Dean Stockwell Trailers

 He had a great career, one that boasted an impressive and extensive list of credits. Veteran actor Dean Stockwell passed away at age 85. You could sort of tell which news outlets had someone on staff with a vast knowledge of film history. Most reports of Stockwell's death read that he was a star of the hit TV series QUANTUM LEAP, got an Oscar nomination for 1988's MARRIED TO THE MOB and also appeared in 1986's BLUE VELVET. For example, those were the only three acting credits mentioned by ABC evening news anchor David Muir.

Stockwell, one of my favorite actors, was a child actor who grew into a talented adult actor who made some quality films years before QUANTUM LEAP and BLUE VELVET. I first noticed him as THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR (1948) when I was a kid in Catholic elementary school back in South Central Los Angeles. The nuns borrowed a projector and showed the movie in the school auditorium as a special treat one St. Patrick's Day. Here's a trailer for the movie.

As a gifted child actor and as a versatile adult actor, Dean Stockwell starred in some films that had prestigious roots. As a kid, he held his own in ANCHORS AWEIGH (1945) with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, the Best Picture Oscar winner GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT (1947) with Gregory Peck, SONG OF THE THIN MAN with William Powell and Myrna Loy as the parents to his character, THE SECRET GARDEN (1949) with Margaret O'Brien and Rudyard Kipling's KIM (1950) with Errol Flynn. Just to name a few. Scott Bakula, Stockwell's QUANTUM LEAP co-star told The Hollywood Reporter "I loved him dearly." He added "Having been a famous child actor, he had a soft spot for every young actor who came on our set. He was very protective of their rights and safety...His big-hearted response to the kids made all of us take notice and be better guardians ourselves."

Stockwell had a talent for handling material based on acclaimed literary works. As a young man, Dean Stockwell excelled as one of the two killers in COMPULSION (1959), based on the infamous Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924. Here's a trailer.

He gave another fine performance in SONS AND LOVERS (1960), based on the novel by D.H. Lawrence. Here's a trailer.

A Stockwell performance that grabs my heart every time is the one he gave in Eugene O'Neill's  LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1962) with Katharine Hepburn. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Here's a trailer.

Dean Stockwell left us with a generous collection of sterling work to reappreciate, work that covered several decades.