LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: On Friday, May 17, Quentin Tarantino announced that Rick Dalton, the fictitious actor played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the former’s 2019 film ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’, has “passed away.” The news of his death was announced by official Twitter account of The Video Archives podcast, hosted by Tarantino and his ‘Pulp Fiction’ co-writer Roger Avary.
“We are saddened by the news of the passing of actor Rick Dalton, best known for his roles in the hit TV series Bounty Law and The Fireman trilogy,” the tweet read. “Rick passed away peacefully in his home in Hawaii and is survived by his wife Francesca. RIP Rick Dalton 1933-2023.” The role of Francesca was portrayed by Lorenza Izzo in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’.
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A subsequent tweet mentioned that Rollerbaall episode of the podcast was postponed due to Dalton’s passing. However, next Tuesday’s Video Archives podcast “with a memorial episode designed by Quentin that features some of Rick’s best roles.”
Who was Rick Dalton?
Dalton was a fictional movie star portrayed by DiCaprio as the protagonist of Tarantino’s 2019 film ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ and his 2021 novelization of the same name. In the film, Dalton is an actor from the Midwest who moved to Los Angeles after appearing the in the fictional TV Western series ‘Bounty Law’ 1959 to 1963. The series was reportedly inspired from real-life TV show ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’, starring Steve McQueen.
In Tarantino’s world, DiCaprio’s Dalton fears about his career fading away after ‘Bounty Law’ as he only makes guests appearances as villains. The film also explores Dalton’s bond with his best friend and stunt double Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt, which is reportedly based on Kurt Russell and his stunt double John Casino as well as Burt Reynolds and his longtime stunt double Hal Needham.
Throughout the course of the film, Tarantino presents Dalton’s journey as an actor in Hollywood. He dreams of befriending actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, who has moved next door, with the hope of reviving his career. Dalton also experiences a breakdown while guest starring on the TV Western series ‘Lancer’ after being challenged by his director Sam Wanamaker and eight-year-old co-star Trudi Frazer.
After watching Dalton’s guest role on an episode of 'The FBI', his agent Marvin Schwarz books him as the lead in Sergio Corbucci's Spaghetti Western Nebraska Jim. Dalton and Booth goes to Italy for six months and films three additional movies. He also marries Italian starlet Francesca Capucci and informs Booth he can no longer afford his services. Dalton returns to Los Angeles with Booth in 1969 only to realize he has no understanding of New Hollywood or the “hippie generation.”
As the duo returns to Dalton’s home, they have a run-in with some members of Charles Manson’s family. The member initially plans to kill everyone in Tate’s house but changes their plan and prepares to murder Dalton instead after the latter orders them off the street. Towards the end of ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ Dalton incinerates Manson family member Susan “Sadie” Atkins with a flamethrower retained from the set of his 1966 film ‘The 14 Fists of McClusky.’ It was also shown that Dalton practiced using a flamethrower for three hours a day for two weeks for his film role.
A post-credit scene of ‘Once Upon A Time in Hollywood’ showed Dalton playing Jake Cahill for a commercial of Red Apple cigarettes, a fictional brand created by Tarantino. The director later revealed that Dalton found more success after the events of the film, especially after garnering media attention for the killing of Sadie. In a 2021 interview with podcaster Jeff Goldsmith, Tarantino revealed he has written a separate book about Dalton’s TV shows and movies. “I wrote The Films of Rick Dalton book,” he said.
“It's written as if Rick is real. You know, they have The Films of Charles Bronson and The Films of Anthony Quinn, well, it's done like that, with synopsis and then some critical quotes from the time, and the book goes through every one of Rick's movies that he did, leading to the end of his career in 1988, I believe, and every one of his episodic television shows.”
During the interview, Tarantino also mentioned that in the early 1980s Dalton teamed with Booth to create a vigilante film called ‘The Fireman,’ nearly 10 years after the events depicted in the film. Tarantino has already completed his novel on Dalton’s works and is reportedly planning to publish it as his third book.
‘A singular talent’
Fans of Dalton were quick to react to the news of his passing and took to Twitter to pay their tributes to the fictional actor. “A singular talent. He will be missed,” one wrote. “rest easy, Rick,” another added. “RIP to Rick Dalton. My thoughts and prayers are with his family,” a third commented.
One said, “When DiCaprio played him in 2019 film Once upon a time in Hollywood, he really captured the essence of Dalton. His nuances, his charm. A terrific performance. I read the Dalton love that portrayal” while another added, “R.I.P Rick! A hero on and off the silver screen. I lift my margarita and salute you. Like actress Trudi Fraser once said - “that was the best acting I’ve ever seen in my whole life.” Ride off into that sweet, final sunset, good sir.”
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