Dakin Matthews

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Dakin Matthews (born November 7, 1940, in Oakland, California) is an American actor with a long history of work in film, television and theater. He is also a playwright, director and theatrical scholar.

Matthews initially aspired to become a Roman Catholic priest, studying in San Francisco and then in Vatican City and Rome's Gregorian University in the 1960s.

His growing interest in drama, however, led him to teach at Juilliard where he taught, among others, Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone. He also acted and taught at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco where Annette Bening was one of his students. He is also an Emeritus Professor of English from California State University at Hayward.

In the 1980s, settling permanently in Los Angeles, Matthews began guest starring in television series, and appearing in films. He starred in series such as Down Home, Soul Man and The Jeff Foxworthy Show. He has made around 100 guest appearances in television, among his credits are such shows as Remington Steele, Dallas, L.A. Law, Just Shoot Me!, Star Trek: Voyager, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, Ally McBeal, The Practice, Charmed, The King of Queens, NYPD Blue, Carnivale and Desperate Housewives.

Dakin has also broadened his career with appearances in over 20 feature films, including Nuts, Clean and Sober, Thirteen Days and Funny Farm and a number of television movies, including And the Band Played On, Baby M and White Mile.

Matthews is also a multiple award-winning stage actor, most recently for his portrayals of C.S. Lewis in South Coast Repertory's Shadowlands", Warwick in Shakespeare's "Henry IV" for Lincoln Center Theater, Undershaft in "Major Barbara" for South Coast Rep, and The Fixer in "Water and Power" for Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles.

He is also a playwright, director, and theater scholar who has published books and articles on Shakespeare and translations of 17th-century Spanish theater. He has been a dramaturg on numerous theatrical productions, including the 2005 Broadway revival of Julius Caesar starring Denzel Washington and the 2003 revival of Henry IV, winning a Drama Desk Award Special Award for his adaptation of the latter.

Matthews was also artistic director of the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival and the California Actors Theatre; an associate artist of the Old Globe Theatre; and a founding member of the John Houseman's Acting Company and The Antaeus Company.

Dakin currently resides with his wife, director Anne McNaughton, in Los Angeles. They have 4 children.