Dean Stockwell

Best known for playing Al on Quantum Leap, Dean Stockwell, who passed away yesterday, had quite a long career before he became Scott Bakula's hologram buddy. He was already a child star in the 1940s with roles in Anchors Away and Gentleman's Agreement. He plugged along, always doing solid work. And he often experimented. I still fondly remember his brown corduroy coat and big black moustache from The Dunwich Horror, one of the more entertaining HP Lovecraft adaptations I've seen.

That was in 1970. It would be over a decade later David Lynch cast him in Dune, an appreciably strange performance followed up by something more magnificent in Blue Velvet.

After all this, his biggest role was as the most down-to-earth character you could expect to find on a Sci-Fi series. And year after year, he was a reliable presence on Quantum Leap, and certainly the reason I ever feel like going back and watching the series.