Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954)[1] is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include Breaking Away (1979), The Right Stuff (1983), The Big Easy (1986), Innerspace (1987), Great Balls of Fire! (1989), Dragonheart (1996), The Parent Trap (1998), Frequency (2000), The Rookie (2002), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), In Good Company (2004), Yours, Mine & Ours (2005), and Vantage Point (2008).
His other film credits include Any Given Sunday (1999), Traffic (2000), The Alamo (2004), Flight of the Phoenix (2004), American Dreamz (2006), Battle for Terra (2007), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Footloose (2011), Soul Surfer (2011), Beneath the Darkness (2012), Playing for Keeps (2012), Truth (2015), The Pretenders (2018), Midway (2019), The Intruder (2019), Blue Miracle (2021), and American Underdog (2021). For his role in Far from Heaven (2002), he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor among other accolades. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.[2]
His older brother Randy Quaid was a cast member on SNL during Season 11.
He hosted Saturday Night Live on the December 15, 1990 episode, the ninth episode and the Christmas show of Season 16, with musical guests The Neville Brothers.