin on the television series "Beverly Hills 90210". They  met when Cannon auditioned for the female lead in the Michael Landon series "Father Murphy". They live in Los Angeles, California.