SALT LAKE CITY - John Dye, who portrays Andrew the angel of death on CBS' Touched by an Angel, has heard them all.
"Don't let this guy on the plane" is the most frequent joke at his expense, but he's not complaining.
Dye has come a long way in his short Hollywood career, one that had been notable for B and C movies, "the kind you'll find on Cinemax and Showtime in the middle of the night," he says. "If you're up at 3 a.m., I'm there."
Dye, 34, now has a good role on a top 10 show and appears on the spinoff Promised Land.
"I'm still getting used to autographs," says Dye at a bagel shop here, where two customers have just come over to have their napkins signed. "I'm so used to being anonymous."
Dye grew up in Amory, Miss., the son of a furniture manufacturer and homemaker. He planned on being an attorney, but after appearing in some school plays, he switched from law to theater. While still enrolled at the University of Memphis, he nabbed a part in the Judd Nelson film Making the Grade.
At age 20, he quit school to pursue acting in California. After a few years of pounding the pavement, which resulted in mostly forgettable feature-film fare like Campus Man, he decided to pack it in and finish school in Memphis.
But then he got called to audition for the film Project X. He returned to Hollywood, lost the role to Matthew Broderick, and stayed on - 13 credit hours shy of his degree.
This time around, he started getting better parts - TV roles in CBS' Tour of Duty and ABC's Jack's Place. Then came Angel, produced by Martha Williamson, a Jack's Place writer.
Dye was worried about being perceived as the "Grim Reaper" but decided to play the character as "your escort into eternity. He's a nice guy to help you into the transition."
Dye joined Angel (Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT), now in its fourth season, as a recurring character the first season and went full time in the second.
He enjoys being in Salt Lake and spending 12- to 15-hour days with stars Roma Downey and Della Reese, but he misses his Southern California home.
"Dating is not easy here," says Dye, who is single. "The only people I know are from the show, and with our hours, a social life isn't a thing I have a lot of time for."
Co-star Reese recently made headlines when she blasted CBS for giving Downey and Dye larger raises than the one offered to her. The figures she cited: 100% raise for Downey and 35% for Dye.
"Not accurate," says Dye, who declines to reveal the true number but does offer that he's pleased with his raise.
Reese's feud with CBS hasn't strained relations with her Angel colleagues at all, he says. "I'm incredibly fond of her and support her. That's Della's personal business."
Dye's big Nov. 9 sweeps episode, called "My Dinner with Andrew," earned the highest ratings in the show's history, ranking No. 3 for the week. The episode, in which Stephanie Zimbalist won a date with Andrew at a charity auction, was inspired by a real-life event in which Dye raised money for Make-a-Wish.
The episode offered a sabbatical from death for Andrew, who this time was just another angel who helps a mortal find the way. "It was a nice change," he says. "The character is expanding all the time."
By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
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