Dennis Holahan

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Dennis Holahan
Born (1942-11-07) November 7, 1942 (age 81)
NationalityAmerican
EducationPhillips Academy
Yale College (BA)
University of California, Hastings Law School in San Francisco (JD)
Occupation(s)Actor, entertainment lawyer
Years active1973-present
Spouses
Wylie O'Hara
(m. 1966; div. 1972)
(m. 1983; div. 1995)
Children2
Military career
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service1966–1969, 4 tours of duty
RankLieutenant Junior Grade
Battles/warsVietnam War
AwardsMeritorious Unit Commendation

Dennis Holahan (born November 7, 1942, in Stamford, Connecticut) is an American attorney and former actor. He is a partner in the San Francisco office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, California’s largest law firm, where he specializes in entertainment, media, and intellectual property cases as well as more general matters in the firm’s commercial litigation practice. Prior to joining Lewis Brisbois in 2014, Dennis maintained one of the top entertainment and business-related litigation boutiques in Los Angeles for more than 20 years.

Early life and education[edit]

Holahan was raised in Connecticut. After graduating from Yale in 1965, Holahan served as an officer (Lieutenant, J.G.) in the United States Navy on an amphibious assault ship in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. He was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with a silver star for five campaigns, a National Defense Service Medal, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Career[edit]

Holahan graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1973. At Hastings he was the recipient of the Hale Moot Court Prize for Best Brief, was an editor of the Hastings Law News, 1972–73, and a founder of the Hastings Child Care Center. After Hastings he worked for a litigation firm in the financial district in San Francisco for two years.

Acting[edit]

From 1976 to 1992, he took a hiatus from his law practice to pursue a successful career as an actor in films and television. Holahan is best known for appearing with Al Pacino in the crime film Scarface as Jerry the Banker. Notable other roles included Collision Course, Kuffs, Haywire (mini-series) and Aspen Extreme, as well as television appearances in M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues, Lou Grant and The Rockford Files. He also appeared in the movie The Vegas Strip War in 1984 playing Jimmy Weldstrom. He played a lawyer in his 1981 appearance on The White Shadow. His character interviewed James Hayward (Thomas Carter) for a summer job.

Return to law[edit]

In 1992 Holahan went back to the legal career he had put on hold in 1976. He started the Law Office of Dennis Holahan, which was based in Los Angeles and specialized in entertainment law, winning several high profile cases.

Personal life[edit]

He has two children, Nicholas Drew Holahan and Belle Holahan Casares, from his first marriage to Wylie O'Hara (daughter of the author John O'Hara; 1966–1972), and seven grandchildren. Holahan was married to actress Loretta Swit from 1983 to 1995.[1] Holahan is active in the area of drug and alcohol recovery and has served on the board of McIntyre House, a non-profit recovery house for men recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction located in Los Angeles. Holahan also has served on the board of Worth Our Weight, a non-profit organization in Santa Rosa, California, which trains and educates teenagers and young adults who have survived foster care programs and teaches them how to work in the fine dining industry.

Filmography[edit]

Films[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1980 Haywire Bill II Television
1981 Halloween II Morgan Strode
1983 Scarface Jerry, The Banker
1984 The Vegas Strip War Jimmy Weldstrom Television
1986 The Fifth Missile Warden Television
Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star Aric
1988 Wildfire Mitch
1989 Collision Course Derek Jarryd
1990 Menu for Murder Steve Mann Television
1991 Rich Girl Lawyer
1992 Kuffs Dr. Will Carlton
1993 Aspen Extreme Henri
1995 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up EPA Man

Television[edit]

Year Title Role No. of episodes
1978 Lou Grant Jack Patterson 1 episode
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Arthur Philips 1 episode
1978–1979 The Incredible Hulk Art Philbin 2 episodes
1979 The Rockford Files Agent Kaiser 1 episode
1980 Beyond Westworld Captain Farrell 1 episode
1980–1983 Dallas George Walker 2 episodes
1981 The Dukes of Hazzard Harry Joe 1 episode
The White Shadow Ed Barter 1 episode
Hill Street Blues Councilman Tom McAurley 2 episodes
1982 CHiPs Fred 1 episode
1983 M*A*S*H* Per Johannsen 1 episode
Alice Rob 1 episode
The Fall Guy Usher 1 episode
1984 Blue Thunder Richard J. Lassiter 1 episode
Who's the Boss? Grant Paxton 1 episode
The Love Boat Leonard Ross 2 episodes
1985 1st & Ten Unknown 1 episode
1987 Private Eye Michael Cornell 1 episode
1988 High Mountain Rangers Mallory 1 episode
1991 Married... with Children Man #1 1 episode
Top of the Heap Man #1 1 episode

References[edit]

External links[edit]