Date of Birth

13 April 1976, Danbury, Connecticut, USA

Date of Death

12 November 2003, Los Angeles, California, USA (suicide by hanging)

Birth Name

Jonathan Gregory Brandis

Nickname

The J-Man Jon

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography

Born in Danbury, Connecticut, USA, to Greg and Mary, Jonathan Brandis began his career at age 5, acting in television commercials. He appeared in small parts in several films and TV shows before his first starring role in the 1990 film The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). Since then he also starred in popular films such as Ladybugs (1992) and recently starred as Lucas Wolenczak in Steven Spielberg's television series "SeaQuest DSV" (1993). He doubled up his high school courses so he could finish a year early to his role on "SeaQuest DSV" (1993). He died in November 2003.

Trade Mark

Bright blue eyes

Trivia

He wrote one episode of "SeaQuest DSV" (1993).

He has done more than 85 commercials.

He claimed that his dad was one of the main inspirations in his life, having taught him about the 'business from an early age'

Attended a special actors school and graduated after doubling his high school classes.

Dated Monica Keena. [2000]

Auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002).

An avid Pez collector. As a teenager, in hopes of preparing for a directing career as well as an acting career, he filmed movies starring his friends using a home video camera.

At the 15th Annual Youth in Film Awards, he won Best Youth Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Series for "SeaQuest DSV" (1993).

Was an only child.

Date to the high school prom was Brittany Murphy of Clueless (1995), 8 Mile (2002), and Just Married (2003) fame.

After his death dozens upon dozens of Internet communities and memorial websites were devoted to him.

The Slainesville Boys (2004), completed in 2003, would have been his directorial debut.

He was friends with childhood neighbor, actress Juliette Clarke.

Was considered for "Saved by the Bell" (1989).

Has an action figure based on his character, Lucas Wolenczak, from "SeaQuest DSV" (1993).

In the start of his teenage-life, he was considered a bit short. This phenomenon was in fact due to that he was actually also growing as an adult. During filming Sidekicks (1992) he had the same height as Mako (5' 4"). He then seriously grew in his late teenage years. In the last season of "SeaQuest DSV" when he was about 18 years old he reached the height 5' 9". He then kept this height for some few years until during filming of Outside Providence (1999) when he finally received his adult height of 6'.

Personal Quotes

"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?!"

"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."

"My friends would probably describe me as silly. And honest. And that I think about things a bit too much."

~ Updated: 2008-02-28 ~