Biography
The genial, slightly stocky Hollywood character actor Kevin Dunn graced the casts of some of the highest grossing and most enjoyable A-listers of the '80s, '90s, and 2000s. With a pleasant (if unremarkable) countenance, this brother of Second City veteran (and onetime
Saturday Night Live mainstay)
Nora Dunn cut his chops playing everymen in American movies and one-shot television episodes. Kevin Dunn lacked the sketch comedy background of his arguably more famous sibling but quickly chalked up an equally extensive resumé at about the same time.
Dunn debuted on camera in the mid-'80s, with a recurring role on the series comedy drama Jack & Mike (1986), co-starring
Shelley Hack and
Tom Mason, but
Alan Parker's harrowing civil-rights drama
Mississippi Burning (in which he played Agent Bird) marked his first real breakthrough. From that point on, he became ever-present in such blockbusters as
Ghostbusters 2 (1989),
Blue Steel (1990),
Only the Lonely (1991), Hot Shots! (1991),
Chaplin (1992), and
Dave (1993). Directors often cast Dunn as an emotional (or political) support to a heavy, such as his brief evocation of Nixon aide (and eventual Christian spokesperson) Chuck Colson in
Oliver Stone's biopic
Nixon (1995), that of Lou Logan (opposite
Nicolas Cage) in
Brian De Palma's muddled, flawed paranoid thriller
Snake Eyes (1998), and that of Alex (alongside
Sean Penn) in the political drama
All The King's Men (2006). In 2007, Dunn appeared in the blockbuster action hit
Transformers as Ron Witwicky, the father of lead actor
Shia LaBeouf's character, Sam. Dunn also had a role in the underperforming
Tom Cruise/
Robert Redford/
Meryl Streep drama
Lions for Lambs. In the fall of that year, Dunn found success on the sitcom Samantha Who? as the father of the amnesia-afflicted main character (
Christina Applegate). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide