Charles Hallahan (Charles John Hallahan)
Charles John Hallahan (July 29, 1943 – November 25, 1997) was an American film, television and stage actor known for his performances in Going in Style, The Thing, Cast a Deadly Spell, and Dante’s Peak. Hallahan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated from Rutgers University, then going on to Temple University to earn a Master’s degree in fine arts. During his acting career he was often cast as a police officer, and is possibly best known to TV viewers as LAPD Captain Charlie Devane on Hunter. He was memorable for his portrayal of the nameless “Coach” in Vision Quest, opposite Matthew Modine. He also served in the US Navy in the early 1960s, including time as a Navy hospital corpsmen stationed in Puerto Rico. His two most famous film roles, arguably, were as the geologist Vance Norris in John Carpenter’s The Thing and as the volcanologist Dr. Paul Dreyfus in Dante’s Peak. Hallahan also co-starred as a regular cast member in two popular television series, Grace Under Fire and the long-running The Paper Chase. He has a brother, Fr. Kenneth Hallahan, a Roman Catholic priest in New Jersey. In 1997, Hallahan was cast as Liam Bilby in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Honor Among Thieves”, but on November 25, 1997, he was involved in an auto accident caused by a heart attack while driving, and died. Nick Tate agreed to assume the role in Hallahan’s memory. Hallahan is buried in Cobh Harbor in the south of Ireland from where his grandparents originated.
Born
- July, 29, 1943
- USA
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died
- November, 25, 1997
- USA
- Los Angeles, California
Cause of Death
- heart attack
Cemetery
- Old Church Cemetery
- Cobh, County Cork, Ireland