Dean Denton was born in Dermott, Arkansas. He was raised in McGehee and Conway, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1981. During his freshman year, he auditioned for and was cast in a minor role in a TV mini series, "The Blue and the Gray" that was being shot around campus and Northwest Arkansas. While working on this production, Dean met Stacy Keach. Stacy encouraged Dean to move to Los Angeles or New York to break into acting. Before taking Keach's advice, Dean moved to Dallas and studied acting with Adam Roarke and Lou Diamond Phillips at the Film Actors Lab. After several years of working on numerous commercials, films and TV projects in Texas, Dean moved to Los Angeles in 1989. The first week in LA, Dean booked his first acting role, which was a small role on the TV show "Days of Our Lives." That role lead to bigger roles and an agent. Dean has appeared in over 55 TV, film and commercial projects. Dean is married to Julie Denton, first cousin to the actor Josh Lucas of "Sweet Home Alabama."

He worked as a bartender and waiter for a catering company in Los Angeles when he first moved to California. He bartended many private parties at Ronald Reagan's house in Beverly Hills, with guests including Jimmy Stewart, Kirk Douglas, Betsy Bloomingdale and many others.He worked at Motel 6 while he was in high school.His father played football for the University of Oklahoma and played in the 1968 Orange Bowl, beating Tennessee, 26-24.He bartended private parties at Gene Roddenberry's house in Beverly Hills for the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation.".He was an usher at Elizabeth Taylor's wedding in 1991. The wedding took place at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.He suffered from Bell's Palsy for almost 10 months in 2005.