JONATHAN BRANDIS

'Jonathan Gregory Brandis' (April 13, 1976 – November 12, 2003) was an American film and television actor.

Contents

Career and personal life

Death

Filmography

External links

Career and personal life

Born in Danbury, Connecticut, Brandis got his show-biz break at the age of six when he landed a recurring role on ''One Life to Live'' and appeared in numerous commercials. 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'' and ''Kate & Allie''.
He received his first starring role in ''The NeverEnding Story II'', and went on to appear primarily in television roles. Of these, he is most famous for his portrayal of scientific prodigy Lucas Wolenczak in Steven Spielberg's futuristic science fiction series ''seaQuest DSV''. He is also well known for voicing Mozenrath in Disney's television series ''Aladdin'', and having played Barry Grabrewski in the film ''Sidekicks'' co-starring Chuck Norris. He also starred in the soccer movie ''Ladybugs'' with actor/comedian Rodney Dangerfield, and played the young "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough in the 1990 miniseries ''It'', based on the epic horror novel by Stephen King.
During his lifetime he was romantically linked to Tatyana Ali, Heather McComb, Vinessa Shaw and Monica Keena. He accompanied actress Brittany Murphy to her high school prom.
He expressed an interest in moving his career towards more directing work rather than acting. He had also auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker in George Lucas' ''.

Death

On November 12, 2003, Brandis died from injuries he suffered after hanging himself the previous day. According to his mother, he went out to dinner with friends, then they went back to his apartment at 650 S. Detroit St. His friends reported that he seemed to be agitated and pacing around quite a bit. He left the room and, approximately 15 minutes later, one of his friends went looking for him and found him hanging by a nylon rope in the second floor hallway of his building. His friends cut him down and called paramedics. Despite all efforts to revive him, he was later pronounced dead. The Los Angeles Police Department released a statement regarding his death:
:''On November 11, 2003, at about 11:40 p.m., a friend of Jonathan Brandis called police to report that the actor had attempted suicide at his apartment, located in the 600 block of Detroit Avenue. Paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire department responded and transported Brandis to Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he eventually died from his injuries. Brandis' death was announced by hospital staff on November 12, 2003, at about 2:45 p.m."'' ([1]).
Brandis apparently did not leave a note of any kind. His family was devastated upon receiving news of his death. He had no known personal problems, except for the fact that he was usually quite hard on himself. According to his mother, he had no prior suicide attempts, drank socially and had quit smoking two years prior. Brandis' mother questioned whether his use of the acne drug Accutane may be to blame, citing that one of the clinical side effects was reported to cause psychosis and suicide although there is no conclusive evidence for this. In a ''People'' magazine article, friends were quoted as saying he was lonely and depressed about his lagging career. One friend admitted that Brandis drank heavily, and had even mentioned that he might kill himself. He was also said to be upset when his appearance in ''Hart's War'', a role he hoped would be his comeback, was cut from the film.

Filmography

★ ''111 Gramercy Park'' (2003) (TV) .... Will Karnegian

★ ''Puerto Vallarta Squeeze'' (2003) .... Agent Neil Weatherford

★ ''The Year That Trembled'' (2002) .... Casey Pedersen

★ ''Hart's War'' (2002) .... Pvt. Lewis P. Wakely

★ ''A Fate Totally Worse Than Death'' (2000) .... Drew

★ ''Ride with the Devil'' (1999/I) .... Cave Wyatt

★ ''Outside Providence'' (1999) .... Mousy

★ ''Two Came Back'' (1997) (TV) .... Jason

★ ''Fall Into Darkness'' (1996) (TV) .... Chad

★ ''Born Free: A New Adventure'' (1996) (TV) .... Randal 'Rand' Everett Thompson

★ ''Her Last Chance'' (1996) (TV) .... Preston

★ ''Universal Studios Summer Blast'' (1994) (TV Special) .... Himself (a guest)

★ ''Good King Wenceslas'' (1994) (TV) .... Prince Wenceslas

★ ''seaQuest DSV'' (1993) TV Series .... Lucas Wolenczak

★ ''Saved by the Bell - the College Years'' (1993)...Himself

★ ''Aladdin'' (1993/I) TV Series (voice) .... Mozenrath

★ ''Sidekicks'' (1992) .... Barry Gabrewski

★ ''Ladybugs (movie)'' (1992) .... Matthew/Martha

★ ''Our Shining Moment'' (1991) (TV) .... Michael 'Scooter' McGuire

★ ''The Flash'' (1990) (TV) .... Terry

★ ''Stephen King's It'' (1990) (TV) .... William 'Stuttering Bill' Denbrough (age 12)

★ '' (1990) .... Bastian Bux

★ ''Ghost Dad'' (1990) (voice) .... Additional Voices

★ ''Stepfather II'' (1989) .... Todd Grayland

★ ''Oliver & Company'' (1988) (voice) .... Additional Voice

★ ''The Wrong Guys'' (1988) .... Kid Tim

★ ''Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story'' (1987) (TV) .... Lance as Age 11

★ ''Fatal Attraction'' (1987) .... Party Guest

★ ''Mystery Magical Special'' (1986) (TV) .... Jonathan

★ ''One Life to Live'' (1986) TV Series .... Young Kevin Riley Buchanan

External links

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★ The Year That Trembled film web site

★ Puerto Vallarta Squeeze film web site

★ Jonathan Brandis Memorial site