Dennis Christopher
Dennis Christopher | |
|---|---|
 Christopher in 2005 | |
| Born | Dennis Carrelli December 2, 1958 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouse | Margarett Soloman (present) |
Dennis Christopher (born Dennis Carrelli; December 2, 1958) is an American film actor. He is best known for his roles in Breaking Away (1979), Fade to Black (1980), Chariots of Fire (1981) and Django Unchained (2012). He has appeared in nearly 40 movies and made-for-TV movies since 1975.
Life
Christopher was born Dennis Carrelli in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1958. He is of half Italian descent[1] and half Irish descent.[2]
Career
Christopher's breakthrough role was as Dave Stoller in the coming-of-age classic Breaking Away (1979). His performance won him the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer and the Youth in Film Award for Best Juvenile Actor in a Motion Picture,[3] as well as garnering a Golden Globe nomination.
Christopher's other roles include American track star Charlie Paddock in Chariots of Fire (1981), as well as tragic film buff psychopath Eric Binford in Fade to Black (1980), Damon in The Falling (1985), Nathan Flowers in A Sinful Life (1989) and Leech in Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II (1994). Television roles include "Jack of All Trades" in the Profiler TV series, Eddie Kaspbrak in Stephen King's It (1990), Desmond Floyd in Jake Speed (1986) and in the HBO series Deadwood.
Christopher has guest starred in two Star Trek episodes: the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Search (Part II)" and the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Detained". He guest-starred as the demon-sorcerer Cyvus Vail in three episodes of Angel.[citation needed]
He reunited with his Breaking Away "father" Paul Dooley, again as his son, in an episode of TV's Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The two had first played father and son in Robert Altman's A Wedding.
In December 2006, he played Dr. Martin Ruber in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries The Lost Room.
Christopher's career, and life in general, changed dramatically when he was cast as Leonide Moguy in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012). He learned through his agent that the screenplay had been re-written to accommodate him. Furthermore, Tarantino later claimed to Christopher that he had seen every one of his films the week that they were released, even Dead Women in Lingerie (which Christopher considers his worst). Production of the film made a very positive impact on Christopher, who has said "...a lot of my idea of happiness came from working on this film...".[4]
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | The Time Tunnel | Young Merlin | Season 1, Episode 27 |
| 1971 | Blood and Lace | Pete | |
| The Young Graduates | Pan | ||
| 1972 | Fellini's Roma | The Hippie | Uncredited |
| 1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Charley | |
| 1977 | 3 Women | Soda Delivery Boy | Uncredited |
| September 30, 1955 | Eugene | ||
| 1978 | A Wedding | Hughie Brenner | |
| 1979 | California Dreaming | T.T. | |
| Breaking Away | Dave Stoller | ||
| The Last Word | Ben Travis | ||
| 1980 | Fade to Black | Eric Binford | |
| 1981 | Chariots of Fire | Charles Paddock | |
| 1982 | Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder | Brian Anderson | |
| 1983 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Jack | Season 2, Episode 4 |
| 1984 | Tales of the Unexpected | Killer | Season 7, Episode 5 |
| Trapper John, M.D. | Daryl Kirby | Season 6, Episode 8 | |
| 1985 | Alien Predator | Damon | |
| Moonlighting | Benjamin Wylie | Season 2, Episode 2 | |
| 1986 | Flight of the Spruce Goose | Stan | |
| Cagney & Lacey | Dr. Stanley | Season 5, Episode 22 | |
| Jake Speed | Desmond Floyd | ||
| The Equalizer | Father Nicholas Kostmayer | Season 2, Episode 10 | |
| 1987 | Stingray | Joshua Williams | Season 2, Episode 9 |
| Hooperman | Danny Welles | ||
| 1988 | Friends | John | |
| Christabel | U.S. Airman | ||
| 1989 | A Sinful Life | Nathan Flowers | |
| Matlock | Noel Bishop | Season 2, Episode 7 | |
| 1990 | It | Eddie Kaspbrak | |
| Circuitry Man | Leech | ||
| 1991 | Dead Women in Lingerie | Lapin | |
| Monsters | Laurence Bauer | Season 3, Episode 22 | |
| False Arrest | Wally Roberts | ||
| 1992 | Civil Wars | Jamie Berne | |
| Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story | Randy | ||
| 1993 | Doppelganger | Doctor Heller | |
| Murder, She Wrote | Lyman Taggart/Dr. Henry Carlson | Season 6, Episode 20/Season 9, Episode 11 | |
| Curacao | Friedrich | Uncredited | |
| 1994 | Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II | Leech | |
| Boys Life: Three Stories of Love, Lust, and Liberation | Mr. Reese | ||
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Borath | Season 3, Episode 2 | |
| The Cosby Mysteries | Eric Humbold | ||
| The Disco Years | Mr. Reese | ||
| 1995 | Bad English I: Tales of a Son of a Brit | ||
| The Watcher | |||
| Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare | Pruitt Taylor Beauchamp | ||
| Aurora: Operation Intercept | Victor Varenkov | ||
| 2001 | The Ballad of Lucy Whipple | Joshua Beale | |
| Roswell | Bobby Dupree | 2 episodes | |
| Kate Brasher | Jesus | 2 episodes | |
| 18 Wheels of Justice | |||
| FreakyLinks | Vince Elsing | 13 episodes | |
| 2002 | Star Trek: Enterprise | Danik | |
| Crossing Jordan | Charles Rutledge | ||
| 2003 | Six Feet Under | Kevin Lamb | |
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Roger Coffman | ||
| 2004 | Mind Rage | Steve | |
| Angel | Cyvus Vail | ||
| Nine Lives | Mikey | ||
| NYPD Blue | Mr. Prosser | ||
| 2006 | Trappped! | Adrien | |
| Deadwood | Bellegarde | 5 episodes | |
| The Lost Room | Dr. Martin Ruber | ||
| 2007 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Richard Dorsey | |
| 2008 | Criminal Minds | Abner Merriman | |
| 2010 | Queen of the Lot | Odin Johannessen | |
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Leonide Moguy | |
| 2013 | Prisoners | Mr. Jones | Uncredited |
| Perception | Fred Gorman | ||
| Unforgettable | Lukas Emminger | ||
| The Slippery Slope | Pastor Tomaso |
References
- ^ [1] Archived 2013-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Pouring Soy Sauce On The Parade, episode #133 of Sklarbro Country on Earwolf". Earwolf.com. 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
- ^ "1st Annual Youth In Film Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ http://www.backstage.com/interview/dennis-christopher-tarantino-dicaprio-and-django-unchained/
