Clayton Snyder Biography

Date of Birth

9 December 1987, Long Beach, California, USA

Birth Name

Clayton Travis Snyder

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Biography

Clayton was born in Long Beach Memorial Hospital of Long Beach, California. He is half German half Italian from his father Steve Snyder and mother Glenda Snyder, respectively, and the youngest of two half-brothers, Doug and Devin. Acting began when he received leading roles in his elementary school plays, playing Mark Twain in Tom Sawyer and The Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. He also swam for Seal Beach Swim Club until he joined the Seal Beach Water Polo Club at age 8. He also picked up the alto saxophone for three years, would later pick up guitar, played other sports including soccer, baseball, and basketball, and took lessons for voice, tap and jazz dancing, and cotillion.

Entering McAuliff Middle School, he began auditioning for professional roles in Hollywood. In his second year, he landed the recurring role of Ethan Craft in the Disney series Lizzie McGuire. The series ran for two years, while he continued to attend public school in Orange County and play club water polo. During the second season, Clayton was a member of the 2001 Speedo Cup championship water polo team with SOCAL Water Polo Club, being awarded the Jody Campbell Award for skill, sportsmanship, and teamwork. He would miss his freshman water polo season at Los Alamitos High School to film The Lizzie McGuire Movie in Rome, Italy and Vancouver, Canada. It was then he decided to put acting on hold and pursue his academic and athletic careers. His high school team played in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Final the next three years, winning his junior year. He was named All-County in Orange County, MPSF player of the year, and CIF co-player of the year.

Various universities recruited Clayton for water polo including Pepperdine, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Berkeley. Clayton chose to attend Pepperdine University with a water polo scholarship and started all four years and as captain his junior and senior year. The team finished 2nd in the nation his junior year in 2004, and was named All-American Honorable Mention. He performed as a member of the prestige Hosts in Pepperdine's mini-musical competition, Songfest, and also performed in the student-run dance showcase Dance In Flight for three years. He graduated with honors with a BA in Film Studies.

Upon graduating in 2010, he pursued making the USA National Water Polo Team, training with them during the summer and went on to play professionally in Europe. Clayton played for a season in Italy, a second in Hungary, and a third in Montenegro that was cut short due to injury. In 2011 he competed in the World University Games in Shenzhen, China placing 4th. Clayton continues to play for recreation in Masters tournaments for International Water Polo Club of Los Alamitos, CA.

Clayton now continues his acting career working on various projects under the representation of Strong Management.

Trivia

Has two older half-brothers.

Started playing water polo when he was 8 years old, and did club swimming before that.

Favorite movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Hobbies include spending quality time with friends, cooking, playing guitar (acoustic/electric/bass), watching movies, playing video games, reading, and water polo.

Attended Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California.

Attended same high school that Jodie Sweeten (Full House) attended.

His late grandmother Ruth Snyder and father Steve Snyder attended UCLA.

Clayton was recruited to play water polo for UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley before choosing to attend Pepperdine.

Attended McGaugh Elementary School.

Clayton graduated with a BA in Film Studies from Pepperdine University in 2010. He played water polo for all four years, started as a freshman, and was appointed team captain his junior season. Continuing as captain his senior season, he was awarded MPSF Second Team and All-American Honorable Mention. Clayton also performed in the student-run dance showcase, Dance In Flight (2008-10), and was a member of the host company in Songfest (2009).

Clayton began training with the USA Men's Senior National Water Polo Team the summer of 2010, playing matches against Brazil and Venezuela. He also represented USA in the 2011 World University Games (Universiade) in Shenzhen, China. His National Team endeavors were set aside in 2012.

Clayton played water polo professionally in Europe. For the 2010/2011 season, he played for Promogest in Quartu Sant'Elena, Sardinia in the Italian league Serie A2. In 2011/2012 he played for Kaposvar Vizidlabda Klub of Kaposvar, Hungary in the Hungarian league OB1. The next season he played for Jadran VK of Herceg Novi, Montenegro for two months and left early due to injury.

Clayton is the only actor and water polo player of his family.

Played bass and guitar, as well as vocals for the fabled band Slight Miscalculation alongside drummer and vocalist Devin, his brother, and guitarist Robert Guilarte-Mantellini.

Attended Pepperdine University, while playing for the Water Polo Team. [August 2006]