Dirk Benedict

Dirk Benedict was born in Montana on March 1st, 1945. He was raised in the country, far away from anything connected with movies or acting. He gathered his first experiences in acting (on a dare) in a college production of "Showboat" where he got the main part. His father, a lawyer, died when Dirk was 18, which was hard for him to take.

Has three sons: John born in 1968, and two younger sons, with Toni Hudson are George (born in 1988) and Roland (born in 1991).

While working on Georgia, Georgia (1972) in Sweden, he made the first contact with a macrobiotic diet and changed his eating habits drastically. He was 26 at that time. A few years later, doctors found that he had cancer of the prostate. He refused to accept the usual treatment and moved away to a secluded cottage. Dirk managed to cure himself from cancer by following the rules of his macrobiotic diet.

For his transformation into a snake in the film Sssssssnake (1973) Dirk spent up to seven hours in makeup and in the final stages of the transformation he had to be carried to the set on a stretcher.

A prostate cancer survivor. In 1974, medical doctors recommended surgery, but he claimed to have cured his cancer through a macrobiotic diet recommended by Gloria Swanson, his co-star on Broadway in "Butterflies Are Free," and by exercise and fasting. Over a period of 3 years and under the guidance of Michio Kushi, according to his book Confessions Of A Kamikaze Cowboy, beat the cancer. He continues the diet to this day.

When he got his part as "StarBuck" in Battlestar Galactica (1978), the doctors stated that he was in good health.

The Italian Production Chart section of Variety, July 9, 1980, announced Dirk Benedict would appear in the new film "Marimba", directed by Wes Craven. Filming was to start on August 18, 1980, with additional cast Tim McIntire and Christopher Mitchum, to be filmed in Columbia and the US. No evidence the film was ever completed or released.

Helped write the 'love scene' between his and Patsy Kensit's character in Blue Tornado (1991).

Release of his book, "And Then We Went Fishing: A Story of Fatherhood, Fate and Forgiveness". [1993]

Divorced from actress Toni Hudson in 1995, he received custody of his boys, George and Roland. He took them home to Montana where he raised them in a 900-square-foot log cabin on his macrobiotic diet.

Directing Cahoots (2001) - a project he started working on 26 years ago. He also wrote the screenplay. [2001]

After raising his two boys, his comeback actually began in Germany after he appeared at a sci-fi convention in Bonn. A writer-director there saw him and cast him in the German movie Goldene Zeiten (2006).

Finished third in the celebrity version of Big Brother [January 2007]

Playing "Columbo" on stage, touring through the UK. He will also be appearing at the "Who" Shop on the 8th May in Blackpool. [April 2010]