Dean Butler (actor)

Not to be confused with Dan Butler.

Dean Butler
Butler in 2024
Born (1956-05-20) May 20, 1956 (age 68)
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1976–2008 (actor); 2005–present (producer)
Spouse
​
(m. 2001)​

Dean Butler (born May 20, 1956[1]) is a Canadian-American actor[2] and producer of entertainment, sports and documentary programming. He is best known for his portrayal of Almanzo Wilder on the NBC series Little House on the Prairie.

Biography

Early life

Born in Prince George, British Columbia, and raised in Piedmont, California, Butler studied communication arts at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.[3][4]

Career

Butler's career as an actor started with a small part on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco.[5] His first major role was in the 1978 TV movie Forever, based on Judy Blume's novel of the same title.[6]

Butler is best known for his portrayal of Almanzo Wilder on the NBC family drama Little House on the Prairie, which was based on the classic Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He appeared in the final four seasons of the show, the spin-off show Little House: A New Beginning, and the three post-series TV movies.[7] After Little House ended, he played Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin in the TV series The New Gidget and Buffy’s dad, Hank Summers, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[8][9]

During the 1980s and 1990s, Butler was a guest star on various television series, including Murder, She Wrote; Who's the Boss?; The Love Boat; and JAG.[10][11] He co-starred with the late Gary Coleman in The Kid with the 200 I.Q..[12] He appeared in the movies Desert Hearts and The Final Goal.[13][14]

Onstage, Butler has performed in the shows of Stephen Sondheim. He appeared on Broadway in the original company of Into the Woods as Rapunzel's Prince, internationally as Tony in West Side Story and regionally in Company.[15][16][17]

Directing and producing

Butler now works largely behind the camera producing entertainment, sports, and documentary programming.[18] Butler produces Feherty for Golf Channel, starring David Feherty.[19] In addition, he is a West Coast correspondent for Broadway World, a provider of web content about the performing arts.[20]

Butler has directed, produced, written, and narrated bonus features for Little House on the Prairie DVD collections. He narrated a six-part documentary, The Little House Phenomenon.[21]

Butler has produced two documentaries, Little House on the Prairie: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura, which drew their inspiration from the Little House books of Laura Ingalls Wilder.[citation needed] Additionally, in 2012, Butler co-executive produced Pa's Fiddle: The Music of America for PBS.[22]

Personal life

Butler is married to actress Katherine Cannon, who played Felice Martin on the television series Beverly Hills 90210. They met when Cannon auditioned for the female lead in the Michael Landon series Father Murphy.[23] They live in Los Angeles, California.

Acting credits

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1978 Forever Michael Wagner TV movie
1979–1983 Little House on the Prairie Almanzo Wilder Main role
1981 Here's Boomer Gary Episode: "Good Looking"
1982 The Love Boat Stan Barber Episode: "Familiar Faces"
1983 The Kid with the 200 I.Q. Steve Bensfield TV movie
Fantasy Island Carl Peters Episode: "The Devil Stick/Touch and Go"
The Love Boat Scott Pryor Episode: "Kisses and Makeup"
Little House: Look Back to Yesterday Almanzo Wilder TV movie
1984 Little House: The Last Farewell
Little House: Bless All the Dear Children
Fantasy Island Harley Batten Episode: "Sing Melancholy Baby/The Last Dogfight"
Who's the Boss? Jason Episode: "Mona Gets Pinned"
1985 Gidget's Summer Reunion Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin TV movie
Desert Hearts Darrell Feature film
1986 The Love Boat Brent Harper Episode: "Couples/Made for Each Other"
1986–1988 The New Gidget Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin Main cast (44 episodes)
1987 Hotel Gary Marsh Episode: "All the King's Horses"
1989 ABC Afterschool Specials Matthew Green Episode: "Private Affairs"
1990 Murder, She Wrote Howard Griffin Episode: "The Fixer-Upper"
1991 Shades of L.A. Dr. Ted Kolfax Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part"
Without a Pass Officer #1 (1965) Feature film
1992 Tequila and Bonetti Frank Avalon Episode: "Brooklyn and the Beast"
1994 Diagnosis: Murder Sly Episode: "Georgia on My Mind"
Juana la Cubana Feature film
1995 The Final Goal Valentine m
1996 Renegade Cop Episode: "Baby Makes Three"
1997–2002 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Hank Summers Recurring role
1997 Fame L.A. Producer Episode: "Seize the Day"
2000 Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family FBI Agent Episode: "The Line"
Ricky 6 Vic Portelance Feature film
2003 JAG Navy Appellate Court Judge #2 Episode: "Lawyers, Guns and Money"
2008 Chemical Wedding Ceremony Man Feature film (aka Crowley)

Theatre

Year Title Role Notes
1988 West Side Story Tony International tour
1988-1989 Into the Woods Rapunzel's Prince

u/s The Wolf / Cinderella's Prince

Broadway
1993 Company Peter Los Angeles

Book

  • Butler, Dean (2024). Prairie Man: My Little House Life & Beyond. Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0-8065-4329-1.

References

  1. ^ Rose, Mike (May 20, 2024). "Famous birthdays list for today, May 20, 2024 includes celebrities Cher, Rachel Platten". cleveland. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  2. ^ Buck, Jerry (July 12, 1982). "Dean Butler hits it big in new shot at 'Little House'". The Miami News. Retrieved July 14, 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Dean Butler". Legacy Documentaries. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  4. ^ Buck, Jerry (June 30, 1982). "'Little House' star joined cast after graduation". The Desert Sun.
  5. ^ Nicholls, Liz (June 4, 1998). "From vampire-slaying to bigamy". The Edmonton Journal.
  6. ^ "Forever". IMDB. January 6, 1978. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  7. ^ Diefenbach, Mallory (July 29, 2017). "Actor Dean Butler dishes on 'Little House' prior to his WNY appearance". The Daily News. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  8. ^ "Dean Butler". Comet Over Hollywood. August 10, 2017. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  9. ^ Bloechi, Alyssa (July 25, 2016). "'Little House' actor visits Manitowoc Saturday". HTR Media. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "Murder, She Wrote". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  11. ^ "Good Neighbors/Captain's Portrait/Familiar Faces". IMDB. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  12. ^ "THE KID WITH THE 200 I.Q." BBFC. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  13. ^ Cohn, Paulette. "Dean Butler Reminisces on 'Little House' Days and Michael Landon (INTERVIEW)". Biography.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  14. ^ "The Final Goal". IMDB. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  15. ^ "Dean Butler – Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  16. ^ Hancock, Melanie (June 22, 2017). "Discover Laura". Discover Laura. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  17. ^ Jacobs, Tom (October 6, 1993). "Company". Variety. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  18. ^ Bloechi, Alyssa (August 2, 2016). "Almanzo shares love of 'Little House'". HTR Media. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  19. ^ "Dean Butler · Legacy Documentaries". Legacy Documentaries. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  20. ^ "Dean Butler Theatre Credits". Broadway World. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  21. ^ Soltes, John (July 8, 2015). "INTERVIEW: Dean Butler remembers 'Little House' as sixth season hits Blu-ray". Hollywood Soap Box. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  22. ^ "MTSU 'Pa's Fiddle' documentary part of PBS package". MTSU News. June 18, 2012. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  23. ^ Dalporto, Deva (September 11, 2014). "'Little House on the Prairie': Where Are They Now?". Biography.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.