Biography
Over the course of three decades, Ron Dean has built a successful supporting acting career around playing corrupt cops, tough detectives, and no-nonsense authority figures. He soon landed supporting parts in films like "Risky Business," about one high school teenager's wild weekend, and "The Toughest Man in the World," which starred Mr. T as a soft on the inside nightclub bouncer who mentors a group of disadvantaged kids. In 1985, Dean landed a small but memorable role as Emilio Estevez' overbearing father in the classic "Brat Pack" film, "The Breakfast Club," and later appeared as an off the rails cop in the short-lived legal drama, "Lady Blue." Dean next played a tough Chicago police chief in the quickly canceled, "Crime Story," which followed the uneasy relationship between a mobster and the detective out to destroy him; the show's reliance on drawn-out storylines and realistic dialogue later proved a major influence on shows like "Wiseguy" and "The Sopranos." He worked steadily through the '80s, most notably appearing as Tom Cruise's wise uncle in the barroom drama, "Cocktail." After portraying a shady cop in the 1993 film adaptation of the '60s chase thriller, "The Fugitive," Dean joined the cast of the fantasy mystery series, "Early Edition," as an aging Chicago police detective and later appeared opposite Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart as a double-crossing cop in the blockbuster film, "The Dark Knight."
