Dennis Quaid Dennis Quaid was only following in his big brother Randy Quaid’s footsteps by going into acting. It didn’t happen as quickly as he thought it would and he struggled to make it big, struggles that he would have to overcome a few times into his career as well. Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, on April 9, 1954, to William Rudy Quaid (an electrician) and Juanita Bonniedale Jordan. Along with Randy, he also has a half brother, Buddy Quaid, who has had small roles in a number of television shows and movies. The famous lineage extends even further, as Gene Autry is a cousin. Quaid followed the lead of these others by taking drama in both high school and at the University of Houston, but couldn’t seem to wait out the college years, dropping out and moving to Los Angeles. While not having quick success, Quaid struggled through small parts in both television and little-known movies before landing a supporting acting role in the made-for-television movie, Are You in the House Alone? This horror flick starred Blythe Danner, and led to Quaid landing a co-starring role as a bike racer in the film Breaking Away, alongside Jackie Earle Haley and P J Soles, who would go on to become Quaid’s first wife, staying married to him for just a little over four years.
Quaid remained somewhat in obscurity, however, in roles in lesser-known movies such as The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia with Kristy McNichol and Mark Hammil. This was the first of three movies where he would go on to write some of the music, the second of which being Tough Enough. Next up for Quaid was a starring role in Jaws 3-D, with such noted actors as Bess Armstrong, Louis Gosset, Jr., and Lea Thompson, whom he would go on to become engaged to, but never ended up marrying. The Right Stuff proved that Quaid was the right one as it was an extremely successful movie and helped secure his place as a leading box office draw. He starred as astronaut Gordon Cooper, along with Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, and Ed Harris. This led to a starring role in The Big Easy, set in New Orleans, and he performed alongside Ellen Barkin, Ned Beatty, and John Goodman. This move was another that featured a song written by Quaid. Next up came a starring role in Innerspace, a comedy with Meg Ryan (another of Quaid’s leading ladies that would go on to become his wife), and Martin Short. In D.O.A., Quaid again starred with Ryan as a professor who learns he will die in twenty-four hours unless he figures out who poisoned him. Quaid then took on the leading role in Great Balls of Fire, the biographical look at singer Jerry Lee Lewis’ life, starring alongside Winona Ryder and Alec Baldwin.
Quaid followed the previous success with much less notable roles while he kicked his cocaine addiction. This trend reversed when he took on the part of Doc Holliday in the Western Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. A starring role in the fantasy movie Dragonheart followed, along with another dry spell of no big hits. The next big movie for Quaid was Disney’s recreation of the movie Parent Trap, this time starring Lindsay Lohan in the dual role as the twins, as well as Quaid and Natasha Richardson as the parents. Taking on a smaller supporting role in the drug trafficking movie Traffic, starring Benicio Del Torres and Michael Douglas, Quaid was then separating and later divorced from Meg Ryan. A few years later he was again taking on a lead role, this time in a movie close to his roots, The Rookie. This movie about a Texas baseball coach also starred Rachel Griffiths, and led to another starring role as the father in an updated version of the movie Yours, Mine, and Ours, starring along with Rene Russo. Now married to his third wife, Kimberly Buffington, Quaid enjoys piloting private planes, playing in his band Dennis Quaid and the Sharks, and golfing. YUDDY |
