Dirk Benedict

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Dirk Benedict (2011)

Dirk Benedict (born March 1, 1945 in Helena , Montana , as Dirk Niewoehner ) is an American actor , screenwriter and director . Benedict was best known in German-speaking countries through the TV series Kampfstern Galactica and Das A-Team .

Life

Dirk Benedict grew up as the son of accountant Mary Priscilla Mella (née Metzger; 1917–2019) and lawyer George Edward Niewoehner (1912–1963) in rural White Sulfur Springs in Montana. Benedict has a younger sister named Ramona (* 1948) and an older brother named George Roy Niewoehner (1939–2012).

After the parents separated, the violent father broke into the mother's house and beat her. The older brother Roy stopped his father, in front of Benedict's eyes, with a shot in the chest; Benedict was 18 years old at the time.

At the age of 26, Benedict learned about the macrobiotic diet while filming Georgia, Georgia in Sweden. According to his own statements, this form of nutrition helped him later when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1974 .

From 1986 to 1995 Benedict was married to actress Toni Hudson, whom he met while filming the A-Team episode Blood, Sweat and Cheers . Their two sons, George William (* 1988) and Roland Walker (* 1990), whom he raised in Flathead Lake near Bigfork, Montana, come from this marriage. In 1998 Benedict found out that he had another son named John Talbert (* 1968) who came from a childhood relationship and grew up with foster parents.

Career

Benedict first encountered acting at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington . During his first semester he auditioned for the musical Show Boat and got the lead role of Gaylord Ravenal . In the same year he joined the student fraternity "Phi Delta Theta" (ΦΔΘ). The following three years were marked by other musical productions. After completing his studies in 1967, Benedict began a two-year acting course under John Fernald, who had directed the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for 15 years.

Benedict then played repertory theater in Seattle and Ann Arbor , where he, among others, Edmund in King Lear , the Tarleton in George Bernard Shaw's Misalliance , Ensign Pulver in Thomas Heggens Mister Roberts and starring in Neil Simon's comedy The Star-Spangled Girl played . An agent sent him for an audition that resulted in a supporting role in Abelard and Heloise - alongside Diana Rigg and Keith Michell - on Broadway and later continued in Los Angeles . Two weeks after the last showing on Broadway, Benedict flew to Sweden and played his first supporting role in Georgia, Georgia alongside Diana Sands. The film is about conscientious objectors and is based on the book by Maya Angelou .

Back in New York City replaced Benedict Keir Dullea in Leonard Gershes Broadway production Butterflies Are Free ( Butterflies Are Free ); here it came to the collaboration with Gloria Swanson . At the end of his engagement in New York, Benedict received the offer to repeat his role in Hawaii - this time alongside Barbara Rush . During his stay in Hawaii he also appeared in a guest role on the television series Hawaii Five-Zero , which caught the eye of the producer of the psychological thriller Sssnake Kobra ; they cast him for the lead role in their film. In his next role he played in Wahnsinn - W a psychotic husband who beats up his wife at the side of Twiggy , who made her US film debut with this film.

He played one of the leading roles in the television series Chopper One , but he had his breakthrough only in 1978 as Lieutenant Starbuck in the original version of the science fiction series Battle Star Galactica . Four years later he took on the role of Lieutenant Templeton "Face" Peck in the action television series The A-Team . Originally, the character was supposed to be played by actor Tim Dunigan, but after the pilot, the producers eventually decided on Benedict.

After the series ended, he returned to the theater in 1987 and got the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Abbey Theater. Both the play and Benedict's performance were panned by the critics. In 2000 he wrote his first screenplay, Cahoots , which he later directed to film it. Cahoots was shown at the Victoria Film Festival in Vancouver . In 2006 Peter Thorwarth won him over for the role of Douglas Burnett in the German film Goldene Zeiten , which was only moderately successful in the cinema. In the film, Benedict plays a con man who poses as a movie star.

From January 3 to 28, 2007, Benedict took part in the fifth season of the celebrity version of Big Brother in England. His move into the "Big Brother House" was accompanied by the theme song from the television series Das A-Team and took place in a replica of the black van known from the series. After a total of 26 days, the controversial season ended and Benedict took third place.

Filmography

Movie

  • 1972: Georgia, Georgia
  • 1973: Sssnake Kobra (SSSSSSS)
  • 1974: Madness - 'W' (W)
  • 1975: Journey from Darkness
  • 1978: Cruise Into Terror
  • 1979: Scavenger Hunt
  • 1979: Mission Galactica - Attack of the Cylons (Mission Galactica: Cylon Attac)
  • 1979: Scavenger Hunt
  • 1980: The Moles of Beverly Hills (Underground Aces)
  • 1980: The Georgia Peaches
  • 1981: Ruckus
  • 1981: Scruples
  • 1982: Family in Blue
  • 1987: Sweaty Bodies (Body Slam)
  • 1989: Pineapple and Blue Beans (Trench Coat in Paradise)
  • 1991: Blue Tornado - Men Like Steel (Blue Tornado)
  • 1991: The Jewel Hunt (Bejewelled)
  • 1993: Shadow Force
  • 1994: Demon Keeper
  • 1994: The Feminine Touch
  • 1994: Mission - Alien (Official Denial)
  • 1996: Alaska - The Polar Bear Trail
  • 1996: Abduction of Innocence
  • 1997: Steel Stomachs
  • 1998: Waking Up Horton
  • 2006: golden times
  • 2006: When the moon falls on the earth (Earthstorm)
  • 2007: Recon 7 Down
  • 2010: Das A-Team - Der Film (The A-Team) (Cameo)

TV Shows

Director

  • 1994: Christina's Dream
  • 2000: Cahoots (writer and director)

Ludography

literature

  • Dirk Benedict: My life as a Kamikaze cowboy . Mahajiva, 1991, ISBN 978-3-924845-30-8 , pp. 270 .
  • Dirk Benedict: Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy: A True Story of Discovery, Acting, Health, Illness, Recovery, and Life . Square One Publ, 2005, ISBN 978-0-7570-0277-9 , pp. 240 .
  • Dirk Benedict: And Then We Went Fishing: A Story of Fatherhood, Fate and Forgiveness . Square One Publ, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7570-0302-8 , pp. 183 .

Web links

Commons : Dirk Benedict  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In Memory Of Priscilla Niewoehner, age 101 of White Sulfur Springs .
  2. ^ A b Dirk Benedict: And Then We Went Fishing: A Story of Fatherhood, Fate and Forgiveness . Square One Publ, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7570-0302-8 , pp. 183 .
  3. ↑ Daily Inter Lake: George Roy Niewoehner
  4. ↑ Short biography of Dirk Benedict
  5. ↑ BreakingNews.ie: Dirk's brother silent on shooting of father
  6. ↑ Dirk Benedict: An A-Team Star's Toughest Battle — Against the Specter of Cancer — is Waged in Secret and Alone. In: People . October 10, 1983, accessed August 5, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Serena Kappes: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Dirk Benedict: Single father, author, director. In: CNN Edition (People.com). November 5, 2002, accessed August 5, 2018 .
  8. ^ Andy Viano: The A-Team 'star's role of a lifetime is as a father. In: Daily Inter Lake. June 17, 2017, accessed August 5, 2018 .
  9. ^ New York Times on Hamlet , September 22, 1987
  10. ↑ New York Times on Cahoots
personal data
SURNAME Benedict, Dirk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Niewoehner, Dirk (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Helena , Montana , United States