William Dear

• 1. Introduction

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  William Dear was born in Toronto, Ontario, on the 30th of November 1943. He worked as a Canadian actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Audiences know his name from directing Harry and the Hendersons, If Looks Could Kill, Angels in the Outfield, Wild America, and Santa Who? Dear also directed episodes of Saturday Night Live, Television Parts, Amazing Stories, Dinosaurs, Covington Cross, and The Wannabes Starring Savvy. How did one director move between family films and prime time television, and what did he do before any of those titles existed?

• 2. From Second Unit to Director

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  Dear's film career began in the early 1970s, directing industrial films and television advertisements rather than movies meant for theaters. By the late 1970s, Paul Schrader hired him as a second unit director for two of his films, Blue Collar and Hardcore. That work opened the door to Dear's first major production, Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann, made for the company Pacific Arts.

  Pacific Arts founder Michael Nesmith had been impressed by a musical short Dear made for his song "Rio." That impression led directly to the Timerider job. That partnership marked the start of a directing career that would eventually span nearly four decades and more than twenty directing credits.

• 3. A Filmography Spanning Decades

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  Dear's directing filmography opens in 1973 with Nymph, followed three years later by Northville Cemetery Massacre in 1976. In 1980 he directed PopClips, a concert clip program, and followed it in 1981 with Elephant Parts, a video collection built around music.

  By 1993, Dear had returned to directing with Journey to the Center of the Earth. Balloon Farm followed in 1999, then School of Life in 2005. The years 2006 through 2009 brought four more titles: Simon Says and The Foursome in 2006, The Sandlot: Heading Home in 2007, and Free Style in 2008. Dear released two films in 2009 alone, The Perfect Game and Mr. Troop Mom, and closed out this run with two more titles in 2011, Politics of Love and A Mile in His Shoes. In several of these films, Dear also stepped in front of the camera himself, appearing in small onscreen roles under invented character names.

• 4. Small Roles, Family Ties

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  Dear first stepped in front of his own camera in 1982, taking the role of 3rd Technician in Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann. Five years later, he played Sighting Man in Harry and the Hendersons. He appeared as Limo Driver in Darkman in 1990, then as Bomb Tester in If Looks Could Kill in 1991. Angels in the Outfield cast him as Toronto Manager in 1994. His two most recent acting credits came years later, as Whip T. Vicker in Midnight Stallion in 2013 and as Bill in Razor in 2017.

  Dear is also the father of Oliver Dear, who works as an actor and storyboard artist, carrying the family's work in film into a new generation.