Quantum Leap star Dean Stockwell has died at the age of 85.
A rep for the family confirmed the news to Deadline, stating the actor had died peacefully at home of natural causes.
Stockwell is best known for playing Admiral Albert ‘Al’ Calavicci in sci-fi cult series Quantum Leap. The womanising, cigar-smoking US Navy admiral was protagonist Dr Sam Beckett’s (played by Scott Bakula) best friend, and helped him on his leaps in hologram form.
The series ran from 1989 to 1993, with Stockwell appearing in all five seasons.
“I’ve never actually consciously chosen anything which is bizarre,” the actor said in a Psychotronic Video interview in 1995. “I don’t think that you can be so definitive. But I also think I’ve tended to choose roles which have bizarre touches and because the characters are so well defined. I knew when I read the original script for Quantum Leap that Al had a mysterious background of his own, which I really wanted to pursue.”
“And sure, when the writers got down to filming the story, when the audience gets to delve into Al’s marriage, that was pretty poignant stuff. It’s then that all those bizarre little characteristics have some sort of meaning. I truly enjoy developing that kind of thing.”
He went on to star in another sci-fi juggernaut, playing Brother Cavil in Battlestar Galactica, and securing his place in sci-fi conventions’ hall of fame.
Stockwell began his acting career as a child under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During this time, he had roles in 1945’s Anchors Aweigh, 1946’s The Green Years, 1947’s Gentleman’s Agreement and 1950’s Kim.
“I didn’t enjoy acting particularly, when I was young. I thought it was a lot of work. 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 told Psychotronic Video.
He took a break from acting in the ’60s, and was about to leave show business altogether to become an estate agent when he got a part in Paris, Texas.
As well as his iconic roles in TV, Stockwell had a prolific film career, appearing in the likes of Blue Velvet, Dune, The Rainmaker and The Player. Jonathan Demme’s classic crime comedy Married to the Mob earned Stockwell an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1989.
The Hollywood native retired from acting in 2015, going on to pursue a career in art, exhibiting his work under his full name, Robert Dean Stockwell.