Jonathan Gregory Brandis was an American actor, voice actor, director, and screenwriter, whose Disney roles included Mozenrath in Aladdin, additional voices in Oliver & Company, Michael Thompson in the pilot episode for Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and himself in The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.
Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut who, at the age of four, began acting in television commercials. He soon won the role of Kevin Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live. This soon led to other television roles on shows, like Blossom, L.A. Law, Who's the Boss?, Murder, She Wrote, The Wonder Years, Kate & Allie, Full House, and Webster, but his most recognized role was that of Lucas Wolenczak in Seaquest DSV.
At the age of 14, Brandis was cast in his first starring role as Bastian Bux in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. The same year, Brandis played the young "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough in the 1990 miniseries Stephen King's It. Brandis then appeared in films, like Sidekicks, Ladybugs, Outside Providence, and Bad Girls from Valley High.
On November 11, 2003, Brandis hanged himself in his L.A. apartment building and died the next day. He was only 27 years old. Friends reported that he was depressed about his dwindling career and became a heavy drinker.
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Trivia[]
- Brandis would originally be brought back to reprise his role as Mozenrath in Aladdin and the King of Thieves, but the idea was scrapped when the production staff of Aladdin could not get in touch with him, so they chose to create the story of Aladdin and his father, Cassim instead.[1]
- He was considered for the role of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, along with Paul Walker, Ryan Phillippe, Colin Hanks, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Eric Christian Olsen, Erik von Detten, Chris Klein, and Leonardo DiCaprio. However, Hayden Christensen was cast at the end.