Alan Dale is the New Zealander actor who portrays King George and Albert Spencer on ABC's Once Upon a Time.
Biography
Alan Hugh Dale was born on 6 May 1947 in Dunedin, Otago.[1] His childhood was carefree with three other siblings, though poor in finances. Although a gentle child, Alan was bullied, so he learned to defend and stand up for himself.[2]
Growing up in New Zealand without television until the 1960s, he developed a love of theatre and amateur dramatics.[3] His first performance was for a school concert, at the age of thirteen, doing an impression of comedian Shelley Berman. His parents became founding members of an amateur theater in Auckland called The Little Dolphin Theatre. Alan often operated the stage equipment used to produce weather effects,[2] and enjoyed the applause from the audience on stage. Although a skilled rugby player, he opted to move into drama instead because "the acting fraternity didn't like footballers and the footballers didn't like actors. Acting gave me the same buzz and there was the chance of a longer career".[3] He gave up rugby at the age of twenty-one because it was not considered a workable career at the time, and because of the financial support his family needed.[2]
Acting roles were limited in New Zealand, so Alan worked in multiple jobs, including as a male model, a car salesman and a realtor. While working as a milkman, he heard the disc jockey at his local radio station resign during a broadcast. Alan went over to the station and told the managers he could do a better job. They gave him a trial and signed him up for the afternoon show, which led to him landing his first television role. At the age of twenty-seven, he decided to become a professional actor.[2]
Early on, he moved to Australia to further his career and became a national icon for his small-screen work on The Young Doctors and Neighbours. Even though the latter series turned him into a star, Alan disliked the way the producers treated the cast. Perhaps his unhappiness influenced his decision to try his luck in Hollywood in 2000. Despite being a fifty-something character actor with little name recognition in the United States, he soon became a ubiquitous presence on American television, appearing on hit shows like ER, The X-Files and 24. He was particularly memorable in a trio of similar roles of three villainous tycoons who also happened to be overprotective family men on The O.C., Lost and Ugly Betty.[4] In March 2017, Dale joined the cast of the CW's Dynasty as Joseph Anders.[5]
Alan is married to his second wife, Tracey, and has four sons; Matthew, who is an actor, writer and filmmaker,[1] Simon, a radio announcer,[1] Nicholas and Daniel.[4]
Trivia
- While he was playing bass in a band with his Neighbour costars at a 1987 charity event, a cast member named Kylie Minogue sang Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion" with them, and her singing career was born.[4]
- Co-stars in the 2010 horror film Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, where he shares scenes with fellow Once Upon a Time actress Bailee Madison.
- Narrated the special "The Price of Magic".
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season One | ||||||||||
"Pilot": | "The Thing You Love Most": | "Snow Falls": | "The Price of Gold": | "That Still Small Voice": | "The Shepherd": | "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter": | "Desperate Souls": | "True North": | "7:15 A.M.": | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
"Skin Deep": | "What Happened to Frederick": | "Dreamy": | "Red-Handed": | "Heart of Darkness": | "Hat Trick": | "The Stable Boy": | "The Return": | "The Stranger": | "An Apple Red as Blood": | "A Land Without Magic": |
Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
"Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
"Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
Archive | Voice Only | Absent | Absent | Absent | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
External links
- Alan Dale on Internet Movie Database
- Alan Dale on Wikipedia
- @TheAlanDale (Alan Dale) on X, formerly Twitter
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://www.filmreference.com/film/93/Alan-Dale.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Dale, Alan. "In My Own Words". The Sunday Telegraph Magazine - Page 13
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://web.archive.org/web/20100530111240/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article3483853.ece
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/alan-dale/bio/138509
- ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (March 7, 2017). ‘The O.C.’ Alum Alan Dale Joins CW’s ‘Dynasty’ Reboot (EXCLUSIVE). Variety.
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