One Of Stephen King’s Best Characters Of All Time Is Officially Returning, 6 Years After Mike Flanagan’s $72M Horror Adaptation

After last being seen in an underrated 2019 horror movie adaptation, IT: Welcome to Derry is finally bringing one of Stephen King’s most iconic characters back to the screen. Serving as a prequel series to the hit 2017 and 2019 Stephen King film adaptations IT and IT: Chapter Two, IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 sees Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise return as Derry is traumatized in the 1960s.

The cast and characters of IT: Welcome to Derry primarily consist of brand-new figures. With HBO’s series being set approximately 20 years before the 2017 movie, IT’s iconic Losers Club members won’t even have been born yet by this time. However, thanks to Stephen King’s stories being part of a connected universe, a familiar character from one of his most acclaimed horror novels will officially be making an appearance.

IT: Welcome To Derry Will Be Dick Hallorann’s First On-Screen Appearance Since Doctor Sleep

Dick Hallorann Was Played By Carl Lumbly In 2019’s Doctor Sleep

At this year’s SDCC, it was officially confirmed that Dick Hallorann will appear in IT: Welcome to Derry, marking his first on-screen appearance since Mike Flanagan’s 2019 Doctor Sleep movie. The iconic character was originally introduced in Stephen King’s classic horror novel The Shining in 1977, and was memorably portrayed by Scatman Crothers in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 movie adaptation.

In IT: Welcome to Derry, Dick Hallorann is portrayed by Chris Chalk, marking the youngest version of the character we’ve seen on-screen. The actor follows in the footsteps of Scatman Crothers in the original The Shining movie, Melvin Van Peebles in the 1997 The Shining TV adaptation, and Carl Lumbly in Doctor Sleep.

Dick Halloran appeared in The Shining as the Overlook Hotel’s head chef, who quickly bonded with young Danny Torrance over both possessing the psychic ability to “shine.” While Dick was killed by Jack Torrance in the 1980 movie, the character actually survived King’s original novel. He then returned in King’s 2013 The Shining sequel novel, Doctor Sleep, teaching Danny how to create a “lock box” for bad shines.

Serving as the basis of his role in Welcome to Derry, King’s 1986 IT novel also expanded on Hallorann’s backstory by revealing that he once worked as an Army cook in Derry. Dick was part of Derry’s Black army nightclub The Black Spot, and used his shining ability to help save numerous people, including IT character Mike Hanlon’s father, from a fire in 1930 started by a racist cult.

How Old Dick Hallorann Will Be In IT: Welcome To Derry

Welcome To Derry Takes Place 18 Years Before The Shining Movie

In 1980’s The Shining, Dick Hallorann is introduced as being nearly 60 years old. However, IT: Welcome to Derry’s timeline takes him back to 1962, at which point Dick Hallorann will be in his early to mid-40s. That age range aligns with his actor, Chris Chalk, whose age in 2025 is 47 years old.

Hallorann at this age will play a much bigger role in IT: Welcome to Derry than he did in King’s 1986 novel, with the series moving up the timeline of The Black Spot’s tragic fire from 1930 to 1962. After the fire, it’s unclear whether we’ll see Dick stay in Derry, move on to another location, or possibly even start making his way to the Overlook Hotel.