Dean Butler | |
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 Butler in 2024 | |
| Born | May 20, 1956 Prince George, British Columbia, Canada |
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| Years active | 1976–2008 (actor); 2005–present (producer) |
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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 .
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]
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]
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]
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.
| 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) |
| 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 |
Roger Lea MacBride was an American lawyer, political figure, and writer. After working as a lawyer early in his career, he inherited the estate of Laura Ingalls Wilder. He wrote several books in her Little House on the Prairie series and initiated the development of its television adaptation.
The Little House on the Prairie books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the American Midwest between 1872 and 1894. Eight of the novels were completed by Wilder, and published by Harper & Brothers in the 1930s and 1940s, during her lifetime. The name "Little House" appears in the first and third novels in the series, while the third is identically titled Little House on the Prairie. The second novel, meanwhile, was about her husband's childhood.
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American writer. The Little House on the Prairie series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, were based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family.
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western historical drama television series about the Ingalls family, who live on a farm on Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s–90s. Charles, Caroline, Laura, Mary, and Carrie Ingalls are respectively portrayed by Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson, and twins Lindsay and Sydney Greenbush. The show is loosely based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books.
Almanzo James Wilder was an American farmer as well as the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the father of Rose Wilder Lane, both noted authors.
Charles Phillip Ingalls was an American pioneer, farmer, government official, musician, and carpenter who was the father of Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for her Little House series of books. He is depicted as the character "Pa" in the books and the television series.
Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder and its sequel Beyond the Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, are television films shown in two parts, the first in 2000 and the second in 2002, which presented episodes from the later books in the Little House on the Prairie series.
Nellie Oleson is a fictional character in the Little House series of autobiographical children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was portrayed by Alison Arngrim in the NBC television show Little House on the Prairie, where her role is much expanded. Three different girls from Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood — Nellie Owens, Genevieve Masters and Stella Gilbert — were the basis for the fictional Nellie Oleson.
Little Town on the Prairie is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1941, the seventh of nine books in her Little House series. It is set in De Smet, South Dakota. It opens in the spring after the Long Winter and ends as Laura becomes a school teacher so she can help her sister, Mary, stay at a school for the blind in Vinton, Iowa. It tells the story of 15-year-old Laura's first paid job outside of home and her last term of schooling. At the end of the novel, she receives a teacher's certificate and is employed to teach at the Brewster settlement, 12 miles (19 km) away.
These Happy Golden Years is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1943, the eighth of nine books in her Little House series – although it originally ended it. It is based on her later adolescence near De Smet, South Dakota, featuring her short time as a teacher, beginning at age 15, and her courtship with Almanzo Wilder. It spans the time period from 1882 to 1885, when they marry.
Farmer Boy is a children's historical novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1933. It was the second-published one in the Little House series but it is not related to the first, which that of the third directly continues. Thus the later Little House on the Prairie is sometimes called the second one in the series, or the second volume of "the Laura Years".
The Laura Ingalls Wilder House is a historic house museum at 3060 Highway A in Mansfield, Missouri. Also known as Rocky Ridge Farm, it was the home of author Laura Ingalls Wilder from 1896 until her death in 1957. The author of the Little House on the Prairie series, Wilder began writing the series while living there. The house, together with the nearby Rock Cottage on the same property, represents one of the few surviving places where she resided. Shortly after her death local residents initiated legal steps to acquire the house through the incorporation of a non-profit organization to preserve her legacy. Owned by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association, the house is open to the public for tours. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.
Little House on the Prairie is an autobiographical children's novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1935. It was the third novel published in the Little House series, continuing the story of the first, Little House in the Big Woods (1932), but not related to the second. Thus, it is sometimes called the second one in the series, or the second volume of "the Laura Years".
Little House on the Prairie is a book musical adapted from the children's books, Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America is a collection of early writings by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the Little House series of children's novels. It consists of three parts: On the Way Home, a diary originally published in 1962; West from Home, a collection of letters from Wilder to her husband Almanzo Wilder written in 1915 and published in 1974; and The Road Back, a previously unpublished diary.
Mr. Edwards is a character that appeared in the Little House series of autobiographical children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. His character was later adapted for the NBC television show, Little House on the Prairie and given the name "Isaiah Edwards."
Little House on the Prairie: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a documentary film about the life of American author Laura Ingalls Wilder. She is best known for her Little House on the Prairie book series.
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