HOLLYWOOD ACTOR DEAN Stockwell, star of the TV series Quantum Leap and films such as Dune, Blue Velvet and Paris, Texas, has died aged 85. 

He died in his sleep at home, Variety reports. 

Stockwell’s career began when he was just a child and started working under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s. One of his early roles was alongside Gregory Peck in Elia Kazan’s film Gentleman’s Agreement, which won the Best Picture award at the Oscars in 1947. 

He suffered some career blows after dropping out of acting in the 1960s, and by the early 80s ended up getting a real estate license and changing career.

However, that was only temporarily and by the early 1980s he was back in Hollywood. His acting career was then brought to a new level with roles in David Lynch’s Dune and Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas, and tributes from many today noted how great he was as a scene stealer. 

One of his most famous roles was in the TV series Quantum Leap, alongside Scott Bakula, which ran from 1989 – 1993. Stockwell received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in Married to the Mob in 1988.

In the latter stages of his career, before he retired in 2015, Stockwell had roles in Battlestar Galactica (as Brother Cavil), and films such as the Manchurian Candidate remake. He was also an artist, and worked with both collage and sculpture.