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Dennis Christopher
Dennis Christopher @ the Flanvention.jpg
Christopher in 2005
Born
Dennis Christopher Carrelli

(1950-12-02) December 2, 1950 (age 74)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1967–2016

Dennis Christopher Carrelli (born December 2, 1950) is an American actor who has retired from acting. He is known for his roles in movies like Breaking Away (1979), Chariots of Fire (1981), and Django Unchained (2012). He also appeared in the TV miniseries It (1990).

Dennis Christopher's Early Life

Dennis Christopher Carrelli was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 2, 1950. He was the youngest of four children. His father, Vincent Albert Carrelli, worked as an insurance salesman. His mother was Anna Marie Doogan.

He went to Monsignor Bonner High School and graduated in 1968. After high school, he attended Temple University but left in 1969 to pursue acting.

Dennis Christopher's Acting Career

Dennis Christopher started his acting journey in 1967. He had a small role in a TV show called The Time Tunnel. Later, he met famous director Federico Fellini in Rome. This meeting led to Christopher getting a part as a hippie in Fellini's 1972 film, Roma.

Pat Ast, Dennis Christopher, and Shelley Duvall (1975)
Dennis Christopher with Pat Ast (left) and Shelley Duvall (right) in August 1975.

Breaking Away: A Big Break

Christopher's most famous role was playing Dave Stohler in the movie Breaking Away (1979). This film is about young people growing up. His acting in this movie was highly praised. He won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer. He also received the Youth in Film Award for Best Juvenile Actor. He was even nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Other Notable Roles

After Breaking Away, Christopher took on many different roles. He played American track star Charlie Paddock in the movie Chariots of Fire (1981). He was also Eric Binford in the thriller Fade to Black (1980).

On television, he played Eddie Kaspbrak in Stephen King's miniseries It (1990). He also appeared in the HBO series Deadwood. Christopher even guest-starred in two Star Trek episodes. These were "The Search (Part II)" on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and "Detained" on Star Trek: Enterprise. He also played the demon-sorcerer Cyvus Vail in three episodes of Angel.

Working with Quentin Tarantino

In 2012, Dennis Christopher was cast as Leonide Moguy in Quentin Tarantino's movie Django Unchained. Tarantino told Christopher that he had watched all of Christopher's films. Christopher really enjoyed working on Django Unchained. He said that making the film made him very happy.

Film Roles

Dennis Christopher has appeared in many films. Here are some of them:

Year Title Role
1971 Blood and Lace Pete
1972 Roma The Hippie
1978 A Wedding Hughie Brenner
1979 Breaking Away Dave Stohler
1980 Fade to Black Eric Binford
1981 Chariots of Fire Charles Paddock
1986 Jake Speed Desmond Floyd
1990 Circuitry Man Leech
1993 Necronomicon: Book of the Dead Dale Porkel
2012 Django Unchained Leonide Moguy
2013 Prisoners Mr. Jones

Television Roles

Dennis Christopher has also had many roles on television:

Year Title Role
1967 The Time Tunnel Young Merlin
1979 Elvis Nick Adams
1983 Faerie Tale Theatre Jack
1990 It Eddie Kaspbrak
1990–93 Murder, She Wrote Dr. Henry Carlson / Lyman Tagart
1994 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Borath
1996–99 Profiler Jack of All Trades / Albert Newquay / Sheriff Ed Post
2002 Star Trek: Enterprise Danik
2003 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Roger Coffman
2004 Angel Cyvus Vail
2006 Deadwood Bellegarde
2006 The Lost Room Dr. Martin Ruber
2008 Criminal Minds Abner Merriman

See also

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