Robert Dean Stockwell is a legendary American film and television actor, director, screenwriter, producer, winner of numerous film awards, including the Oscar, Golden Globe, and the Cannes Film Festival. He first appeared on the screen at the age of seven with his older brother. His film career has spanned over seventy years.
Stockwell's creative biography includes more than two hundred roles in television and film projects. He first appeared in films in 1945. When Dean was eleven, he received his first major award, the Golden Globe for Best Aspiring Actor.
Photogenic with a cherubic face, dimples on his cheeks, sparkling eyes and a huge shock of curly hair, Dean immediately attracted the attention of directors and producers. He became a very popular actor already in his youth and successfully continued his career in cinema and beyond.
Stockwell is one of the few surviving actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. During his many years of career, he starred with the great masters of cinema and played along with legendary actors. The artist received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the south side of the 7000th block of Hollywood Boulevard in February 1992.
Biography facts
Dean was born in the United States in the spring of 1936 in a creative family. His mother was a famous actress and dancer, who performed under the stage name Betty Veronica, and his father was an actor and singer. Older brother Guy also chose a professional acting career. It was he who once brought Dean to the set, where the talented boy made his debut.
When Dean was still a very young child, the family moved to New York, where his childhood was last.
The boy showed creativity early. When he was seven years old, he first got on the set, where he played a small role. He conquered the director with his spontaneity, external data and outstanding abilities. Even then, many friends and colleagues of the parents said that their son would have a wonderful career in the cinema, and they were not mistaken.
Having started acting at a young age, Dean devoted his entire life to cinema. Many children who started acting with him never achieved popularity and disappeared from the screens forever. But for Stockwell, a different fate was in store.
Creative way
Stockwell got his first small role in 1945 in the drama Valley of Determination. The film was directed by Taye Garnett based on the novel of the same name by Marcia Davenport. The film was nominated twice for an Oscar.
In the same year, Dean got a role in the musical comedy melodrama Raise Anchors. The main roles were performed by: Frank Sinatra, Catherine Grayson, Gene Kelly. Dean played the role of a boy named Donald Martin, who puts the main characters in funny and silly situations.
The story told in the picture takes place in 1945, when two friends, sailors Joseph and Clarence, return home after the war. As a reward, they received a leave of absence to the shore, where a lot of pleasure awaits them. But the plans of friends begin to collapse as soon as they get off the ship. The sailors meet a kid who decided to secretly get on the ship to become a sailor. The boy is wanted by his aunt and all the police in the city. Upon learning of this, the friends decide to take the boy home, where they will meet a very attractive young girl, who turns out to be the very aunt from whom the boy ran away. To get the attention of their new acquaintance, friends do a lot of funny things.
The film was well received by the audience and appreciated by film critics, receiving several Oscar nominations.
The young actor attracted the attention of directors and producers and got the opportunity to pursue a career in cinema.
In the next two years, Stockwell played in several full-length and short films at once: "The Green Years", "Mighty McGurk", "The Romance of Rosie Ridge", "Song of the Thin Man".
Starring in The Gentlemen's Agreement, Dean won one of the most prestigious cinematic awards, the Golden Globe for Youngest Actor. The film was directed by Elia Kazan, and the main roles were played by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield.
The plot focuses on an aspiring freelance writer trying to draw people's attention to social issues. He deliberately pretends to be a Jew in order to feel the tragedy of the people and write a series of articles on anti-Semitism.
The film has received numerous awards, including three Academy Awards and five nominations for this award, three Golden Globes and a nomination for the Cannes Film Festival.
Stockwell's further career developed rapidly. He received several roles a year and starred in many famous films of the 1950-1960s of the last century. In the 1970s, Dean appeared in television projects, entertainment shows and documentaries dedicated to Hollywood actors.
Many fans of the famous actor's talent remember his roles in the films: "Chicago Hope", "Langoliers", "Man from Nowhere", "Military Legal Service", "Risking Life", "President's Airplane", "Stargate: SG-1", Star Trek: Enterprise, Battlestar Galactica, NCIS: New Orleans.
In 2019, the actor turned eighty-six years old. The last time he appeared on the screen was in 2015 in the film "Entertainment".
There are other interesting hobbies in Stockwell's creative biography. He is an artist, sculptor and photographer who creates original collages in the style of Wallace Berman. In 2003 his first personal exhibition took place. Then his work was exhibited in galleries in Dallas, Santa Monica, New York.
Personal life
Dean has been married twice. Not much is known about his family life.
The first wife was actress Millie Perkens. They met in the late 1950s and got married in 1960. The marriage lasted only two years.
Joy Marchenko became the second chosen one. The wedding took place in December 1981. The couple had two children: son Austin and daughter Sophia. Joy and Dean divorced in 2004. The reason for their separation is unknown.
