Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder. Some of his notable credits include Breaking Away, The Right Stuff, Wyatt Earp, The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Vantage Point, Footloose, Frequency, The Parent Trap, Yours, Mine & Ours and Soul Surfer. For his role in Far from Heaven (2002) he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor and several other accolades.
Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Juanita B. "Nita" Quaid, a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. Quaid has English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Cajun (French) ancestry, and was raised in the Baptist faith. He is the younger brother of actor Randy Quaid.