Although best known to his fellow countrymen Down Under for his eight-year stint on the wildly popular soap
Neighbours, Dale found stateside fame playing a string of powerful but ruthless characters on American TV. The New Zealand-born actor moved to Australia early on to further his career and became a national icon for his small-sceeen work on
The Young Doctors and the aforementioned
Neighbours.
Even though the latter series turned him into a star, Dale disliked the way the producers treated the cast. Perhaps his unhappiness influenced his decision to try his luck in Hollywood in 2000. Despite being a fiftysomething character actor with little name or face recognition in the U.S., he soon became a ubiquitous presence on the tube, appearing on hit shows like
ER,
The X Files and
24. He was particularly memorable in a trio of similar roles: three villainous tycoons who also happened to be overprotective family men on
The O.C.,
Lost and
Ugly Betty.
Alan Dale Fast Facts:
- Not to be confused with the big-band singer of the same name.
- An avid swimmer and rugby player in his youth.
- Worked a variety of jobs before his acting career took off, including selling cars and real estate, and delivering milk.
- Performed in his parents' theater group and did radio voice-overs in New Zealand before moving to Australia in 1979, where he landed a role on the soap opera The Young Doctors.
- While playing bass in a band with other Neighbours actors at a 1987 charity event, fellow cast member Kylie Minogue sang Little Eva's "The Loco-motion" with them, thus her singing career was born.
- Shared in a 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for ABC dramedy Ugly Betty.
- Alan Dale Relationships:
- Claire - Ex-wife
- Daniel - Son
- Matthew Dale - Son
- Nicholas - Son
- Simon Dale - Son
- Tracey Dale - Wife
