EXCLUSIVE: 10 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Dennis Quaid — Including His Brutal Anorexia Battle

Dennis Quaid reprises his role as a drunk, abusive father in the poignant film I Can Only Imagine 2, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Here are 10 things you probably don't know about the 71-year-old actor.

1. Quaid was born to electrician dad William Rudy Quaid and real estate agent mom Juanita Bonnie Dale "Nita" Jordan, and has English, Scots-Irish, and Cajun ancestry. He's the brother of Independence Day and National Lampoon's Vacation star Randy Quaid, and a first cousin twice removed of cowboy singing legend Gene Autry.

2. At age 12, Dennis wanted to be a vet: "I was a veterinarian's assistant. I cleaned up, fed the animals and watched operations."

3. Dennis studied Mandarin Chinese and dance at Texas' Bellaire High School. He ended up following in big brother Randy's acting footsteps – joining him in L.A. after Randy already had an Oscar nomination for The Last Detail.

4. Dennis peeled off 44 pounds to play Doc Holliday in the 1994 Western Wyatt Earp, even though he was asked to lose just 10 pounds. His drastic weight loss caused Dennis to develop anorexia, but he got treatment and overcame the eating disorder.

Ironically, he and Randy both portrayed Doc Holliday – Randy played the dentist-turned-gunslinger in 1999's Purgatory.

5. Throwing himself into another role, Dennis learned to fly a plane for his role as pilot/astronaut Gordon Cooper in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. As a licensed pilot, he regularly flies to his Montana property and hosted the Fox Nation series Top Combat Pilot.

6. "My favorite movie I've made was The Right Stuff, about the original seven astronauts," he revealed. "I grew up in Houston and watched them on TV in the first grade. That replaced my wanting to be a cowboy."

7. Dennis has been married to two famous actresses: Stripes and Halloween beauty P.J. Soles (1978-83) and When Harry Met Sally icon Meg Ryan (1991-2001). Dennis revealed: "Being a celebrity couple is not so easy – it's double publicity, and it's hard to have a private life."

8. Dennis has three children: son Jack, 33, with Ryan, and twins Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, 18, with his third wife, real-estate agent Kimberly Buffington (2004-18).