Dennis Holahan (born November 7, 1942 in Stamford, Connecticut) is an American attorney and former actor. He is a partner in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

office of

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP (commonly referred to as Lewis Brisbois) is a U.S. law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1979, the firm is a national, general practice law firm with 1,700 attorneys. The firm operates o ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

’s largest law firm, where he specializes in entertainment, media and intellectual property cases as well as more general matters in the firm’s commercial litigation practice. Prior to joining Lewis Brisbois in 2014, Dennis maintained one of the top entertainment and business-related litigation boutiques in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

for more than 20 years.

Early life and education

Holahan was raised in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. After graduating from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 1965, Holahan served as an officer (Lieutenant, J.G.) in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

on an amphibious assault ship in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

from 1967 to 1969. He was awarded the

Vietnam Service Medal The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to recognize service during the Vietnam War by all members of the U.S. Arm ...

with a silver star for five campaigns, a

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four ...

, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, the

Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross also known as the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross or Vietnam Cross of Gallantry ( vi, Anh-Dũng Bội-Tinh) is a military decoration of the former Government of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam). The medal wa ...

, and the

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal The Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, also known as the Vietnam Campaign Medal ( vi, Chiến Dịch Bội Tinh), is a South Vietnamese military campaign medal which was created in 1949, and awarded to French military personnel during the First ...

Career

Holahan graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1973. At Hastings he was the recipient of the Hale Moot Court Prize for Best Brief, was an editor of the ''Hastings Law News'', 1972–1973, and a founder of the Hastings Child Care Center. After Hastings he worked for a litigation firm in the financial district in San Francisco for two years.

Acting

From 1976 to 1992, he took a hiatus from his law practice to pursue a successful career as an actor in films and television. Holahan is best known for appearing with Al Pacino in the crime film '' Scarface'' as Jerry the Banker. Notable other roles included ''Collision Course'', ''Kuffs, Haywire (''mini-series'')'' and ''Aspen Extreme'', as well as television appearances in ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...

'', ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', ''Lou Grant'' and ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

.'' He also appeared in the movie ''

The Vegas Strip War ''The Vegas Strip Wars'' (also called ''The Las Vegas Strip Wars'') is a 1984 American TV movie directed by George Englund and starred Rock Hudson (his final television film), Sharon Stone, James Earl Jones and Pat Morita. Plot The plot involves ...

'' in 1984 playing Jimmy Weldstrom. He played a lawyer in his 1981 appearance on '' The White Shadow''. His character interviewed James Hayward ( Thomas Carter) for a summer job.

Return to law

In 1992 Holahan went back to the legal career he had put on hold in 1976. He started the Law Office of Dennis Holahan, which was based in Los Angeles and specialized in

entertainment law Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include trade ...

, winning several high profile cases.

Personal life

He has two children, Nicholas Drew Holahan and Belle Holahan Casares, from his first marriage to Wylie O'Hara (1966–1972), and seven grandchildren. Holahan was married to actress

Loretta Swit Loretta Jane Swit (born Loretta Szwed; November 4, 1937) is an American stage and television actress known for her character roles. Swit is best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on ''M*A*S*H'', for which she won two E ...

from 1983 to 1995.Loretta Swit weds Dennis Holahan December 21 in History
/ref> Holahan is active in the area of drug and alcohol recovery and has served on the board of McIntyre House, a non-profit recovery house for men recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction located in Los Angeles. Holahan also has served on the board of Worth Our Weight, a non-profit organization in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

which trains and educates teenagers and young adults who have survived foster care programs and teaches them how to work in the fine dining industry.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holahan, Dennis 1942 births 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American lawyers American entertainment lawyers American male film actors American male television actors United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War California lawyers Living people Male actors from Stamford, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Phillips Academy alumni University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni Yale College alumni