Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus is best known for his Pro Football Hall of Fame resume as a linebacker, but his many acting credits are also worthy of standing ovations.
Butkus, who died “peacefully in his sleep last night” at age 80, appeared in dozens of films, television shows and commercials following his nine-year playing career with the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1973. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year and eight-time Pro Bowler said football was “what I was meant to do” and noted that acting doesn’t come easy.
“Football has never been a job for me. If you love something, it’s not a job,” Butkus told Sports Illustrated in 2004. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 1998, he said that in acting, “I was afraid to make a mistake because people would say, ‘He’s just a football player,’ so it was harder for me to get it right.”
That didn’t stop Butkus, a longtime Screen Actors Guild member, from moving forward with the second act.
From his iconic Miller Lite commercial to his recurring role on the NBC sitcom My Two Dads, here’s everything you need to know about Butkus’ acting legacy:
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Dick Butkus in the movies
Dick Butkus made his film debut in 1971 in Brian’s Song, which chronicled the life of Brian Piccolo and his friendship with Chicago Bears teammate Gale Sayers. Piccolo was diagnosed with cancer while he was on the team. Butkus played an uncredited role in the television film.
He returned to the silver screen in the 1990s, when he had several roles as himself. He appeared in Gremlins 2: The New Batch alongside former NFL standout Bubba Smith. The Hall of Famer also played himself in the 1991 crime drama “The Last Boy Scout” and the 2001 comedy “Teddy Bear’s Picnic.”
The linebacker starred in the 1991 comedy Necessary Roughness as part of a prison team alongside fellow NFL stars Earl Campbell, Jim Kelly, Jerry Rice, Tony Dorsett, Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Herschel Walker. He also played a coach in the 1999 drama Any Given Sunday alongside Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz and fellow Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Lawrence Taylor.
Dick Butkus on television
Butkus has dozens of works in small films. He made his television debut in 1974, appearing in every episode of ER! and MacMillan and Wife, playing minor characters. He began receiving secondary roles the following year, when he appeared in two episodes of Police Story and Joe Forrester.
The Chicago native received the most airtime on the NBC sitcom Hang Time, where he played high school basketball coach Mike Katowinski. He also had longer roles in My Two Daddies, Half Nelson and Blue Thunder.
He is part of the MacGyver legacy. In 1990 and 1991, he starred in three episodes of the sixth and seventh seasons. He played Earl Dent, an ex-con trying to change his life and provide for his daughter through boxing.
Butkus has appeared on other popular shows including Magnum Detective, The Love Boat and The Bernie Mac Show.
Dick Butkus in advertising
Butkus appeared alongside Smith in a series of Miller Lite commercials in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Butkus said he gained a lot of knowledge about acting from comedy commercials.
“What I learned from the Miller Lite commercial was, ‘Who cares if you explode?’ It doesn’t matter whether you do it in one take or 100 takes, I can do it better every time,” he told the Chicago Tribune in 1998. “The end result is what people see. Working with Bubba (Smith), I was able to add facial expressions and stuff… I could play off him and add something. It didn’t matter if I laughed.”
He is best known for his 1970 Super Bowl ad for antifreeze company Prestone, where he used the slogan, “Because plugging holes is my business.”
He has also appeared in commercials for products ranging from Echo Tools, an outdoor power equipment company, to the Qwik-Cook grill, which uses “newspaper as fuel.”
Dick Butkus’s legacy:The great Chicago Bears were brutal, ferocious and mean on the field. He was an NFL player.
