| Dennis Dugan | |
|---|---|
 Dennis Dugan twice made guest appearances on the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H, first in Season 2 then in Season 11. | |
| Personal Information | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Born: | September 5, 1946 |
| Birthplace | Wheaton, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actor, film director, comedian |
| Spouse(s): | Joyce Van Patten (1973–1987; divorced) Sharon O'Connor (?-Present) |
| Character information | |
| Appeared on/in: | M*A*S*H |
| Episodes appeared in: | "Love and Marriage" (Season 3) "Strange Bedfellows"(Season 11) |
| Character(s) played: | Private Danny McShane/Robert "Bob" Wilson |
Dennis Dugan (born September 5, 1946) is an American actor, director, and comedian. He is most famous for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, with whom he directed the films Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Grown Ups, Just Go with It, Jack and Jill, and Grown Ups 2.
Life and career[]
Born in Wheaton, Illinois on September 5, 1946, the son of Marion and Charles Dugan, Dennis started his acting career in 1972, appearing in the 1973 made for TV movie The Girl Most Likely to.... He has appeared in such films as the 1976 films Harry and Walter Go to New York and Norman... Is That You? In 1979, he was cast as the time-displaced hero in Unidentified Flying Oddball, Disney's updated remake of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In 1981 he appeared in Joe Dante's adaptation of The Howling. His first notable television appearance was in the Columbo episode "Last Salute to the Commodore", as a young police officer.
Acting roles[]
Dennis was the star of the short-lived 1978 series Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, playing a character who originated in a television movie, and then made guest appearances in the role of Brockelman on The Rockford Files before getting his own show. He took on a semi-regular role as an erstwhile caped-crusader who called himself "Captain Freedom" on Hill Street Blues and also appeared on Empire (1984), and Shadow Chasers (1984). He played Walter Bishop, briefly the husband of Maddie Hayes (Cybil Shepherd) on Moonlighting. Dugan's other film credits of the 1980s include the 1987 romantic comedy Can't Buy Me Love and the 1988 film The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking.
On M*A*S*H[]
Dugan is one of a handful of non-Asian guest stars who played multiple roles on M*A*S*H. In Season 3's "Love and Marriage", he played Private Danny McShane, a young, clean-cut GI who tried to get the doctors to sign off on a marriage to his call girl Korean fiancé. When the marriage broker makes a visit to the Swamp, it's revealed that McShane's actually been in on the scam the whole time.
Eight years later in the Season 11 episode "Strange Bedfellows", Dugan returned as Col. Sherman T. Potter's son-in-law Bob Wilson. Bob happens to be on a business trip in Korea and swings by the 4077th. During his visit, Potter gets a call from the Tokyo hotel where his son-in-law was staying, asking if "Mrs. Wilson" wants her nightgown back. The Colonel is furious because his daughter is Stateside taking care of his grandchild, which means Bob must have had an affair. Before Bob leaves, the two patch things up when Potter reveals a secret about his marriage, and they agree that a single "slip-up" shouldn't screw up three people's lives.
Career as director[]
Dennis has also made a career as a television and film director, and appears in cameo parts in many of his films. Films directed by Dennis Dugan include the 1990 comedy Problem Child, Brain Donors,[1] the 2001 comedy Saving Silverman (in which Dugan plays a football referee), the 2003 comedy National Security, and the 1996 and 1999 Adam Sandler comedies Happy Gilmore (in which Dugan plays Doug Thompson, the golf tour supervisor) and Big Daddy (with Dugan as a man who reluctantly gives candy to a trick-or-treating Julian). Dugan has directed episodes of such television series as Moonlighting (was also a guest star in some episodes), Ally McBeal, and NYPD Blue.
Dugan directed The Benchwarmers, a comedy released on April 7, 2006. The film, co-produced by Adam Sandler, is about trio of men who try to make up for missed opportunities in childhood by forming a three-player baseball team to compete against standard Little League squads. Dugan himself has a bit part as Coach Bellows. Dugan directed the 2007 comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and You Don't Mess with the Zohan in 2008, both Adam Sandler vehicles.
Dugan directed Grown Ups, which follows a group of high school friends who are reunited after thirty years for the Fourth of July. The film stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade, and was released in the summer of 2010 with major box office success, but was overwhelmingly panned by critics.
Dugan's Just Go with It was his sixth film with Sandler; the film also starred Jennifer Aniston and Brooklyn Decker. Also in 2011, Dugan directed the film Jack & Jill, again with Sandler.
Dugan directed Grown Ups 2, which was released July 2013. Sandler, James, Rock and Spade all reprised their roles, while Rob Schneider was unable to do so due to scheduling conflicts.
To date, Dugan's films have grossed over $1 billion worldwide.[2]
Personal life[]
He has been married twice, first to actress Joyce Van Patten in 1973, before divorcing in 1987. Dugan then wed Sharon O'Connor, to whom he is still married.
In June 2009, Dugan's son, Kelly Dugan, was drafted with the 75th overall selection by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Major League Baseball Draft, and has played for four of the club's minor league teams since including the Gulf Coast Phillies, Williamsport Crosscutters, Lakeland BlueClaws and now currently with the Reading Phillies.[3]
Directing credits[]
| Name | Year | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter | 1987 | 2 episodes |
| Wiseguy | 1988 | "Phantom Pain" |
| Moonlighting | 1988–1989 | 5 episodes |
| Problem Child | 1990 | |
| Brain Donors | 1992 | |
| Doogie Howser, M.D. | 1993 | "What Makes Doogie Run" |
| Columbo | 1993 | "Butterfly in Shades of Grey" |
| Burke's Law | 1994 | "Who Killed Nick Hazard?" |
| L.A. Law | 1993–1994 | 2 episodes |
| Traps | 1994 | |
| The Byrds of Paradise | 1994 | 2 episodes |
| The Shaggy Dog | 1994 | made-for-TV movie |
| Marker | 1995 | in episode "The Pilot" |
| Picket Fences | 1994–1995 | 2 episodes |
| Chicago Hope | 1995 | in episode titled "Freeze Outs" |
| Happy Gilmore | 1996 | also appeared aa Doug Thompson |
| Beverly Hills Ninja | 1997 | |
| The Love Boat: The Next Wave | 1998 | directed episode "Smooth Sailing" |
| Ally McBeal | 1998 | "Alone Again" |
| Big Daddy | 1999 | Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director |
| Shasta McNasty | 1999 | "Pilot" |
| Saving Silverman | 2001 | Also known as Evil Woman. |
| A Screwball Homicide | 2003 | TV movie |
| National Security | 2003 | |
| NYPD Blue | 1993–2004 | |
| The Mullets | 2004 | "Silent But Deadly" |
| Karroll's Christmas | 2004 | TV movie |
| Hope & Faith | 2005 | "Wife Swap" (Parts 1 and 2) |
| The Benchwarmers | 2006 | |
| I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry | 2007 | Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director |
| You Don't Mess with the Zohan | 2008 | |
| Grown Ups | 2010 | Basketball Referee |
| Just Go with It | 2011 | Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director |
| Jack and Jill | 2011 | |
| Grown Ups 2 | 2013 | Pending — Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director |
References[]
- ↑ Maslin, Janet. "A Night At the Ballet Run Amok", The New York Times, April 18, 1992.
- ↑ Dugan, Dennis "Dennis Dugan: A quiet hitmaker", Variety, 3 December 2010. Retrieved on 21 March 2013.
- ↑ Dugan, Kelly "Kelly Dugan Minor League Statistics & History", Baseball Reference. Retrieved on 21 March 2013.
