| Daniel Quinn | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 19 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1987–present |
Daniel Quinn (born August 19) is an American actor.
Daniel Quinn is from Milwaukee, where his father Roger worked for Pabst Brewing Company and his mother Rosemary owned and operated an employment agency. He was raised in Wisconsin with his two older sisters, Kathleen and Colleen. He began performing at the age of eight, appearing as Kurt in The Sound of Music. That same year he formed his first garage band, on drums. At the age of 10 he appeared as Winthrop in The Music Man and started marching in a drum and bugle corps, eventually joining the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps from La Crosse, Wisconsin. He also appeared in commercials, starring as the “Big Boy” for the hamburger chain’s local franchise, Marc’s Big Boy. The stage was set.
Part of the Quinn family owned dairy farms outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Daniel spent many days as a child. He began riding horses at the age of 6, sparking his lifelong passion for horses - Daniel would make good use of his equestrian skills later in his acting career, as he has starred in four western film productions.
At 17, he became a member of the International Thespian Society and traveled to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. While in Europe, he also studied at the Royal Shakespeare Company school at Stratford-upon-Avon.
Returning from London, Daniel appeared in several regional productions, including The King and I, Carousel, and a local production of West Side Story. During that production he met and fell in love with a ballet dancer in the Milwaukee Ballet. Daniel began to dance classically. With his musical background and his passion for dance as a firm foundation, he soon joined the Milwaukee Ballet Company, performing a season of The Nutcracker.
Daniel moved to New York City at 19 to pursue his artistic dreams, making a brief stop on scholarship with the Harkness Ballet school, and also with ballet master David Howard. He was then accepted on scholarship into the New York City Ballet’s School of American Ballet at Juilliard. He became deeply immersed in the strict discipline of classical dance, and was honored to have George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins choreograph original pieces on him. He danced two years with the New York City Ballet, and one season for Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino in the Joffrey Ballet and Joffrey II ballet companies.
In 1980 Jerome Robbins revived the Broadway production of West Side Story. Daniel returned to his roots in musical theater, making his Broadway debut at the Minskoff Theatre in the role of Gee-tar, with the Big Deal understudy, and quickly moved into the role of Big Deal with the Riff understudy. Two weeks after West Side Story closed, Daniel booked Robert Moore’s Broadway production of Woman of the Year with Lauren Bacall and Harry Guardino at the Palace Theatre, opening in the original cast ensemble. During the show’s run, he was asked to perform the role of Riff in the European Broadway tour of West Side Story. He toured four months throughout Italy and Monte Carlo, ending up in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet for a sold-out nine-month run. He then returned to the U.S. and into Woman of the Year, where he assumed the role of Alexi Petrokov. After Woman of the Year closed in 1984, Daniel began performing in several television commercials and music videos.
Daniel’s friend and mentor, actor Paul Sorvino, guided him into studies with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse and Wynn Handman at Carnegie Hall. In 1985, Sorvino cast and directed Daniel in the off Broadway revival of The Rainmaker, where he played the role of Jim Curry, opposite Gary Sandy.
In 1987 Daniel appeared in the original off-Broadway play Out in America, opposite Daryl Hannah. Also in 1987, he performed in The Adventures of William Tell and the television series Crossbow, shot in France.
In 1988, director John Frankenheimer brought Daniel to Los Angeles for his first major feature film, Dead Bang. Within months, Daniel had landed guest starring roles in several episodics and movies, including a three-part Hunter with Fred Dryer, a two-part Matlock with Andy Griffith, China Beach, and several movies of the week. Daniel appeared in NBC’s first season of Baywatch and was asked back for several episodes when the show went to USA cable network.
The first major film Daniel shot after arriving in LA was David Lynch’s Wild at Heart. Lynch hand-picked him for the role of Tom Mix. He then shot Pierre David's Scanner Cop in 1993, in which he originated the starring role of the police scanner Samuel Staziak, a role which he reprised in Scanner Cop 2, also released as Scanners: The Showdown.
In 1992 Daniel was presented for an Emmy nomination for the role of Emilio in Jackie Collins' Lady Boss. Daniel continued to show his dramatic range in several television series including NYPD Blue, opposite Dennis Franz, ER opposite Julianna Margulies, Crossing Jordan, opposite Jill Hennessy, The X-Files, opposite David Duchovny, Without a Trace, opposite Anthony LaPaglia, and, more recently, in Criminal Minds, opposite Joe Mantegna. One of the highlights of Daniel’s acting career was appearing in Diagnosis: Murder opposite one of his childhood idols, Dick Van Dyke.
In 2003 he landed contract roles on The Young and the Restless and Port Charles. He was again presented for an Emmy nomination for the role of Ralph Hunnicutt on The Young and the Restless.
Other film appearances include Louis L'Amour’s Conagher, opposite Sam Elliott, The Last Outlaw, opposite Mickey Rourke, Miracle at Sage Creek, opposite David Carradine, Raising Flagg, opposite Alan Arkin, and The Avenging Angel, opposite James Coburn and Tom Berenger.
Daniel has completed filming six episodes of the new television show twentysixmiles. The show shot on Catalina Island with Daniel as a series lead opposite John Schneider. The show is currently in the distribution stage, but can be found on the website Hulu.com free of charge. His portrayal of the role of Dirk Stillwell allowed Daniel to return to his musical roots, not only acting in the production, but also playing drums and singing. Daniel has also completed the feature film Rubber, starring opposite Wings Hauser, for French director Quentin Dupieux. Rubber did well at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, where it was acclaimed as a future sci-fi cult classic. Rubber was sold for international theatrical distribution, and its release date has not yet been announced. Daniel most recently completed the comedy feature film Karaoke Man, which was filmed in Los Angeles. Daniel worked opposite Brian Dietzen and Bug Hall, and was directed by Mike Petty.
Daniel currently resides in Los Angeles. He has been outspoken against the closure of the Motion Picture Home’s Long Term Care Unit.