Dane Witherspoon (December 27, 1957 – March 29, 2014) was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

who appeared in daytime TV

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

s '' Santa Barbara'' as Joe Perkins in 1984, and in '' Capitol'' as Tyler McCandless from 1985 to 1986.

Early life and career

At age 19, he was the youngest student ever accepted by the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

(ACT) in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, appearing in productions from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

. He performed one season at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. After getting his acting degree from ACT, Witherspoon went to Hollywood where he landed small roles in ''

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural mountainous Western Virginia of the Appalachian Mountains / Allegheny Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains chain, during the economic hardships and mass unemp ...

'' and '' Eight Is Enough''. In 1984, he made his soap opera debut as the original Joe Perkins on '' Santa Barbara''. Three months later, Dane was replaced by Mark Arnold. Dane soon returned to daytime as Tyler McCandless on '' Capitol''; he played this part from 1985 to 1986. His film credits include "Chameleons" in 1989, the part of Brad Yates in the movie Seedpeople in 1992, and in 1997 he played a part in the TV movie "Asteroid".

Personal life

He met actress Robin Wright when they auditioned for ''Santa Barbara''. The two were married from 1986 to 1988. Witherspoon had two sons with his second wife, actress / playwright Tracy Shaffer.

Retirement and death

Although he continued to work as an actor for a few more years, Witherspoon eventually retired from the profession and lived in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. He died on March 29, 2014, at age 56.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witherspoon, Dane 1957 births 2014 deaths American Conservatory Theater alumni American male soap opera actors American male television actors Male actors from Denver Male actors from Texas People from Denton, Texas