Name: Jonathan Gregory Brandis
Born: April 13, 1976, Danbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Died: November 12, 2003
Discovered: He began his career as a child model and began acting in television commercials. Brandis landed a recurring role on One Life to Live when he was six years old. He moved to Los Angeles with his family at age nine, and made guest appearances on shows such as L.A. Law, Who's the Boss?, Murder, She Wrote, Full House and Kate & Allie.
Career: At the age of fourteen, he received his first starring role in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter as Bastian Bux, a young boy who returns to a world of wonder on the wings of his imagination. That same year, Brandis played the young "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough, the main character in the 1990 miniseries Stephen King's It, based on the epic horror novel by Stephen King. Following this, Brandis appeared in Sidekicks co-starring Chuck Norris and Ladybugs with actor/comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Around the age of seventeen, Brandis landed one of his best known roles as scientific prodigy Lucas Wolenczak in Steven Spielberg's futuristic science fiction series seaQuest DSV. The role propelled him into teen idol status. During the run of seaQuest DSV, he also voiced Mozenrath, a young evil sorcerer and necromancer in Disney's animated series Aladdin.
In addition to acting, Brandis also directed several independent films and authored screenplays. During his stint on seaQuest DSV, he co-wrote an episode of the series entitled "The Siamese Dream". He also produced and directed the short film The Slainville Boys, shortly before his death.
Romance: Brandis dated actress/singer Tatyana Ali from 1995 until 1998.
Filmography:
Fatal Attraction (1987) ... Party Guest
Wrong Guys, The (1988) ... Kid Tim
Oliver & Company (1988) ... Additional voices
Stepfather II (1989) ... Todd Grayland
Ghost Dad (1990) ... Additional voices
NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990) ... Bastian Bux
It Young (1990) ... Bill Denbrough
Ladybugs (1992) ... Matthew/Martha
Sidekicks (1992) ... Barry Gabrewski
Between the Sheets (1998) ... Robert Avacado
Aladdin's Arabian Adventures: Magic Makers (1998) ... Mozenrath (Voice)
Outside Providence (1999) ... Mousy
Ride with the Devil (1999) ... Cave Wyatt
Hart's War (2002) ... Pvt. Lewis P. Wakely (Scenes deleted)
Year That Trembled, The (2002) ... Casey Pedersen
Puerto Vallarta Squeeze (2004) ... Neil Weatherford (Released posthumously)
Slainesville Boys, The (2004) ... Director/Producer (Released posthumously)
Bad Girls From Valley High (2005) ... Drew (Released posthumously)
Awards:
Young Artist Award - "Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Television Series" seaQuest DSV (1994)
Trivia:
He performed in more than 85 commercials.
Date to the high school prom was Brittany Murphy of Clueless (1995), 8 Mile (2002), and Just Married (2003) fame.
He was friends with childhood neighbor, actress Juliette Clarke.
Quotes:
"My friends would probably describe me as silly. And honest. And that I think about things a bit too much." - Jonathan Brandis
"Teen magazines keep writing that my eyes 'twinkle' when I talk. Look, I'm a guy. I don't twinkle, you know! You can say that my eyes 'sparkle' maybe, but not 'twinkle' alright? Got that teen magazine writers?!" - Jonathan Brandis
"I want to direct, I want to be part of something creative, something with quality. My biggest fear as an actor is being involved in something mediocre, or being mediocre myself. I've taken classes on screen-writing and, of course, I read a lot of scripts. Writing is what I'd really like to move towards. Right now, though, it just doesn't pay the mortgage." - Jonathan Brandis
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