Dean Butler (born May 20, 1956) is a Canadian-American actor and producer of entertainment, sports and documentary programming. He is best known for being Almanzo Wilder in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

series ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...

''.

Biography

Early life

Born in Prince George, British Columbia, and raised in Piedmont, California, Butler studied communication arts at the University of the Pacific in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

Career

Butler's career as an actor started with a small part on the TV series ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is an American television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ow ...

''. His first major role was in the 1978 TV movie ''Forever,'' based on

Judy Blume Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult, and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 26 novels. Among her best-known works are '' Are You There God? It's ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

of the same title. Butler is best known for his portrayal of Almanzo Wilder on the

family drama ''

'', which was based on the classic '' Little House'' books by

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...

. He appeared in the final four seasons of the show, the spin-off show ''Little House: A New Beginning'', and the three post-series TV movies. After ''Little House'' ended, he played Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin in the TV series '' The New Gidget'' and Buffy’s father, Hank Summers, on ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

''. During the 1980s and 1990s, Butler was a guest star on various television series, including ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

''; ''

Who's the Boss? ''Who's the Boss?'' is an American sitcom television series created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, that aired on ABC from September 20, 1984, to April 25, 1992, with a total of 196 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. It was produce ...

''; ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

''; and '' JAG''. He co-starred with the late

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor, known as a high-profile child star of the late 1970s and 1980s. Born in Zion, Illinois, Coleman grew up with his adopted parents, and a kidney disease; due to the co ...

in '' The Kid with the 200 I.Q.''. He appeared in the movies '' Desert Hearts'' and ''The Final Goal''. Onstage, Butler has performed in the shows of

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

. He appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in the original company of ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'' as Rapunzel's Prince, internationally as Tony in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'' and regionally in ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

''.

Directing and producing

Butler now works largely behind the camera producing entertainment, sports, and documentary programming. Butler produces '' Feherty'' for

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply "Golf" or "NBC Golf") is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently ba ...

, starring

David Feherty David William Feherty (born 13 August 1958) is a Northern Irish-born former professional golfer and current golf broadcaster. As a touring professional he won five European Tour events, made the top 10 of the Open Championship twice (1989 and ...

. In addition, he is a West Coast correspondent for ''Broadway World'', a provider of web content about the performing arts. Butler has directed, produced, written, and narrated bonus features for ''

'' DVD collections. He narrated a six-part documentary, ''The Little House Phenomenon''. Butler has produced two documentaries, '' Little House on the Prairie: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder'' and ''Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura'', which drew their inspiration from the Little House books of

. Additionally, in 2012, Butler co-executive produced ''Pa's Fiddle: The Music of America'' for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Personal life

Butler is married to actress Katherine Cannon, who played Felice Martin on the television series ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

''. They met when Cannon auditioned for the female lead in the

Michael Landon Michael Landon Sr. (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on th ...

series ''

Father Murphy ''Father Murphy'' is an American Western drama television series that aired on the NBC network from November 3, 1981, to September 18, 1983. Michael Landon created the series, was the executive producer, and directed the show in partnership w ...

''. They live in Los Angeles, California.

Acting credits

Film

Theatre

Book

References

External links

*
Dean Butler's Legacy Documentaries - a Peak Moore Enterprises, Inc. CompanyAbout Dean Butler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Dean 1956 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors Television producers from California People from Prince George, British Columbia Male actors from British Columbia Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Piedmont, California Male actors from the San Francisco Bay Area Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian television producers