Dennis Quaid dropped out of college to pursue an acting career. After his breakout role in 1979’s Breaking Away, he never looked back, starring in a wide variety of films ranging from huge hits (1983’s The Right Stuff) to disappointments (1983’s Jaws 3-D). Quaid found renewed success in the 1990s with such films as Any Given Sunday, Frequency and Far from Heaven, for which he was named Best Supporting Actor by the New York Film Critics Circle.

Dennis William Quaid was born on April 9, 1954, in Houston, Texas. After following in the footsteps of his older brother Randy Quaid (also an accomplished actor) to the University of Houston, Quaid dropped out in 1974, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. 

Movies

'Breaking Away' and 'The Right Stuff'

Quaid landed a bit role in Jonathan Demme's Crazy Mama (1975) but made his first substantial big-screen appearance in the 1978 film September 30, 1955. Quaid's breakthrough role came in the acclaimed film Breaking Away (1979), which won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.