Biography
Harry Dean Stanton is an actor who has appeared in many mainstream Hollywood productions. He is also a veteran of World War II and is considered to be a big fan of rock and roll music. Born in West Irvine, Kentucky, Stanton is the son of Ersel, a hair dresser, and Sheridan, a tobacco farmer and barber. His parents divorced when Stanton was in high school and later re-married. He has two younger brothers, Archie and Ralph, and a younger half-brother Stan. Stanton went to the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, where he studied journalism and radio arts. He also attended the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California.As an actor, Stanton scored many TV gigs, including HBO’s Big Love as Roman Grant, the manipulative leader of a polygamous sect of Mormonism. Prior to that, he appeared on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, The Texan, The Untouchables, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, The Godfather: A Novel for Television, and Young Maverick. Although his television credits are extensive, Stanton’s efforts in the big screen are far more noteworthy. He appeared in both indie and cult films such as Two-Lane Blacktop, Cockfighter, Escape from New York, and Repo Man, and popular movies like Cool Hand Luke, The Godfather Part II, Alien, Red Dawn, Pretty in Pink, and The Green Mile. His more recent films include The Open Road, The Good Life, Inland Empire and Alien Autopsy. Besides acting, Harry Dean Stanton has also toured nightclubs occasionally as a singer and guitarist. He plays country-inflected cover tunes and has appeared the Dwight Yoakam video “Sorry You Asked” and Bob Dylan’s “Dreaming of You.”
