Dennis Quaid Biography

DENNIS QUAID

Date of Birth: April 9, 1954

Dennis Quaid used to be a wild man before settling down with the help of his then-wife, Meg Ryan. "I used to be a human basketball," he remembers. "I was bouncing off the walls, playing in a band, making movies, then getting out and getting wild at night. Luckily it doesn't show in the work I did. In Hollywood, you come to work, and they make you look good."

Not that Quaid needs a lot of help in the looking good department. But he did need help in the cleaning-up-his-act arena. In fact, he'd got into the party scene and controlled substance abuse so deeply that he had to get into rehab that resulted in a two-year break in his film career. The Houston, Texas, native's first breakout role was in the bicycle racing film, Breaking Away (1979).

Since then his Texas charm and good-old-boy demeanor was displayed to good effect in such films as The Right Stuff (1983), Innerspace (1987), The Big Easy (1986) and his excellent turn taking on the role—that was probably closest to his real life at the time—of Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire (1989).

More films include Soul Surfer (2011), Footloose (2011), What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012), Playing for Keeps (2012), Movie 43 (2013), and Truth (2015). He's also earned roles on television in recent years, including the drama series The Art of More and the Sky Atlantic thriller series Fortitude. Most recently, he starred in the family drama A Dog's Purpose(2017), played an abusive father in I Can Only Imagine (2018) and a psychotic house seller in The Intruder (2019).

In 2000, his marriage to Meg Ryan fell apart when she embarked on a very public affair with Russell Crowe, her co-star in Proof of Life (2000), although later Ryan claimed that their marriage had long been over earlier, due to Quaid's many affairs. They divorced in 2001 and shared custody of their son, Jack Henry Quaid. Dennis has been married to third wife, Kimberly Buffington, since July 4, 2004 and they became the parents of twins, a boy and a girl, on November 8, 2007. After an on-and-off union, the couple divorced in June 2016.

Filmography:

I Can Only Imagine (2018)
Kin (2018)
A Dog's Purpose (2017)
Truth (2015)
Movie 43 (2013)
At Any Price (2013)
Playing for Keeps (2012)
The Words (2012)
What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)
Beneath the Darkness (2012)
Footloose (2011)
Soul Surfer (2011)
Pandorum (2009)
G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra (2009)
Legion (2009)
Horsemen (2009)
The Express (2009)
Vantage Point (2008)
Smart People (2008)
Battle for Terra (2007)
American Dreamz (2006)
Yours, Mine and Ours (2005)
Flight of Phoenix (2004)
In Good Company (2004)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
The Alamo (2004)
Cold Creek Manor (2003)
Far from Heaven (2002)
The Rookie (2002)
Traffic (2000)
Frequency (2000)
Any Given Sunday (1999)
Playing by Heart (1998)
The Parent Trap (1998)
Savior (1998)
Switchback (1997)
Criminal Intent (1997)
DragonHeart (1996)
Something to Talk About (1995)
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Kidnapped (1994)
Flesh and Bone (1993)
Undercover Blues (1993)
Wilder Napalm (1993)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
Come See the Paradise (1990)
Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
Everybody's All-American (1988)
D.O.A. (1988)
Suspect (1987)
Innerspace (1987)
The Big Easy (1986)
Enemy Mine (1985)