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Dirk Benedict was one of the most acclaimed actors in the 70s and 80s due to his participation in important series such as 'Battlestar Galactica' and 'The A-Team'. However, a health problem took him away from the spotlight and turned him into a very peculiar character.
Born in 1945 in Montana (United States), Dirk Benedict is actually Dirk Niewoehner, although his stage name comes from Eggs Benedict.
His incursion into the world of cinema would not arrive until 1972, the year in which he got a role in 'Georgia, Georgia', which had the legendary Maya Angelou as screenwriter. After that, he appeared in series such as 'Hawaii 5.0', 'Charlie's Angels' and others.
At the end of the decade is when he managed to transform his career. First he worked in the movie 'Galactica' and, after that, he returned to play Lieutenant Starbuck in the series 'Battlestar Galactica', in which he was one of the most beloved characters by the fans. In the 80s, he got good news again and worked in, perhaps, the series for which he is most remembered: 'The A-Team'.
Cancer transformed his career... And his life
His career was not the same and, above all, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years earlier. But he decided to face the disease in a radical way: he did not want the conventional treatment and, instead, he followed Gloria Swanson's advice and locked himself in a cabin, followed a macrobiotic diet and lost a lot of weight, as he himself has detailed.
In the 2000s his television presence was reduced to small collaborations and took an unexpected turn. He was part of the casting of the fifth edition of 'Celebrity Big Brother' in Great Britain and claimed third place. After that, he did little of note.
In recent years, his contribution to the industry is barely reduced to small appearances, such as in 'The A-Team' in 2010 or 'Charlie's Christmas Wish', a low-budget film.