DENNIS QUAID (Gen. Sam Houston) enjoyed a triumphant year in 2002 with two diverse, finely-etched, performances – as the aging big league baseball pitcher Jim Morris in John Lee Hancock’s inspirational sports drama, “The Rookie,” and as the tortured, repressed homosexual husband Frank Whitaker in Todd Haynes’ critically-acclaimed melodrama, “Far from Heaven.” For the latter, Quaid has walked off with the New York Film Critics Award, the Chicago Film Critics honor and nominations for a Golden Globe and the Independent Spirit Award.
Long considered one of Hollywood’s most charismatic performers, Quaid’s 25-year career includes a varied gallery of characters in over fifty movies – the working class tough longing for respect in Peter Yates’ Oscar®-nominated “Breaking Away,” the shady lawyer fronting for a drug smuggler in Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar®-winning “Traffic” (sharing the Screen Actors Guild Ensemble Cast prize), the Bosnian War mercenary who reclaims his humanity in the independent drama “Savior,” rock ‘n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis in Jim McBride’s “Great Balls of Fire,” legendary Mercury astronaut Gordy Cooper in Phil Kaufman’s Oscar®-nominated “The Right Stuff” and the Cajun cop in McBride’s noir classic, “The Big Easy,” for which Quaid won the Independent Spirit Award as Best Male Lead.
Also one of the industry’s busiest talents, Quaid recently appeared in such diverse fare as Mike Figgis’ thriller, “Cold Creek Manor,” Norman Jewison’s HBO drama, “Dinner with Friends” (adapted from Donald Margulies Pulitzer Prizewinning play), Oliver Stone’s epic football drama, “Any Given Sunday,” Gregory Hoblit’s supernatural drama, “Frequency” and the recent remake of Disney’s endearing classic, “The Parent Trap.” He will next be seen in Roland Emmerich’s action adventure, “The Day After Tomorrow” and John Moore’s epic adventure, “The Flight of the Phoenix.” Quaid’s impressive body of work also includes his role as Doc Holliday in Lawrence Kasdan’s “Wyatt Earp,” Taylor Hackford’s sports drama, “Everybody’s All American,” Alan Parker’s “Come See the Paradise,” and “D.O.A.,” “Innerspace,” “Flesh and Bone,” “Switchback,” “Gang Related,” “Something to Talk About,” “Dragonheart,” “Suspect,” “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” “The Long Riders” (as one of the Miller brothers with sibling Randy), “Dreamscape,” “Enemy Mine,” “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden,” “9/30/55,” “Caveman” and “Crazy Mama.”
Quaid began acting in high school and studied theatre at his hometown school, the University of Houston. Soon after his arrival in Hollywood, he landed the plum role of one of four blue collar teens whose personal redemption comes about in a grueling bicycle race in “Breaking Away.” Another key role early in his career came on television – starring alongside the legendary Mickey Rooney in the Emmy Award-winning dramas, “Bill” and its sequel, “Bill: On His Own.” A year later, he joined brother Randy in the off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard’s “True West,” which he reprised in Los Angeles.
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