Actors - Dirk Benedict

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Dirk Benedict

	Actors - Dirk Benedict

Dirk Benedict (born Dirk Niewoehner on March 1, 1945) is an American movie and television actor, perhaps best known for playing the characters Lt. Templeton "Face" Peck in The A-Team television series and Lt. Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica movie and television series. He was born in Helena, Montana, and grew up in White Sulphur Springs, Montana.

Career

At Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, Dirk became interested in acting. During his freshman year, he accepted a dare to audition for the spring musical and won the lead role of Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat
. He also joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity that year, which he credits with supporting his endeavors and encouraging his development. The next three years were filled with many more musical productions. Upon graduation, Benedict began a two-year training program under John Fernald, who had headed the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for fifteen years.

At that time, he started to use the stage name 'Benedict'; supposedly, whilst searching for a catchier, less ethnic name, he agreed to the suggestion of "Benedict" by his agent, who was inspired by Dirk's breakfast choice of Eggs Benedict during their early morning conversation.

Benedict then played repertory theatre in Seattle and in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he played such roles as Edmund in King Lear, Tarleton in Misalliance, Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts
, and the lead in Neil Simon's Star-Spangled Girl. An agent sent him to an audition which resulted in a co-starring role with Diana Rigg and Keith Mitchell in Abelard and Heloise, first on Broadway, then in Los Angeles. Two weeks after the show closed on Broadway, Dirk was winging across the Atlantic to Sweden for his first movie, Georgia, Georgia in which he co-starred with Diana Sands. This film about draft resisters, shot entirely in Sweden, was written by Maya Angelou.

On his return to New York, Benedict replaced Keir Dullea in Butterflies Are Free
on Broadway where he worked with Gloria Swanson as his mother. When the New York run ended, he received an offer to repeat his performance in Hawaii, opposite Barbara Rush. While there, he appeared as a guest lead on Hawaii Five-O. The producers of a psycho-thriller called Ssssss
saw Benedict's performance in Hawaii-Five-O and promptly cast him as the lead in that movie. He next played the psychotic wife-beating husband of Twiggy in her American film debut, W. Benedict starred in the television series, Chopper One, but his career break came when he appeared as Lieutenant Starbuck in the movie and television series Battlestar Galactica. Several years later, Dirk gained further popularity as a member of the 1980s action television series, The A-Team. There has reportedly been some speculation of his possibly appearing in a guest spot on the new Battlestar Galactica series, perhaps as Starbuck's father.

Personal

Family

In 1986, he married Toni Hudson, an actress, with whom he has two sons, George and Roland. They divorced in 1995. In 1998, Benedict learned that he also has another son, John (born 1968), from a youthful relationship.

Health

According to fellow A-Team actor and friend, Dwight Schultz, Benedict claims to have been diagnosed with prostate cancer by a psychic in Italy, who discovered the cause of Benedict's ailment by examining a photograph of him.

He claims he survived the disease without surgery, and with only the dietary help of a macrobiotic diet recommended by Gloria Swanson.

Filmography

Goldene Zeiten (2006) - Douglas Burnett
Waking Up Horton (1998)
Steel Stomachs (1997) - Host
Zork: Grand Inquisitor (1997) (Video Game) - Antharia Jack
Abduction of Innocence (1996) (TV) - Robert Steves
Alaska (1996) - Jake Barnes
Demon Keeper (1994) - Alexander Harris
The Feminine Touch (1994) - John Mackie
Official Denial (1994) - Lt. Col. Dan Lerner
Shadow Force (1993) - Rick Kelly
Blue Tornado (1991) - Alex Long
Bejewelled (1991) (TV) - Gordon
Trenchcoat in Paradise (1989) (TV) - Eddie Mazda
Body Slam (1987) - M. Harry Smilac
Mark of the Devil (1984) (TV) - Frank Rowlett
The A-Team (1983) TV Series - Lieutenant Templeton 'Face' Peck
Family in Blue (1982) (TV) - Matt Malone
Ruckus (1981) - Kyle Hanson
Scruples (1981) (TV) - Spider Elliott
Underground Aces (1980) - Pete Huffman
The Georgia Peaches (1980) (TV) - Dusty Tyree
Scavenger Hunt (1979) - Jeff Stevens, Mr. Parker's nephew
Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack (1978) (TV) - Lieutenant Starbuck
Battlestar Galactica (1978) (TV) - Lieutenant Starbuck
Cruise Into Terror (1978) (TV) - Simon
Journey from Darkness (1975) (TV) - Bill
W (1974) - William Caulder
Chopper One (1974) TV Series - Officer Gil Foley
SSSSSSS (1973) - David Blake
Georgia, Georgia (1972) - Michael Winters

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Dirk Benedict ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Dirk Benedict; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.