Actor Jonathan Brandis Died

[Amneris]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 4:53pm

I had no idea he died 2 weeks ago (suicide) until today... he was Martha/Matthew in LADIES BUGS the movie along with many other films "never ending story" etc...so sad

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 5:10pm

That is so sad! I used to love him!

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 6:28pm

Yes.. I was very shicked when I read that right after it happened. So young.. such a loss.. suicide is horrible.

Posted: 11/24/03 at 6:29pm

Yes, does anyone know exactly what happened?? I mean he was 27!!

I remember him from
Stephen King's IT
SeaQuest
NeverEndingStory II
LadyBugs

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 6:34pm

Suicide.. he hung himself.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 6:40pm

not to be gauche but by any chance was it autoasphyxiation? i've heard that is more common than we'd think, and the cause of many accidental suicides by hanging.

As to Brandis, i recognize the name but have not seen many of his roles. The name resounds for something else as well...was he openly gay?

Posted: 11/24/03 at 6:40pm

wow, terrible news.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 6:49pm

well.. as far as that stuff goes

Don't know if he was gay.. perhaps you are thinking of openly gay actor Chad Allen......

As far as hanging, it was apparently intentional on his part. I read an article stating that earlier he had been with friends and said that it was the last time they would all be together but none of them made teh connection.

I wish I could remember that article......

[DofB5]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 6:52pm

The doesn't ring a bell but I'm sorry to hear this. I'm sure his friends are kicking themselfs that they didn't pick up on what he was going to do.

D

[A_Boy_From_Oz]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 10:34am

It's always so sad to hear about a child star who dies young. I believe the last child star that took their life was Dana Plato back in 99. Very sad

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 10:51am

Child performers have a rough way to go. Although I yearned to be professional as a child, knowing what I know now, my parents had the right idea. I've known a lot of people who were in the business as kids, and 95% of them are off-balance. They were expected to act like little adults at age 10. They go through terrible esteem issues when they grow up and don't work as much. I had one friend who was always told she was talented enough to be a prima ballerina when she was a child at the NYCB school. However, when she hit puberty the boobs came, the body changed -- and she was booted out on her pointe shoes. Her mother even RESENTED her for growing up, and made no bones about it. Truly sick.

Another friend was a cute kid -- absolutely cherubic -- that did a lot of commercials -- and while he was doing those commercials, would also be abused by some of the sick adults he worked with. He ended up being a call boy, and is now dead.

I know you can't blame all the adult woes of former child performers on the business, but we all have to agree that it's not exactly the most stable way to grow up. Updated On: 11/25/03 at 10:51 AM

[KAP103]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:18am

There is a link on the yahoo home page about his death... there was also one the other day. The one that was there the other day had his picture.

He also dated Tatiana Ali (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) at one point.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031125/ap_on_en_tv/brf_actor_s_death

Posted: 11/25/03 at 2:20pm

Here you go...

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

Puerto Vallarta Squeeze (2003) .... Weatherford

Year That Trembled, The (2002) .... Casey Pedersen

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

Fate Totally Worse Than Death, A (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'

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

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

"SeaQuest DSV" (1993) TV Series .... Lucas Wolenczek (1993-1996)

"Aladdin" (1993/I) TV Series (voice) .... Mozenrath

Sidekicks (1992) .... Barry Gabrewski

Ladybugs (1992) .... Matthew/Martha

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

It (1990) (TV) .... William 'Stuttering Bill' Denbrough (age 12)

NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, The (1990) .... Bastian

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

Stepfather II (1989) .... Todd Grayland

Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1987) (TV) .... Lance as a child

Fatal Attraction (1987) .... Party Guest

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

[A_Boy_From_Oz]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:56pm

I remember when I was a child I wanted more than anything to be a professional actor, like the children I saw on the disney channel or nickelodeon. I even went on a couple of auditions yet nothing ever came of it. Looking back on it now I'm grateful that I was able to have a somewhat "normal" childhood instead of growing up in the spotlight. Now that I'm grown up, educated and know how to function in the "real world" I'm much better suited to enter the world of showbuisness, if I ever get that lucky! :-p

[DefyingGravity]

Posted: 11/26/03 at 12:28am

how weird is it the day he hung himself i rented his movie SideKicks

[Lorelai]

Posted: 11/26/03 at 12:32pm

omg, when i saw the namme jonanthan brandis i thought maybe i was thinking of the wrong actors....he was so young....i remember having a crush on him when i was younger...i can't believe he killed himself...

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/3/03 at 10:21am

defying gravity- the fact that you rented sidekicks is weird enough on its own...

[DavidMegg]

Posted: 12/3/03 at 7:01pm

There is an article (1 page) on Jonathan in this week's PEOPLE magazine (the one with a scary picture of Michael Jackson on the cover).
It didn't say anything more than we already discussed here... no mention of any homosexuality for those wondering.
-david.

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 2:41pm

I use to get him mixed up with Chad Allen all the time. I don't think Jonathan Brandis was gay. I had heard about the thought of suicide but I never read any follow up. So, thanks for posting info because I had been wondering exactly how he died.