Jonathan Brandis

Jonathan Gregory Brandis (April 13, 1976 – November 12, 2003) was an American actor. Beginning his career as a child model, Brandis moved on to acting in commercials and subsequently won television and film roles. Brandis made his acting debut in 1982 as Kevin Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. In 1990, he portrayed the main protagonist Bill Denbrough in Stephen King's supernatural horror miniseries It. In 1990, he starred as Bastian Bux in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. In 1993, at the age of 17, he was cast in the role of Lucas Wolenczak, a teen prodigy on the NBC series seaQuest DSV. The character was popular among teenage female viewers, and Brandis regularly appeared in teen magazines.
== Early life ==
Jonathan Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut, the only child of Mary, a teacher and personal manager, and Gregory Brandis, a food distributor and firefighter. At the age of two, he began his career as a child model for Buster Brown shoes.[1] At the age of four, Brandis began acting in television commercials.[2][3] He attended Valley Professional School, graduating in 1993.[1]
== Career ==
At the age of six, Brandis won the role of Kevin Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live. He moved to Los Angeles with his family at age nine, and made guest appearances on shows such as Blossom, L.A. Law, Who's the Boss?, Murder, She Wrote, The Wonder Years, Full House and Kate & Allie.[4]
At the age of fourteen, Brandis was cast, in his first starring role, as Bastian Bux in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. That same year, Brandis played the young "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough, the main protagonist in the 1990 miniseries Stephen King's It, alongside Tim Curry, based on the epic horror novel of the same name. Brandis' performance in the film was lauded by critics and audiences. Brandis then appeared in Sidekicks, costarring with Chuck Norris, and in Ladybugs, with actor/comedian Rodney Dangerfield.
Around the age of 17, 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.[5] At the height of his popularity, Brandis received approximately 4,000 fan letters a week and had to be escorted onto the set of seaQuest DSV by three studio security guards because of the many female fans present.[2] During his stint on seaQuest DSV, he co-wrote and produced an episode of the series titled "The Siamese Dream".[6] He also voiced Mozenrath, an evil young sorcerer and necromancer, in Disney's animated series Aladdin.[7]
After seaQuest DSV was canceled in 1996, Brandis appeared in the television film Her Last Chance, starring Kellie Martin.[8] His next role was in the television film Born Free: A New Adventure. Shot in South Africa, the film also starred Chris Noth as Brandis's character's father.[9] He continued his career in supporting roles in Outside Providence (1999), and Ride with the Devil (1999). In 2000, he costarred in Bad Girls from Valley High, which, because of distribution problems, was not released until 2005. In 2002, Brandis had a small role in Hart's War (2002). The following year, he was cast in 111 Gramercy Park, a pilot for ABC that was not picked up by the network. He made his final onscreen appearance in action drama Puerto Vallarta Squeeze, starring Harvey Keitel and Scott Glenn. That film was also released posthumously.
In addition to acting, Brandis directed several independent films and authored screenplays.[3] He also produced and directed the short film The Slainesville Boys shortly before his death.[10]
== Personal life ==
From 1995 to 1998, Brandis dated actress and singer Tatyana Ali. The then-couple appeared in an article in People magazine in July 1995. In September 2000, Brandis met Vanessa Haley and get married before her birthday.
== Death ==
At 11:40 p.m. on November 11, 2003, Brandis hanged himself in the hallway of his Los Angeles apartment building. His body was discovered and paramedics were called to transport him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,[12] where he died at 2:44 p.m. on November 12 from injuries he sustained during the hanging.[12][13][14] He was 27 years old.
Brandis did not leave a suicide note. After his death, friends reported that he was depressed about his waning career, which had continued to decline in the final years of his life. He was also reportedly disappointed when his appearance in the 2002 war drama Hart's War, a role he had hoped would revive his career, was significantly reduced in the film's final cut. Brandis had begun drinking heavily and had said that he intended to kill himself.[15]
Paul Petersen, a former child actor, Vanessa Haley, his wife and president of A Minor Consideration, an organization that deals with issues affecting child actors, stated: "Speculations as to the underlying cause of this tragedy are exactly that: speculations. It serves no purpose to leap to conclusions for none of us will really know what led Jonathan to his decision to take his life."[16]
== Filmography ==
Film
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes 	1988	The Wrong Guys	Kid Tim	
1988	Oliver & Company 	Additional voice 	 	 	 	 	
1989	Pet Sematary 	Voice-over at beginning of film	 	 	 	 	
1989	Stepfather II 	Todd Grayland 	 	 	 	 	
1990	Ghost Dad 	Additional voices 	 	 	 	 	
1990	The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter	Bastian Bux 	 	 	 	 	
1992	Ladybugs 	Matthew/Martha 	 	 	 	 	
1992	Sidekicks 	Barry Gabrewski 	 	 	 	 	
1994	Dumb and Dumber 	Nick (Commercial character) 	Uncredited 	 	 	 	
1998	Aladdin's Arabian Adventures: Magic Makers	Mozenrath (voice) 	Direct-to-video release 	 	 	 	
1999	Outside Providence 	Mousy 	 	 	 	 	
1999	Ride with the Devil 	Cave Wyatt 	 	 	 	 	
2002	Hart's War 	Pvt. Lewis P. Wakely 	Scenes deleted 	 	 	 	
2002	The Year That Trembled 	Casey Pedersen 	 	 	 	 	
2003	Between the Sheets 	Robert Avocado 	 	 	 	 	
2004	Puerto Vallarta Squeeze 	Neil Weatherford 	Released posthumously 	 	 	 	
2004	The Slainesville Boys 	 	Director, producer
Released posthumously	 	 	 	
2005	Bad Girls from Valley High 	Drew 	Filmed in 2000; Released posthumously	 	 	 	
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes 	1982–1983	One Life to Live	Young Kevin Riley Buchanan	Unknown episodes
1984 	Kate & Allie 	Chip's Friend 	Episode: "Odd Boy Out" 	 	 	 	
1986 	Mystery Magical Special 	Himself 	Special 	 	 	 	
1986 	Sledge Hammer! 	Young Sledge 	Episode: "They Shoot Hammers, Don't They?"	 	 	 	
1987 	Good Morning, Miss Bliss 	Michael Thompson 	Pilot 	 	 	 	
1987 	Buck James 	 	Episode: "Sin of the Father" 	 	 	 	
1987 	L.A. Law 	Kevin Talbot 	2 episodes 	 	 	 	
1987 	Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story	Lance Reventlow (Age 11) 	TV movie 	 	 	 	
1988 	Mars: Base One 	 	Movie 	 	 	 	
1988 	Webster 	Bobby 	Episode: "Take My Cousin, Please" 	 	 	 	
1989 	Full House 	Michael Monford 	Episode: "A Little Romance" 	 	 	 	
1989 	Who's the Boss? 	Paul 	Episode: "Your Grandmother's a Bimbo" 	 	 	 	
1990 	It 	Bill Denbrough (Age 12) 	Miniseries 	 	 	 	
1990 	Murder, She Wrote 	Kevin Bryce 	Episode: "If the Shoe Fits" 	 	 	 	
1990 	Alien Nation 	Andron 	Episode: "The Touch" 	 	 	 	
1990 	The Munsters Today 	Matt Glover 	Episode: "The Silver Bullet" 	 	 	 	
1990 	The Flash 	Terry Cohan 	Episode: "Child's Play" 	 	 	 	
1990 	The Earth Day Special 	Himself 	 	 	 	 	
1991 	Our Shining Moment 	Michael 'Scooter' McGuire	 	 	 	 	
1991 	Gabriel's Fire 	Matthew Fixx 	Episode: "Truth and Consequences" 	 	 	 	
1991 	The Wonder Years 	Steve 	Episode: "The Yearbook" 	 	 	 	
1991 	Blossom 	Stevie 	Episode: "To Tell the Truth" 	 	 	 	
1991 	Pros and Cons 	Danny 	Episode: "Once a Kid" 	 	 	 	
1992 	Do Not Bring That Python in the House 	Gabriel Miller 	Movie 	 	 	 	
1992 	Crossroads 	Michael Stahl 	Episode: "Freedom of the Road" 	 	 	 	
1993–96 	seaQuest DSV 	Lucas Wolenczak 	57 episodes 	 	 	 	
1993 	Saved By The Bell: The College Years 	Himself 	Episode: "A Thanksgiving Story" 	 	 	 	
1994 	Good King Wenceslas 	Prince Wenceslas 	Television movie 	 	 	 	
1994–95 	Aladdin 	Mozenrath (voice) 	8 episodes 	 	 	 	
1996 	Her Last Chance 	Preston Altherton 	Movie 	 	 	 	
1996 	Born Free: A New Adventure 	Randolph "Rand" Thompson 	Movie 	 	 	 	
1996 	Fall into Darkness 	Chad 	Movie 	 	 	 	
1997 	Two Came Back 	Jason 	Movie 	 	 	 	
2000 - 2003	The Spooks of Bottle Bay 	Kyle 	46 episodes 	 	 	 	
2003 	111 Gramercy Park 	Will Karnegian 	Unsold pilot 	 	 	 	
Category:1976 births
Category:2003 deaths