Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Ron Dean, Veteran Chicago Character Actor in The Fugitive and The Breakfast Club, Dies at 87

His partner confirmed the Oct. 5 passing; no cause has been released.

Overview

  • Longtime partner Maggie Neff said he died at 4 p.m. after his sisters said their goodbyes and shared a personal tribute to his final moments.
  • Director Andrew Davis, who cast Dean in seven films, remembered him as "the essence of what Chicago talent represented."
  • Dean built a five-decade career playing cops and blue-collar Chicagoans, accumulating nearly 100 film, TV and stage credits.
  • Notable screen roles included The Breakfast Club, The Fugitive, The Dark Knight and recurring turns on Frasier and Chicago Fire.
  • Born in Chicago in 1938, he worked on local stages including Goodman and Steppenwolf and earned a 1996 Joseph Jefferson Award nomination; his final screen credit was a 2016 episode of Chicago P.D.