Dennis Keith Bowen (September 9, 1950 – March 9, 2012) was an American

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

. His

filmography A filmography is a list of films related by some criteria. For example, an actor's career filmography is the list of films they have appeared in; a director's comedy filmography is the list of comedy films directed by a particular Film director, ...

included numerous

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

, more than one hundred

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

s, and over one thousand

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

s during his career.

Early life

Bowen was born in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, on September 9, 1950.

Career

Bowen served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

before pursuing an acting career. Outside of acting, Bowen was a recipient of the Medal of Valor from the California State Fireman's Association. Bowen's film credits included ''

Record City ''Record City'' is a 1977 American comedy film starring Ed Begley Jr., Sorrell Booke, Michael Callan, Jack Carter, Frank Gorshin, Ruth Buzzi, Dennis Bowen, Larry Storch, and Alice Ghostley. It was made on location at Eagle Rock, California. Plo ...

'', '' Van Nuys Blvd.'', '' Gas Pump Girls,'' and ''

Caddyshack II ''Caddyshack II'' is a 1988 American sports comedy film and a sequel to the 1980 film ''Caddyshack''. Directed by Allan Arkush and written by Harold Ramis (who co-wrote and directed the original ''Caddyshack'') and PJ Torokvei, it stars Jackie ...

''. His best-known television roles included the 1970s ABC television series, ''

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the ser ...

'', in which he had a

recurring role Recurring means occurring repeatedly and can refer to several different things: Mathematics and finance *Recurring expense, an ongoing (continual) expenditure *Repeating decimal, or recurring decimal, a real number in the decimal numeral syste ...

as Todd Ludlow.

Personal life

Bowen died on March 9, 2012, at the age of 61. He was survived by his partner, Judy Holliday, and his daughter. Bowen was a resident of the

Toluca Lake Toluca Lake is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley northwest of downtown. The name is also given to a private natural lake fed by wells and maintained by neighboring property owners. Prio ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1950 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male television actors Male actors from Gainesville, Florida Male actors from Los Angeles United States Navy sailors {{US-film-actor-1950s-stub