Dean Butler Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Dean Butler was born on May 20, 1956.  He is a Canadian- American actor. He appeared as starring in ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ He is also a producer and a screenwriter. He is currently sixty-two years of age.

Early Life

Dean Butler was born on May 20, 1956, in Prince George in British Columbia, Canada. He was brought up in Piedmont, California. He studied and graduated from the University of Pacific.

Career

In 1976, Dean Butler started his career by appearing as an extra in ‘The Streets of San Francisco.’ He also appeared in commercials. In 1978, he co-starred as Michael Wagner in ‘Forever.’  In 1979, he appeared in ‘Little House on the Prairie’ as Almanzo Wilder a role he portrayed until 1983.  

Dean Butler appeared in ‘Little House; A New Beginning.’ In 1981, he appeared as Gary in ‘Here’s Boomer.’ In 1982, he featured in ‘The Love Boat’ as Stan Barber. In 1983, he appeared in the television film ‘The Kid with the 200 I.Q.’ as Steve Bensfield. He also featured in ‘Fantasy Island’ as Carl Peters.  He appeared in ‘The Love Boat’ as Scott Pryor.

He later featured in the television film ‘The House; Look Back to Yesterday’ as Almanzo Wilder. In 1984, he appeared with the same role of Almanzo Wilder in ‘Little House; The Last Farewell.’ In the same year, he appeared as Harley Balten in an episode of ‘Fantasy Island,’ like Jason in an episode of ‘Who’s the Boss?’ and as Almanzo Wilder in the television Film ‘Little House; Bless All the Dear Children.’

In 1985, he featured in the films ‘Gidget’s Summer reunion’ as Jeff ‘Moondoggie’ Griffin, ‘Desert Hearts’ as Darrell, ‘Hotel’ as Michael Korsak. In 1986, he appeared in ‘The New Gidget’ as Jeff ‘Moondoggie’ Griffin which lasted till 1988.

Dean Butler also appeared in ‘The Love Boat’ as Brent Harper. In 1987, he featured again in ‘Hotel’ as Gary Marsh. In 1989, he appeared in an episode of ‘ABC Afterschool Specials’ as Matthew Green. In 1990, he appeared in ‘Murder, She Wrote’ as Howard Griffin. In 1991 he featured in the films ‘Shades of L.A’ as Dr. Ted Kolfax and ‘Without a Pass’ as Officer #1.

In 1992, he appeared in ‘Tequila and Bonetti’ as Frank Avalon. In 1994, Dean featured in ‘Juana La Cubana.’  He also appeared in ‘Diagnosis: Murder’ as Sly. In 1995, he featured in ‘The Final Goal’ as Valentine. In 1996, he appeared in an episode of ‘Renegade’ as a cop. In 1997, he appeared as Hank Summers ‘Buffy’s dad’ in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ a role that lasted until 2002.

Dean Butler was the producer of the film ‘Fame L.A.’. In 2000, he appeared in the film ‘Cover Me; Based on the True Life of an FBI Family’ as an FBI Agent. He also featured in ‘Ricky 6’ as Vic Portelance.  In 2003, he appeared in an episode of ‘IAG’ as Navy Appellate Court Judge #2. In 2008, he appeared in the feature film ‘Chemical Wedding’ as a Ceremony Man.

He has acted as a producer and narrator for the DVD collections of ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ He has two of his production documentaries that are ‘Little House on Prairie; The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder’ and Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura.’ In 2012, he was the co-executive producer of PBS’s ‘Pa’s Fiddle: The Music of America.’ He currently produces ‘Feherty’ for the Golf Channel.

Personal Life

In 2001, Dean Butler married actress Katherine Cannon who was acting in ‘Beverly Hills 90210’. They currently live in Los Angeles in California. Butler is presently Sixty-two years of age.