Dennis Quaid Net Worth

Biography of Dennis Quaid

During his career, Dennis Quaid was able to get rid of the title of “double Harrison Ford” and become an independent artist with his own army of fans. But in his life there were many weaknesses and addictions that could put an end not only to work, but also to the life of an artist.

early years

Dennis Quaid was born in the heart of Texas – Houston – April 9, 1954. The boy became the second son in the family – by the time of his appearance, his brother Randy was already 4 years old. The boys’ father worked as an electrician, and their mother worked as a realtor, engaged in commercial real estate.

Both sons from early childhood showed an interest in creativity. Dennis recalled that when his parents left for work, his older brother locked himself in a room and rehearsed parody skits alone with a tape recorder. Later, Randy became an actor, nominated for an Oscar and received a Golden Globe.

Dennis, on the other hand, spent his youth playing the guitar and, although he did not consider himself a virtuoso musician, he still tried to compose songs. At the school where Quaid went in 1961, the boy studied secondary, studied dancing and Chinese.

The real shock for Dennis was the divorce of his parents, who separated when he was in high school. He withdrew into himself, was almost never at home, and in 1972 moved to a dormitory at the University of Houston, enrolling in the drama department. But even creative studies bored the young man, and he dropped out to leave Texas for Los Angeles.

First roles

The bright and noisy city after the quiet Houston fascinated Dennis. He did not leave the dream of becoming an actor, participating in various auditions, but there were no successful castings. Quaid lived on unemployment benefits and odd jobs, for example, he entertained children in a clown costume at a local amusement park, worked as a waiter.

Luck smiled at him in 1975, when he first appeared on the set. In the comedy action movie Crazy Mom, Quaid played only a couple of minutes, and his name was not even indicated in the credits. But the actor took it as a good sign.

Over the next four years, he starred in several more cameo roles, and his first notable character appears in the 1979 film Breaking Away. The sports drama, in which Dennis played one of the four main roles, won an Oscar for Best Screenplay, and Quaid was finally noticed by the producers.

Career heyday

In 1981, he took part in the filming of the comedy The Caveman with Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach. And after 2 years, he tried himself in horror, starring in the film “Jaws-3” in the title role.

Outwardly, Dennis was very similar to Harrison Ford, already known at that time, for which he was even called the younger brother of Han Solo from Star Wars. Since 1984, Quaid himself has been increasingly active in the science fiction genre.

In the film “Escape from Sleep”, he played a psychic who can penetrate people’s dreams. A year later, the drama “My Enemy” was released, where humanity faced the civilization of humanoids. And in 1986, Dennis played in the adventure fantasy “Inner Space”, where, besides him, Martin Short and Meg Ryan also starred.

But in the same year, the actor decided to get out of the usual image of an “intergalactic rescuer” and tried himself in the experimental drama “Big High”, playing a policeman in a city where the drug trade flourishes. Quaid was awarded the Independent Spirit Award for his work.

The film will appeal to both viewers and film critics, but there was a downside to success. While filming The Big High, Quaid became addicted to drugs. He himself later called this time “the big cocaine period.”

The actor slept an hour a day and “was like a squirrel in a wheel”: “I woke up, sniffed the strip and swore that I was done with it for today. But at four o’clock everything was repeated … “.

As a result, in 1988, Dennis ended up in a rehabilitation clinic and, upon returning to freedom, realized that no one wanted to offer him a job.

Sunset and return

By the early 1990s, Dennis’s career was in decline. He sometimes appeared in films, for example, in 1994 he played with Kevin Costner in the western Wyatt Earp, in 1995 he starred in the melodrama Reason for Talking with Julia Roberts. But more than one project a year with the actor did not come out.

Quaid tried different genres – he starred in the fantasy Dragonheart (1996), the crime thriller Rollercoaster (1997) and the family comedy The Parent Trap (1998). The last film was the debut for the young Lindsay Lohan, who played twin girls in the film.

Dennis really regained his popularity in 2002, with the release of the retro drama Far From Heaven. The film tackled complex racial and gender themes, with Quaid playing a 1950s businessman who rethinks his sexuality. In these new realities, not only the hero had to live, but also his wife, played by Julianne Moore. Dennis received several awards from film critics and was nominated for a Golden Globe.

And although Quaid did not receive the coveted film award, losing it to his colleague Chris Cooper that year, the actor again became in demand. In 2004, he starred in the disaster film The Day After Tomorrow directed by Roland Emmerich, playing the father of the protagonist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

After 4 years, Dennis, along with Sarah Jessica Parker, took part in the filming of the comedy “Eggheads”. And in 2009, he joined the G.I. Joe team as General Hawk for the superhero movie Cobra Rush. Along with him, Channing Tatum, Brendan Fraser and Sienna Miller starred in the action movie.

In 2012, Dennis was busy in several high-grossing films at once – from the comedy with Gerard Butler “The Hot Man” to the drama with Bradley Cooper “The Words”. And in 2017, Quaid played one of his fans’ favorite roles: in Lasse Hallstreem’s film A Dog’s Life, he played the role of the owner of a dog named Bailey.

Personal life of Dennis Kuyed

The family life of the actor was constantly shaken by scandals covered in the media. In 1978, he married actress PJ Sauls. They starred in several films together, but Quaid’s participation in the thriller Jaws 3 ruined their marriage. On the set, the actor became interested in his colleague Lea Thompson, and in 1983 he broke up with his wife for her sake.

Roman Leah and Dennis lasted three years, but the wedding never ended. The actress was unhappy with the order of Quaid, who drowned his worries due to his growing popularity in drugs and alcohol.

But addictions did not prevent the actor from starting a new romance on the set of Inner Space in 1987. Meg Ryan immediately fell in love with Quaid, unaware of his problems. But even when the secret became clear, the actress did not turn away from her chosen one and forced him to go to a rehabilitation clinic. In 1991, they got married, and the next year their son Jack appeared in their family (now he is also an actor, known from the TV series The Boys).

Meg and Dennis were called one of the most beautiful couples in American show business. The actress supported her husband in everything: in the mid-90s, they again had to turn to psychiatrists, because Quaid developed anorexia nervosa due to weight loss for the film Wyatt Earp.

The actors divorced in 2001 after it became known about Meg Ryan’s “office romance” with co-star Russell Crowe.

In 2003, Dennis met a young realtor, Kimberly Buffington, while visiting friends in Texas. The actor immediately charmed his companion, who was 18 years younger than him. A year later they celebrated their wedding. And in November 2007, a surrogate mother gave birth to twins Thomas and Zoe for a couple.

The happy event almost turned into a drama: the medical staff of the hospital gave the newly born twins drugs, mistakenly exceeding their dosage several times. The children were saved, but the actor decided to seek justice. He sued the drug manufacturer, saying that the packages with different concentrations of substances are too similar to each other.

Dennis has since become a patient safety advocate and has produced several documentaries on preventable medical errors.

Quaid and Buffington’s relationship, meanwhile, has been on a rollercoaster ride. In 2012, Kimberly filed for divorce, but withdrew the application a month later. She repeated an attempt to leave in November of the same year, but the couple reconciled again. Finally, in 2016, Dennis and Kimberly announced their final divorce.

The legal debate lasted two years, so the actor became a bachelor only in 2018. All this time he spent not alone, but in a relationship with a young model and aspiring actress Santa Ozina.

In 2024, Dennis married for the fourth time. This time, his chosen one was a charming blonde student Laura Savoy. The girl turned out to be 39 years younger than her husband, and Quaid’s eldest son, Jack, is a year older than his stepmother. But the actor was not embarrassed by such a difference in age: according to him, they and Laura were rallied together by faith in God and love.

He also spent his free time on his favorite hobbies. Since the 1980s, Dennis has been playing guitar in his own band, the Sharks, who have composed soundtracks for some of the actor’s films. In addition, he has always loved golf and in 2005 even received the title of the best golfer among the actors.

Dennis Quaid now

After his return to the screens in the early 2000s, Dennis pleased the audience with new roles every year. In 2019, the film “A Dog’s Life-2” was released, where the actor repeated the role from the first part.

In 2024, he starred in the sports drama Born a Champion and the biopic Miracle in the Ocean. Also in 2024, filming began on a biography of US President Ronald Reagan, where Quaid played the title role.

Interesting Facts

In 2024, Dennis Quaid began hosting a podcast dedicated to pets. In one of the episodes of the show, the actor said that he drew attention to the plot of a news channel in Virginia, which told about a shelter cat. The animal was named after the actor. Quaid immediately decided that he should take the namesake to his home, and contacted the administration of the shelter. Soon a six-year-old black cat Dennis Quaid settled down in the actor’s office.

Important dates in life

1. 1972 – entered the drama department of the University of Houston
2. 1975 – made his film debut in the action comedy “Crazy Mom”
3. 1979 – Played one of the main roles in the film “Leaving to Breakaway”
4. 1981 – took part in the filming of the comedy “Caveman”
5. 1983 – starred in the horror “Jaws-3”
6. 1984 – Played in the movie “Escape from sleep”
7. 1985 – starred in the film “My Enemy”
8. 1986 – played in the films “Inner Space” and “Big High”
9. 1990 – married actress Meg Ryan
10. 1991 son Jack was born
11. 1994 – took part in the filming of the western “Wyatt Earp”
12. 1998 – starred in the family comedy “The Parent Trap”
13. 2002 – starred in the drama “Far from Heaven”
14. 2002 – Received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor
15. 2004 – starred in the disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow
16. year 2009 – starred in the action movie “Cobra Throw”
17. year 2012 – took part in the filming of the drama “Words”
18. 2017 – starred in the film “A Dog’s Life”
19. 2019 – took part in the filming of the sequel “A Dog’s Life 2”
20. 2021 – starred in the biographical drama “Reagan”

Top Movies