John Dye Movies

Heart of the Beholder tells the harrowing true-life tale of an entrepreneurial young couple who owned an operated St. Louis' first videocassette rental store, and the challenges faced by their growing family when religious zealots from Rev. Donald Wildmon's National Federation for Decency (later renamed the American Family Association) launched a frightening campaign designed to intimidate them into removing movies deemed by the group to be ". . .obscene or a detriment to the community and its children." When Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ was originally released on home video, the majority of St. Louis video stores buckled to pressures by religious groups not to offer the film for rental. Ken and Carol Tipton - owners of a videocassette rental store known as the Video Library - refused to give in to the demands of the group they saw as modern day book burners, and as a result their store was picketed, and the life of their young daughter threatened. When the Tiptons refused to give in to the demands of the NFD, the case went to court. Unfortunately for the Tiptons, the NFD used scandalous information about the Prosecuting Attorney's secret sex life to blackmail the prosecutor. Later, due to the misuse of RICO racketeering laws, multiple movies from the Tiptons' store were confiscated before the jury found even a single video obscene. After the prosecutor made vague and damning references indicating that the Tiptons had ties to organized crime, the family was shunned by the community. Yet while the Tiptons subsequently emerged victorious in two court cases, the damage had already been done: Negative publicity had caused the family to become fragmented, and mounting court fees forced their business to go bankrupt. Later divorced from his wife and stuck in a suicidal depression, Ken ultimately made an accidental discovery that would not only turn his life around, but also expose the corruption and hypocrisy that nearly destroyed him. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Brooding over his best friend's suicide, 15-year-old Scott Hardwick (Dan Byrd) clambers onto a high-rise ledge and threatens to jump. Scott's plight is cruelly exploited by radio "shock jock" Buzz Wescott (Dan Byrd), who hopes to parlay this tragedy-in-the-making into a lucrative national radio hookup. Posing as one of the detectives on the scene, Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) is already aware that Scott needs her help...but it takes quite a while to realize that Buzz is also a lost soul in need of salvation. This episode was directed by series regular John Dye (Andrew). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season eight of Touched By an Angel once more finds Heaven being represented on Earth by angelic caseworker Monica (Roma Downey), her supervisor Tess (Della Reese), and angel-in-training Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli). This season finds Andrew (John Dye), hitherto the gentle, self-effacing Angel of Death, taking a larger role in the proceedings (and sometimes being spared the necessity of "collecting" souls) when he is himself promoted to "caseworker" status. Among those benefiting from the angels' divine intervention this season are an aspiring ballplayer who must learn to forgive his domineering father in order to achieve spiritual success; a habitually unlucky-in-love young woman whose new, "perfect" beau is unexpectedly killed; a condemned prisoner whose chances of entering Heaven are endangered by his irrational hatred of his mother; a young boy who reacts to disturbing changes in his life by experimenting with dangerous drugs; and the owner of a small cable TV station who feels hopeless because he's made all the "wrong" decisions in life. This last-named character is played by Ernest Borgnine, just one of season eight's multitude of guest stars: others include Angela Lansbury, Luther Vandross, Doris Roberts, Debbie Reynolds, and Hal Linden. ~ All Movie Guide

Supermodel Kathy Ireland (Alien from L.A., Necessary Roughness) co-stars with newcomers John Dye and Mary Donnelly Haskell in the heartwarming, family-oriented fantasy drama Once Upon a Christmas, originally produced for and aired on television during the holiday season of 2000. The picture finds Santa Claus growing jaded and disgusted with the selfishness of mankind. He is ready to give up on the world altogether and head off to a vacation in Hawaii, until his daughter, Kristin, convinces him to give humans one final opportunity to prove that they can be caring and selfless. She must, it seems, find a selfish, dysfunctional family and turn them around. Kristin selects The Morgans - a seriously troubled brood. The dad works nonstop and the children amuse themselves by playing outrageous pranks, such as smearing peanut butter in the au pair's undergarments and putting glue on the whistle of the local high school coach. For Kristin, it will be a long, uphill battle, and if she fails, Christmas joy just may disappear for good. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Season five of Touched By an Angel chronicles the further adventures of heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey), her celestial supervisor Tess (Della Reese) and soft-spoken Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) as they travel throughout the country in their vintage Cadillac, ever in search of mortal souls to rescue from ruination or new methods to do good where only bad has previously occurred. Missing from the mission during season five is streetwise angel Rafael, inasmuch as former series regular Alexis Cruz ankled the series at the end of season four. The second episode of the season, "Saving Grace," is the latest of several crossovers between Touched By an Angel and its spin-off series Promised Land. In other installments, the angels bring purpose to a man's life by having him switch places with an autistic person; a flashback to 1865 recalls Andrew's role in the aftermath of President Lincoln's assassination; Monica's 100th assignment (coinciding with the series' 100th episode) finds her helping the mother of a child with cystic fibrosis coming to grips with his impending death; and a network executive tries to exploit Monica's presence by cynically pitching his own TV show about angels (which bears a striking resemblance to this show!). In the season finale, Monica endeavors to restore the faith of a female astronaut as a means of bringing hope to a seriously ill youngster. ~ All Movie Guide

Season three of Touched By an Angel offers another cluster of heartwarming and inspiring stories of forgiveness and redemption as celestial caseworker Monica (Roma Downey), her heavenly supervisor Tess (Della Reese), and on occasion the gentle Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) travel the length and breadth of the country in order to inspire ordinary mortals to turn their lives around. In those instances when the input of the three series regulars isn't quite enough to finish the job, Special Agent Angel Sam (Paul Winfield) flutters down to tie up loose ends. The season gets under way with a special episode introducing laid-off factory worker Russell Greene (Gerald McRaney), his wife Claire (Wendy Phillips), his children Joshua (Austin O'Brien) and Dinah (Sarah Schaub), his nephew Daniel (Wendy Phillips), and his own mom Hattie (Celeste Holm). After being saved from a drastic act that would have ruined not only his life but those of his loved ones, Russell is asked by Monica and Tess to be their earthly representative, driving throughout the country in his dilapidated trailer to "redefine what it meant to be a good neighbor and recapture the American dream." Thus is the Greene family launched into its own spin-off series, Promised Land. The Greene family would make a return appearance in a pair of two-part crossovers between Promised Land and Touched By an Angel, titled "The Homecoming" and "Amazing Grace." In other episodes, Monica heads to Death Row to break a vicious cycle of violence, frets over the iniquities of life when an "insignificant" man is unable to find a kidney donor, and finds her angel status in jeopardy because of a "lie of omission." Elsewhere, a flashback episode taking place around the "War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938 offers an object lesson for a present-day mortal; and an elderly couple is prevented from going through with a suicide pact; an estranged mother and daughter are reunited despite the mother's irrevocable memory loss; Monica briefly tutors a nervous apprentice angel named Celeste (Hudson Leick); and all three angels form a united front against Big Tobacco. As bonuses, the episode "At Risk," a paean to voluntarism, is introduced by General Colin Powell, while the season's final episode, "A Delicate Balance," features cameos by Olympic champs Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner. ~ All Movie Guide

Monica (Roma Downey) is the nurse at the bedside of elderly Joe Carpenter (Harvey Vernon), who is on the verge of being "collected" by Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye). But before Joe can leave this world, Monica and Tess (Della Reese) must somehow repair the fractured relationships between the old man's three grown children: Control-freak Kate (Concetta Tomei), unhappily married Chris (Ed Begley Jr.), and eternal misfit Kim (Joan Van Ark). As often happens on this series, the Angels' assignment requires them to surreptitiously expose a startling family secret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jasmine Guy returns as Monica's old nemesis, the "fallen angel" Kathleen . Now the girflriend of Frank Champness (Bill Nunn), a detective with the Center for Missing Children, Kathleen is bound and determined to undermine Frank's job performance and totally destroy his self-esteem. Fortunately, Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) is one of Frank's coworkers at the Center, and he joins forces with Monica (Roma Downey) to save Frank from Kathleen's clutches by helping the dispirited detective resolve a missing-child case that has baffled authorities for fifteen years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second season of Touched By an Angel finds heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey) and her celestial supervisor Tess (Della Reese) continuing to tool about the earth in their classic Cadillac, seeking out mortal souls to help and rescue, and occasionally assisting in the transition from this world to the next. For this purpose, easygoing Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye), previously only a recurring character, graduates to full regular status during Season Two. Also on hand from time to time is another visitor from Above, Special Agent Angel Sam (Paul Winfield), who first shows up in the episode "In the Name of God" to finish an assignment abruptly abandoned for personal reasons by Tess -- and drives Satan out of a small town in the process. The season opener finds Monica trying to persuade a heart transplant surgeon to operate on the drunk drier who killed his children. In a subsequent installment, she has a run-in with "fallen angel" Kathleen (Jasmine Guy), who is doing the devil's work on earth. Later episodes find Monica and company reforming a caustic and cynical radio personality, providing moral support to an embittered woman who finds she is HIV positive, defusing a hostage situation while simultaneously making certain that a baby is delivered safely, and enabling a grieving rock & roll star overcome the death of his wife -- not to mention a nasty drug habit. And while it is usually the mortals who are weighed down with woe, Monica herself has reason to gripe when she is wrongly arrested for drug possession after going to the wrong house during an assignment. ~ All Movie Guide

A young Lakota Sioux, adopted by a wealthy Jewish couple in Beverly Hills, gets in touch with his cultural roots and solves a mystery in this thriller. Because of his upbringing, Jesse Rainfeather Goldman knows almost nothing of Native American traditions. He is doing his internship when he suddenly receives an amulet from the Lakota reservation in Sioux City. It is from his real mother. Jesse's curiosity is piqued and he immediately travels to his birthplace to learn why she sent it. Unfortunately, by the time he arrives, his mother's body is discovered in the smoldering wreckage of her home. She was shot before she was burned. Jesse's investigation into her death is not welcomed by the local captain of police and his assistant. He is almost beaten to death, but is saved by his grandfather, a shaman, and a Lakota woman. The newly healed Jesse begins to explore his tribe's customs. He then contacts his mother's spirit and she leads him to the film's conclusion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This light comedy is a contemporary--and wacky--version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this version, a malformed young man hangs out in the bell tower of a California college campus and has to face a number of prejudices when he is brought out into the light. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Most of the cast members present in Tour of Duty's second season, both male and female, have re-upped for season three. In charge of U.S. Army Company B stationed at Tan Son Nhut air base in the Vietnam of 1967-1968 are Lt. Myron Goldman (Stephen Caffrey) and Sgt. Zeke Anderson (Terence Knox). Also back for another hitch are platoon members Percell (Tony Becker), Ruiz (Ramon Franco), and Taylor (Miguel A. Nunez); chopper-pilot Lt. McCay (Dan Gauthier); army psychologist Jennifer Seymour (Betsy Brantley); and sexy female wire-service reporter Alex Devlin (Kim Delaney). New faces include company commander Col. Brewster (Carl Weathers), and the outspokenly antiwar medic "Doc Hock" (John Dye), and battle-weary vet "Pop" Scarlet (Lee Majors). Whereas morale had been reasonably high during the series' first two seasons, things are beginning to break down as Company B enters its third year in 'Nam. Things are particularly dismal for Cpl. Percell, who becomes addicted to morphine. Even when the troopers are demobilized and sent home, they find it difficult, if not impossible, to adjust to the civilian world. In other words, this final season of Tour of Duty is a fairly accurate representation of what was really going on in both Vietnam and America in the late '60s. ~ All Movie Guide

Todd Barrett (John Dye) is an Arizona State University student who needs money for tuition in this teen comedy. He recruits his handsome friend Bret Wilson (Steve Lyon) from the school diving team to pose for a series of photographs. The enterprising Todd uses the photos to print a calendar that quickly becomes a hot-selling item and ends his financial woes. This feature was shot on location at ASU. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide