Prolific character actor with a drooping, weather-beaten appearance and superb acting talent that have been his ticket to appearing in over 100 films, and 50 TV episodes. Born in West Irvine, Kentucky, Stanton served in WW II, then returned to the University of Kentucky to appear in a production of "Pygmalion", before heading out to California and honing his craft at the prestigious Pasadena Playhouse. Stanton then toured around the US with a male choir, worked in children's theater, and then headed back to California. His first role onscreen was in the tepid Tomahawk Trail, but he was quickly noticed and appeared regularly in minor roles as cowboys and soldiers through the late 1950s and early 1960s. His star continued to rise and he received better roles in which he could showcase his laid-back style, such as in Cool Hand Luke, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, The Godfather: Part II, and in Alien. It was around this time that Stanton came to the attention of director Wim Wenders, who cast him in his finest role yet as Travis in the moving Paris, Texas. Next indie director Alex Cox gave Stanton a role that really brought him to the forefront, in the quirky cult film Repo Man.

Stanton was now heavily in demand, and his unique look got him cast as everything from a suburban father in the mainstream Pretty in Pink to a soft-hearted, but ill-fated, private investigator in David Lynch's Wild at Heart and a crazy yet cunning scientist in Escape from New York. Apart from his film performances, Stanton is also an accomplished musician, and "The Harry Dean Stanton Band" and their unique spin on mariachi music have been playing together for well over a decade. They have toured internationally to rave reviews. Stanton became a cult figure of cinema and music and when Deborah Harry sang the lyric "I want to dance with Harry Dean..." in her 1990s hit "I Want That Man", she was talking about him.

As he moved into the time in his life when most other people would be calling it a day, Harry Dean Stanton has remained consistently active onscreen, most recently appearing in films including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Green Mile and The Man Who Cried. A true gem amongst character actors, and with an onscreen presence capable of adding that something extra to any production.
He fronts a band called "The Harry Dean Stanton Band" which regularly performs in the Los Angeles area. He sings and plays guitar. The band plays a mix of jazz, pop, and tex-mex styles. The band often plays in Hollywood at 'Jack's Sugar Shack'. Prior to 1971, he was credited in films and on TV as Dean Stanton so as to avoid any confusion with character actor Harry Stanton, both of whom would appear together in a 1969 episode of Petticoat Junction. The name of his musical group was originally "Harry Dean Stanton and the Repo Men". Was tied up and pistol-whipped at his home in L.A. after a robbery. The thieves then took off in the actors car, but were soon apprehended after the car was traced by a tracking device. Stanton suffered only minor injuries. [20 January 1996] Lived in Lexington, Kentucky and graduated from Lafayette Senior High School with the class of 1944. Was Best Man at the wedding of Jack Nicholson and Sandra Knight. After their divorce, Nicholson lived for a time with Stanton. Had a small role as a jail guard in the 1978 Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong film Up in Smoke, but his scenes were cut. Critic Roger Ebert so admires him that he created the "Stanton-Walsh Rule," which states that "no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad." Ebert later admitted that Dream a Little Dream, in which Stanton appeared, was a "clear violation" of this rule. Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1988.