50 Years of Little House on the Prairie: Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder)

 

Dean Butler (born May 20, 1956) is a Canadian-American actor and producer of entertainment, sports, and documentary programming. He is best known for being Almanzo Wilder in the NBC series Little House on the Prairie.

Biography

Early life

Born in Prince George, British Columbia, and raised in Piedmont, California, Butler studied communication arts at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

Career

Butler's career as an actor started with a small part on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco. His first major role was in the 1978 TV movie Forever, based on Judy Blume's novel of the same title.

Butler is best known for his portrayal of Almanzo Wilder on the NBC family drama Little House on the Prairie, which was based on the classic Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He appeared in the final four seasons of the show, the spin-off show Little House: A New Beginning, and the three post-series TV movies. After Little House ended, he played Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin in the TV series The New Gidget and Buffy’s dad, Hank Summers, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Butler was a guest star on various television series, including Murder, She Wrote, Who's the Boss?; The Love Boat; and JAG. He co-starred with the late Gary Coleman in The Kid with the 200 I.Q. He appeared in the movies Desert Hearts and The Final Goal.

Onstage, Butler has performed in the shows of Stephen Sondheim. He appeared on Broadway in the original company of Into the Woods as Rapunzel's Prince, internationally as Tony in West Side Story, and regionally in Company.

Directing and producing

Butler now works largely behind the camera, producing entertainment, sports, and documentary programming. Butler produces Feherty for the Golf Channel, starring David Feherty. In addition, he is a West Coast correspondent for Broadway World, a provider of web content about the performing arts.

Butler has directed, produced, written, and narrated bonus features for Little House on the Prairie DVD collections. He narrated a six-part documentary, The Little House Phenomenon.

Butler has produced two documentaries, Little House on the Prairie: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura, which drew their inspiration from the Little House books of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Additionally, in 2012, Butler co-executive-produced Pa's Fiddle: The Music of America for PBS.

Personal life

Butler is married to actress Katherine Cannon, who played Felice Martin on the television series Beverly Hills 90210. They met when Cannon auditioned for the female lead in the Michael Landon series Father Murphy. They live in Los Angeles, California.

Acting credits

Film

1978       Forever                Michael Wagner               TV movie

1979–1983           Little House on the Prairie            Almanzo Wilder                Main role

1981       Here's Boomer  Gary      Episode: "Good Looking"

1982       The Love Boat   Stan Barber        Episode: "Familiar Faces"

1983       The Kid with the 200 I.Q.               Steve Bensfield                TV movie

Fantasy Island   Carl Peters          Episode: "The Devil Stick/Touch and Go"

The Love Boat   Scott Pryor          Episode: "Kisses and Makeup"

Little House: Look Back to Yesterday       Almanzo Wilder                TV movie

1984       Little House: The Last Farewell

Little House: Bless All the Dear Children

Fantasy Island   Harley Batten    Episode: "Sing Melancholy Baby/The Last Dogfight"

Who's the Boss?               Jason     Episode: "Mona Gets Pinned"

1985       Gidget's Summer Reunion           Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin           TV movie

Desert Hearts    Darrell   Feature film

1986       The Love Boat   Brent Harper      Episode: "Couples/Made for Each Other"

1986–1988           The New Gidget               Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin           Main cast (44 episodes)

1987       Hotel     Gary Marsh        Episode: "All the King's Horses"

1989       ABC Afterschool Specials              Matthew Green               Episode: "Private Affairs"

1990       Murder, She Wrote        Howard Griffin  Episode: "The Fixer-Upper"

1991       Shades of L.A.   Dr. Ted Kolfax    Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part"

Without a Pass  Officer #1 (1965)              Feature film

1992       Tequila and Bonetti         Frank Avalon      Episode: "Brooklyn and the Beast"

1994       Diagnosis: Murder           Sly          Episode: "Georgia on My Mind"

Juana la Cubana                                Feature film

1995       The Final Goal    Valentine m

1996       Renegade           Cop        Episode: "Baby Makes Three"

1997–2002           Buffy the Vampire Slayer             Hank Summers Recurring role

1997       Fame L.A.            Producer             Episode: "Seize the Day"

2000       Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family            FBI Agent            Episode: "The Line"

Ricky 6  Vic Portelance   Feature film

2003       JAG        Navy Appellate Court Judge #2  Episode: "Lawyers, Guns and Money"

2008       Chemical Wedding          Ceremony Man                Feature film (aka Crowley)

Theatre

1988       West Side Story                Tony      International tour

1988-1989            Into the Woods                Rapunzel's Prince

u/s The Wolf / Cinderella's Prince

Broadway

1993       Company             Peter     Los Angeles

Book

Butler, Dean (2024). Prairie Man: My Little House Life & Beyond. Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0-8065-4329-1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Butler_(actor)