Jack Dalton (MacGyver)

Jack Dalton
MacGyver character
Bruce McGill as Jack Dalton on the TV show MacGyver.
First appearance	"Jack of Lies"
Last appearance	"Mountain of Youth"
Created by	Lee David Zlotoff
Portrayed by	Bruce McGill
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Entrepreneur Aviator
Family	Francine Layland Dalton (mother) Jack Dalton, Sr. (father)
Nationality	American

Jack Dalton is a fictional character in the ABC television series MacGyver. He is played by Bruce McGill and appears in 19 episodes. Jack was usually responsible for getting both himself, and thus MacGyver into trouble, often due to his frequent get-rich-quick schemes. Dalton is known for always wearing a peaked aviator's cap.

Biography

Jack Dalton was born on February 3, 1951 at Lakeland Military Hospital. Four weeks before he was born his father, Jack Dalton, Sr., was shot down over Gimpo during the Korean War. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His mother, Francine Layland Dalton, was only 17 and with the death of her husband decided to give Jack up for adoption. Jack grew up with MacGyver in Mission City, Minnesota. Apparently, Jack met MacGyver in high school.

According to the TV series, Jack, MacGyver, and mutual friend Mike Forester traveled through Europe together after college. Jack moved to California as an adult (presumably following Mac), where he has run numerous short-lived ventures including: a taxi service, Fly-By-Night airline, Jack-Be-Quick Messenger Service and Dalton Air. He's always got a get-rich-quick plan up his sleeve. Inevitably, that backfires and more often than not he turns to his friend MacGyver. The friendship is not one-sided, however, as Jack will do anything to help "Mac". MacGyver stated in "Jack of Lies" that Jack's left eye twitches whenever he tells a lie.

Until 1988, Jack was unaware of his original parents when Sam Greer, a companion of his father, started sending Jack artifacts from his father. In January 1989 Jack finally reunited with his mother. One of Jack's ex-girlfriends also named her child after Jack in the hopes that the child would grow up having the qualities that she saw in him ("Rock the Cradle").

In his final appearance, Jack was searching for the fountain of youth out of commercial interests. But after finding it, he took one mouthful for himself and decided to leave it in peace.