Dean Stockwell, Al From Quantum Leap, Dies at 85
Dean Stockwell, best-known as Al from Quantum Leap, died peacefully at home on November 7th. He was 85. Raise a glass, because this guy pushed the envelope in sci-fi for decades.
Don’t ask what Dean Stockwell was in. Ask what Dean Stockwell wasn’t in.
Everyone recognizes him as Al from Quantum Leap, that wise-cracking dude who sends Sam on missions through time to right the wrongs of the universe. He’d been a child actor and a bit player until 1984, until David Lynch’s Dune and Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas proved he could anchor both a serious grounded dramatic work and a feature-length film featuring Jean-Luc Picard rushing into battle toting a pug. From there, it’s hard to find a small-screen sci-fi franchise Dean Stockwell doesn’t get all up in.
Remember that Cyclon that supposedly had a plan, and that plan ended up being a bad version of “All Along the Watchtower” with daddy issues? And also somehow cavemen? That Cyclon was Dean Stockwell.
He reunited with Scott Bakula for an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. He voiced Tim Drake in Batman Beyond. He starred in an episode of the rebooted Twilight Zone. He did Stargate SG-1. He did The Adventures of Lois and Clark. His Blue Velvet performance creates possibly one of the most Lynchiest of all David Lynchian characters, save perhaps that guy behind the dumpster in Mulholland Drive.
He voiced Duke Nukem for nine episodes of kriffing Captain Planet. Let that sh*t sink in right there. Dean Stockwell played Duke Nukem. And you thought you were just a little nostalgic because Al from Quantum Leap kicked the bucket.
Dean Stockwell, however, never touched a Star War. We can only call this an accident of history. But Star Wars is a direct derivative of Dune, and he played Dr. Yueh for David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation, so perhaps, in a way, he did better than a star war.
Maybe.
Sort of.
Except Sting was wearing a diaper, so it wasn’t really the Star War we needed.
Anyway. Al from Quantum Leap and practically every important sci-fi franchise of the last thirty years passed away. Raise a glass, or your smartphone. Because, you know, Ziggy.