SEAN ASTIN

'Sean Astin' (born 'Sean Patrick Duke'^[1] on February 25, 1971) is an American film actor, director, and Oscar-nominated producer best known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in ''The Goonies'', the title character of ''Rudy'', Samwise Gamgee in the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy, and Drew Barrymore's steroid-juiced brother in ''50 First Dates''. He also appeared as Lynn McGill on the fifth season of the television series ''24''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Credits

Films

Televisions

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Astin was born in Santa Monica, California. He is the son of actors Patty Duke and John Astin, although his biological father is Michael Tell, a music promoter and writer of Jewish heritage who divorced Patty Duke shortly before her marriage to Astin.^[2][3] At the time of his birth, it was widely assumed that his biological father was Desi Arnaz, Jr., although this has been stated as incorrect. Astin is the older brother of Mackenzie Astin, also an actor (in ''The Facts of Life'').
Astin graduated with honors from UCLA with B.A.s in history and English (American literature and culture). He is an alumnus of and now serves on the Board of Directors of the Patrons Association and the Arts Council for Los Angeles Valley College. He also attended St. Paul the Apostle Elementary School and the Crossroads High School for the Arts and participated in master classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory in Los Angeles.
Astin is also a vegetarian. [1]

Career

At age thirteen, he debuted on the silver screen as Mikey in ''The Goonies'' (1985). He had a small role in 1989's ''The War of the Roses'' and in 1993 got a memorable part as the title character in ''Rudy''. Astin recently played Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. He also played the brother of Lucy (Drew Barrymore) in the Adam Sandler film ''50 First Dates''. He provided the voice for Balto's son, Kodi in the of ''Balto''.
In 1994, he directed and co-produced the Academy Awards nominated short film ''Kangaroo Court'' with his wife, Christine.
In 1995, he starred in the Showtime sci-fi film ''Harrison Bergeron'', an adaptation of the short story by Kurt Vonnegut. In this futuristic film, the world focuses on the belief that "All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." The titular character, Harrison, is smarter than his peers and is unaffected by the standard technology used to handicap all Americans so that everyone is of equal ability.
While working on '' he persuaded a number of fellow cast and crew members, including director Peter Jackson, to act in or work as crew on his short film, ''The Long and Short of It'' (2003), which takes place on a street in Wellington, New Zealand. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, 2003, and appears on the "standard edition" DVD of ''The Two Towers'' as an extra feature together with a "making of" video.
Astin appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of the FOX drama ''24''. He also appeared in the first season of the NBC Show ''Las Vegas'' as a gambler who wins one million dollars and his wife and best friend want to take it away from him. He also had a role in Adam Sandler's 2006 film ''Click''. Astin is the narrator of the US version of "Meerkat Manor", shown on the Discovery Channel-owned cable TV channel Animal Planet. He most recently appeared as a sales clerk in an episode of the TV series "My Name Is Earl" in which he, along with co-stars Charles S. Dutton and Chelcie Ross parodied their hit movie ''Rudy''. Scenes included a motivational speech by Dutton after Earl fails his chance at becoming a sales rep, and all the dock workers turning in their credit cards to Ross. Both of these are representations of famous "Rudy" scenes.
He substituted for Tate Donovan in voicing Hercules in the first Kingdom Hearts game for Playstation 2.

Personal life

Astin married Christine Harrell on July 11, 1992. They have three daughters: Alexandra (born November 27, 1996), Elizabeth (born August 6, 2002), and Isabella (born July 22, 2005), all with the same middle name of Louise. His wife held the Miss Indiana Teen USA title in 1984 and competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant that year.
His book ''There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale'' (2004, ISBN 0-312-33146-0), co-written by Joe Layden, is an account of his experiences before, during and after filming the ''Lord of the Rings'' movies. The title is derived from the subtitle of ''The Hobbit'' by ''Lord of the Rings'' author J. R. R. Tolkien. He jumped at the chance to work in New Zealand again in 2004, as the mythical "Linus", tutor of Hercules, in Robert Halmi Sr.'s Hallmark-sponsored remake.

Credits

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	''The Goonies''	Mikey Walsh
1987	''Like Father Like Son''	Clarence
	''White Water Summer''	Alan
1989	''The War of the Roses''	17's Josh
	''Staying Together''	Duncan McDermott
1990	''Memphis Belle''	Sergeant Richard Moore
1991	''Toy Soldiers''	William Tepper
	''The Willies''	Michael
1992	''Where the Day Takes You''	Greg
	''Encino Man''	Dave Morgan
1993	''Rudy''	Daniel Ruettiger
1994	''Safe Passage''	Izzy Singer
1995	''The Low Life''	Andrew
	''Harrison Bergeron''	Harrison Bergeron
1996	''Courage Under Fire''	Patella
1998	''Boy Meets Girl''	Mike
	''Bulworth''	Gary
1999	''Deterrence''	Ralph
	''Kimberly''	Bob
2000	''Dish Dogs''	Morgan	Voice
	''The Last Produce''	Bo Pomerantz
	''Icebreaker''	Matt Foster
	''The Sky is Falling''	Schwartz
2001	''	Samwise Gamgee
2002	''	Samwise Gamgee''
2003	''	Samwise Gamgee
2004	''	Kodi	Voice
	''Elvis Has Left the Building''	Aaron
	''50 First Dates''	Doug Whitmore
2005	''Smile''	Matthews
	''Bigger Than the Sky''	Ken Zorbell
	''Slipstream''	Stuart Conway
	''Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School''	Kip Kipling
	''Into The West''	Martin Jarrett
	''Hercules''	Linus
	''Borderland''	Randall
	''Thanks to Gravity''	Coach Amal
2006	''What Love Is''	George
	''Asterix and the Vikings''	Justforkix	English voice
	''Click''	Bill
2007	''The Final Season''	Kent Stock
	''Forever Strong''	Marcus

Televisions

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	''The B.R.A.T. Patrol''	Leonard Kinsey
2003	''Jeremiah''	Mister Smith
2005	''Meerkat Manor''	Narrator	United States
2006	''24''	Lynn McGill	Deceased
2007	''Monk''	Paul Buchanan
	''My Name Is Earl''	Sales Clerk
2008	''The Colour of Magic''	Twoflower	United Kingdom

References

1. He was born under his mother's surname, according to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905–1995''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com
2. Sean Astin Q&A at GenCon 2003
3. 'I don't want to play the fat guy or the friend all my life'

External links

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