Whether you remember him from Battlestar Galactica or The A-Team, chances are Dirk Benedict will be instantly familiar to you if you were a child of the seventies or eighties.
The actor, now aged 81, was a television icon thanks to his long-running roles in the two hit shows, but largely stepped away from the public eye while raising his two children. Find out what Dirk looks like now, and what he's been up to in the 45 years since his television breakthrough…
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© NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesHe was a TV icon
Dirk had two long-running television roles in Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team, and while he had a few acting roles afterwards, he believes that his latter role was ultimately detrimental to his acting career.
"No, my career ended with The A-Team. I haven’t done anything in 30 years. I mean, I have, but I haven’t had a job in Hollywood since 1989. I mean when The A-Team was over I basically never worked again, not in Hollywood," he told Geeks of Doom in 2013.
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© BBC News & Current Affairs via GMinor acting roles
While Dirk said The A-Team was the end of his Hollywood career, he has continued to have some small acting roles, with his most recent acting credit in Charlie's Christmas Wish in 2020. He also made a cameo in The A-Team movie in 2010, something which he later said he regretted.
"I regret doing it. Mr. T was right not to do it, they got rid of all the qualities that made it such an international hit … it was like someone said, 'let’s find everything that really made this show unique and get rid of that and just make kind of an average action movie’," he said.
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© Getty ImagesA devoted dad
One of the reasons for stepping back from acting was to focus on raising his two sons from his marriage to actress Toni Hudson, whom he got custody of following their split. "But, you know, being healthy is the best revenge and as a result of all this and sort of because of the fact, I made a conscious decision to be present in the lives of my children, I have no regrets," Dirk told Geeks of Doom.
"So I have three beautiful sons, two of them I raised pretty much by myself and I’m proud of them. They’re fantastic kids."
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© NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesHe's passionate about health
Dirk is known for embracing alternative lifestyles and wellness philosophies, and shared details of his unconventional health journey in his memoir, Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy.
He followed a vegetarian and macrobiotic diet, which he said helped to alleviate various health issues including arthritis and hair loss.
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© PA Images via Getty ImagesHe wouldn't rule out a return to acting
Dirk has remained a regular presence at fan conventions and retrospective projects celebrating his television legacy, but he wouldn't rule out working on some new projects too. Speaking in 2013, he confessed: "I’d love to act again, I’d love to have a part in a film, a good part in a film like some cranky old guy."
