Whereas cable TV networks usually rehire their trusted secure of performers, New Zealand actor Alan Dale appeared on ABC and CBS’s hottest TV reveals within the mid-2000s. After flexing his authority in NCIS as Homeland Safety Officer Thomas Morrow, Dale delivered arguably his most well-known flip as Charles Widmore in Misplaced, the ruthless chief of the Others, a local group on the South Pacific island who deeply oppose the aircraft crash survivors.
Earlier than changing into Misplaced, Dale was launched as Tom Morrow within the Naval procedural JAG throughout one of many present’s well-known backdoor pilots. Dale portrayed Morrow from 2003 to 2016, showing in almost the identical variety of episodes (14) as he did in Misplaced (17). With NCIS‘s unprecedented twenty second season concluding on Could 5, 2025, highlighting Dale’s two iconic TV performances forward of his new present, The Murderer, ought to give followers a higher appreciation of the superb character actor.
Misplaced
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2004 – 2010-00-00
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ABC
Alan Dale’s Profession Earlier than ‘NCIS’
Removed from a family identify, Alan Dale is an achieved film and TV actor from New Zealand who started his profession within the late Seventies. Together with his first vital American TV position in ER in 2000, Dale continued constructing his resume with well-liked reveals like The X-Recordsdata, The Follow, and The West Wing. Dale gave such a convincing flip in The West Wing as Secretary of Commerce Mitch Bryce that it launched a slew of American authorities and legislation enforcement roles, together with the favored procedurals, JAG and NCIS.
Though he would drastically alter his picture in Misplaced, Dale performed numerous politicians and authorities officers in CSI: Miami, 24, Flight of the Conchords, Regulation & Order: SVU, Homeland, The Killing, Secret Metropolis, and Graves. Dale has such commanding gravitas that he has continued to excel at portraying high-ranking civic authorities. But, it is laborious to think about his profession trajectory with out first starring in JAG and NCIS as Homeland Safety Chief, Thomas Morrow.
Dale’s ‘NCIS’ Function as Tom Morrow
Launched in JAG‘s two-part backdoor pilot, “Ice Queen” and “Meltdown,” Tom Morrow (Dale) immediately made his presence felt because the NCIS Director till Season 3, Episode 1, “Kill Ari Half 1,” when he resigned following the demise of Caitlin Todd. Following his resignation, Morrow turned Deputy Director of the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), reprising the character in NCIS 14 instances between 2003 and 2016, showing when authorized instances known as for his consideration.
As soon as Morrow left the Naval Prison Investigative Service, he was changed by Jennifer Shepard (Lauren Holly) till she was brutally murdered in 2008. Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) stuffed the position after Shepard’s demise, leaving Morrow to steer DHS and work with NCIS’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) on delicate high-profile instances involving worldwide and home terrorism. Morrow appeared 5 instances in NCIS’s first season, as soon as in Season 2, and as soon as in Season 3.
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Following a seven-season absence, Morrow lastly returned in Season 10 and accomplished his character arc over the subsequent 4 seasons. Throughout his NCIS hiatus, Dale performed Charles Widmore in Misplaced and dramatically overhauled his picture.
NCIS followers mentioned goodbye to Tom Morrow in Season 13, Episode 21, “Return to Sender” in 2016. Morrow was fatally shot at the back of the top by Trent Kort, a rogue CIA agent posing as a sniper. Kort was subsequently killed in a confrontation with numerous NCIS officers, together with Gibbs and his workforce. Whereas it was tough for Gibbs to say goodbye to a colleague he had labored with for over a decade, Morrow was avenged, and his demise was not in useless.
Dale Soars as Charles Widmore in ‘Misplaced’
Throughout Alan Dale’s preliminary hiatus from NCIS in 2005, he was solid to play Charles Widmore in Misplaced’s Season 2 finale. The landmark thriller TV sequence that follows 40 aircraft crash survivors on a South Pacific island captured America’s consideration earlier than the streaming period, changing into a must-see weekly occasion made earlier than binge-watching turned a development. Morrow helped popularize the present together with his stirring efficiency as Widmore, the chief of the native island-dwelling group known as the Others.
The Others are a territorial group that basically opposes and feels threatened by the crash survivors. Regardless of being a tight-knit household at instances, Widmore is kicked off the island by the Dharma Initiative for always leaving the island and having a baby, Penny. Following his banishment, Widmore opposed shipwreck survivor Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) in marrying Penny (Sonya Walger), obsessing over a return to the island to interrupt the couple up and stop the primary antagonist, The Man in Black’s (a pre-Bosch Titus Welliver), departure.
Whereas his backstory is instructed in flashbacks, courting to his time on the island in 1954 at age 17, Widmore is revealed to be a heartless industrialist with immense wealth and company backing. Widmore turned one in every of Sawyer’s (Josh Holloway) most feared enemies as his position expanded in Misplaced through the years. Regardless of showing in lots of episodes between 2006 and 2010, Dale made his menacing presence felt from day one. At age 70, Widmore was fatally shot within the abdomen by Ben Linus (Michael Emerson).
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Removed from a one-note, monotonous villain, Widmore turned a fan-favorite character as a result of his ethical complexity and glimpses of empathy. Though many followers rightly predicted Widmore was the one who dispatched the Kahana to the island, the multidimensional nuances he shaded the character with as a dutiful father and protecting chief stay among the many sequence’ most memorable performances.
If nothing else, Dale made the tough activity of transitioning from hero to villain look easy after going forwards and backwards between NCIS and Misplaced from 2003 to 2016. It is supremely proficient character actors like Dale which are the inventive glue that allows well-liked TV reveals to flourish and stay on the air for therefore lengthy. He has the performative energy to play a convincing villain and a trusted authorities chief from position to position, solidifying his authority.
Up subsequent, Dale will seem within the upcoming TV sequence The Murderer, starring Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore. In the meantime, 15 years after final enjoying Charles Widmore, a brand new era of followers is discovering Misplaced on Netflix and Hulu. NCIS is offered to stream on Paramount+