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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 "The Faceman" 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 Michell 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.

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

As director

As writer

Notable TV guest appearances

External links

Living people | 1945 births | American actors | American film actors | American television actors | German-Americans | People from Montana | Phi Delta Theta brothers | Prostate cancer survivors | The A-Team actors | Battlestar Galactica cast and crew | Film actors

Dirk Benedict | Dirk Benedict | Dirk Benedict | Dirk Benedict

 

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