Biography

Early life

Midkiff was born in Chance, Maryland, United States, the son of Joyce and Thomas Midkiff. He attended Edgewood High School near Baltimore. His first acting experience came playing Jack in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for a local children's theater. His later roles were in The Intruder and Room Service. Dale graduated in 1977 and won a drama award from his high school. Midkiff then attended Salisbury University in Maryland, majoring in communication arts with a minor in English and philosophy. Following graduation, he went to New York City, where he held various odd jobs, including performing quick change for the showgirls at the Rainbow Grill in Rockefeller Center.

Career

Midkiff acted in off-Broadway plays like Mark Medoff's The Wager. His first movie role was in Roger Corman's Streetwalkin' playing a pimp named Duke. Dale's acting was called "grittily impressive" in what some consider a B-movie classic. He has said in interviews that while his family never quite understood his interest in acting, they never discouraged him: "I love them for allowing a kid to believe in his dreams."

His first major break came when he landed the role of Jock Ewing in Dallas: The Early Years. That was followed by what many consider his biggest role to date, Elvis Presley, in the four-hour miniseries, Elvis and Me, and by Dream Street, a short-lived "blue collar" series set in New Jersey. Midkiff's roles have run the gamut from the wife beater in A Cry For Help: The Tracey Thurman Story, to the "good old boy" cop who discovers his partner/best friend is a murderer in Vigilante Cop, to the heroic time-traveling fugitive retrieval cop in Time Trax, to the amiable ladies' man and town protector in The Magnificent Seven. He is also well known for having played the lead role of Louis Creed in the 1989 film version of Stephen King's Pet Sematary.

Filmography

[ Source: Wikipedia ]