Dennis Fimple, a renowned character actor, was born on November 11, 1940, in Ventura, California, and spent his formative years in the nearby town of Taft. His father, Elmer, was an electrician, and his mother, Dolly, was a beautician. Dennis's initial foray into acting began when he played the role of Tom Sawyer in a junior high school play, sparking a lifelong passion for the craft.
After graduating from Taft Union High School, Fimple attended San Jose College on a scholarship, where he majored in both speech and drama. He also earned a teaching credential at the institution. To make ends meet, Dennis worked in a Cheetos factory by day and acted in dinner theater at night in his early days.
Fimple eventually relocated to Hollywood, where he initially worked as a teacher by day and a delivery man at night, prior to landing his first significant break: a 2-episode guest appearance on Petticoat Junction in 1963.
Best known for his lovably dim-witted portrayal of Kyle Murty on the comedy Western television program Alias Smith and Jones in 1971, Dennis made numerous appearances throughout the years in TV series such as Here Come the Brides, M*A*S*H, The Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, Battlestar Galactica, The Dukes of Hazzard, Matt Houston, Highway to Heaven, Knight Rider, The A-Team, The Incredible Hulk, Simon & Simon, Sledge Hammer!, Quantum Leap, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and ER.
Fimple was frequently cast as scruffy rural types in both films and TV shows alike. Some of his most memorable movie roles include the amiable Curly in the drive-in classic Truck Stop Women, easygoing moonshine runner Dewey Crenshaw in Bootleggers, likable eager beaver college anthropology student Pahoo in the Sasquatch cinema outing Creature from Black Lake, goofy Sunfish in the King Kong remake, and cloddish fur trapper Posey in the horror-Western The Shadow of Chikara.
Dennis's last film part was as the madcap Grandpa Hugo Firefly in Rob Zombie's enjoyably trashy 70's horror exploitation pastiche, House of 1000 Corpses, in 2003.
Aside from his acting career, Dennis was an avid reader and a lover of antiques and collectibles. He was the proud father of son Chris. Dennis Fimple passed away at the age of 61, due to complications from a car accident, at his home in Frazier Park, California, on August 23, 2002.
