When first approached, "I thought, 'The Angel of Death? Excuse me?’  But I liked how uplifting and different the series was," he recalls.. Recognizing the assignment as "a big responsibility,” he was pleased with the public response to the kindly, compassionate angel. "People write me saying, 'You changed my life,"' he admits. The character has changed as well through the subsequent seasons, becoming more of a case worker. "With all the audience response,  Andrew expanded accordingly," notes Dye. "Now, when I appear, it doesn't necessarily mean someone is going to die. They may or may not. It adds to the drama of the show."

In turn, portraying one of television's most unusual characters has changed the actor professionally and personally. "From an actor's point of view, I've never played anyone this difficult," he explains. "Most drama is, in some way, about heat and passion. Andrew is basically a perfect creature - he's an angel - so I have to find strength in different ways. You rely on who you are. Since you don't have the ability to seduce and manipulate and take over by power, you take over by compassion, and by recognizing gentleness." Dye adds that "I'm also one of the world's most impatient men. The fact that Andrew is very still has probably   served to make me a better guy, a little more thoughtful."

A native of Mississippi, Dye made his acting debut - and found his professional calling - in high school, appearing in local productions of "The Sound of Music" and South Pacific." While he began studying law at Mississippi State University, he later transferred to the University of Memphis and changed his major to drama. Along with lead roles in school productions of "Enter Laughing" and "Private Lives," he landed his first feature film credit while a student, in the Judd Nelson comedy Makin' the Grade. Moving to Los Angeles, he appeared in such films as Perfect Weapon, The Best of the Best, Mother, Mother, Big Man on Campus, Sioux City, Campus Man with Kim Delany and Modern Girls. Dye's television credits include regular roles in the network primetime series Hotel Malibu, Tour of Duty and Jack's Place. He also made guest-starring appearances on Murder, She Wrote, Billionaire Boys Club, The War Room, The Young and The Restless and the Touched By An Angel spin-off Promised Land.

Dye currently divides his time between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Utah, where the series is filmed.  He is a founding member of the Wilton Project, a Los Angeles-based theater company. His birthday is January 31st.