Dengel's film debut was 1964's Twelfth Night based on the William Shakespeare play. Dengel joined the following Trek alumni in the period piece Ragtime (1981) where Dengel shared the screen with John Anderson, Josh Clark, Brad Dourif, Jim Fitzpatrick, Robert Joy, Andreas Katsulas, Ethan Phillips and Edward Wiley. In 1983's Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dengel worked with Ellen Geer. Dengel's next film was the 1984 comedy Best Defense where Dengel found himself again among many Trek alumni. They were Raye Birk, Paul Comi, Gene Dynarski, Paul Eiding, Darryl Henriques, John Hostetter, and Joel Polis. Comedy furthered when Dengel appeared in 1986's The Best of Times with Anne Haney and Tony Plana. That very same year, Dengel took a decidedly opposite direction costarring in the fact-based t