At 6 years old, Dean Teaster met Burt Reynolds who took an afternoon to talk with him while performing at Ghost Town in the Sky (1963). That genuine time and interest invested by Burt, was what later inspired him to get into acting.
Other performers that Dean met at an early age were Dan Blocker, Paul Fix, Tony Dow, Frank McGrath, Clu Gulager, Jon Provost, Veronica Cartwright, Clint Walker, Peter Brown, Darby Hinton, Craig Hill, Donald May, Grant Sullivan.