Dennis Quaid

Biography

Dennis Quaid is a longtime movie actor, usually playing gruff but likeable characters. He has never been a high-profile A-list star, but has made his reputation in enjoyable albeit generally lower profile films.

Quaid came from a lower-middle class background, and was raised in Texas. He was drawn to drama in high school, and studied acting at the University of Houston, but not for long. His older brother Randy was having some success in Hollywood, and suggested that Dennis could get on-the-job training as an actor in L.A.

In his film debut, Quaid played a bellhop in the Cloris Leachman film Crazy Mama. His first major role came in 1977's 9/30/55, mourning the death of James Dean alongside Richard Thomas and Tom Hulce. Quaid's breakthrough came in 1979, as the frustrated former high school quarterback in the charming Breaking Away.

He turned down the Tom Hanks role in Big, and the Kurt Russell role in Backdraft.

Quaid met his first wife, actress P.J. Soles, when they both had small roles in Our Winning Season in 1979. He met longtime lover Lea Thompson when they co-starred in Jaws 3D. He met his second wife, actress Meg Ryan, when they co-starred in Innerspace, and they married while making DOA.

In the 1980 western The Long Riders, several famous Hollywood brothers played wild west brothers, including Dennis and Randy Quaid as Clell and Ed Miller. It is the only film the Quaid brothers have made together, though they worked together on Broadway in a mid-1980s production of True West.

He later joined Weight Watchers and lost 44 pounds for his role in Wyatt Earp (1994).

Quaid played another quarterback in Any Given Sunday, and broke into the major leagues as a 35-year-old pitcher in The Rookie (Quaid himself was 45). He played Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire!, and Gordon Cooper in The Right Stuff.

A lot of cocaine has gone up Quaid's nose, but he kicked his addiction in 1988. "I saw myself being dead in about five years if I didn't stop. So I went and got help. I went away for a month."

Father: William "Buddy" Quaid (electrician, d. 1987, heart attack)
Mother: Nita Quaid (real estate agent)
Brother: Randy Quaid (actor)
Brother: Buddy Quaid (half-brother, actor, Desert Saints, b. 26-Nov-1974)
Wife: P.J. Soles (actress, Stripes, m. 1978, div. 1983)
Girlfriend: Lea Thompson (actress, cohabited 1983-87, briefly engaged)
Wife: Meg Ryan (actress, dated 1987-91, m. 14-Feb-1991, div. 16-Jul-2001, one child)
Son: Jack Henry Quaid (b. 24-Apr-2002, with Ryan)
Girlfriend: Andie MacDowell (actress-model, dated in 2001)
Slept with: Shanna Moakler (Miss December 2001, Playboy)
Wife: Kimberly Buffington (real estate agent, m. 4-Jul-2004)

High School: Bellaire Senior High School, Bellaire, TX (1972)
University: University of Houston (dropped out)