Marriage, Wife, and Children

Dean was married to a fellow actor named Madge Sinclair. The loving couple decided to tie the knot and get married in 1982. Unfortunately, their marriage came to an end after 13 years when Madge passed away in 1995, leaving Dean with a broken heart.

Dean and Madge had an interracial marriage during a time when such a pairing was not widely accepted. Dean did not care about the potential backlash he might face from society for falling in love with a black woman. He saw beauty in Madge and was willing to accept any consequence for dating outside of his race.

Madge left behind a notable acting career that was marked with strong roles for an African American woman. Some of her most known films were Coming to America, Earl and ME and Cornbread. Coming to America was a huge hit because the lead actor was comedian Eddie Murphy. At the time of the movie’s release, Eddie was riding a huge wave of popularity from his stand up comedy specials. He was getting a lot of mainstream attention and also drawing some jealous eyes. It was reported that Bill Cosby criticized Eddie for his vulgar style and immature behavior. Richard Pryor, a comedy legend came to Eddie’s defense and told Bill Cosby to shut up.

Even though Madge was happy to be in one of the films that launched Eddie Murphy into being a superstar, her biggest role was a part she played in the ABC TV Miniseries called Roots. The miniseries was about black slavery and the struggles that came with that sad time period of America. It was a controversial series because it did not try to sugarcoat the plight of African slaves. It was raw and tried to educate the American public about the pain and suffering that Africans endured during their introduction to America. Madge was proud to be part of the project because it was a milestone for African American actors. Instead of being portrayed as the villain or the uneducated comic relief, they finally got to play roles that had deep emotions and character development.