This former adorable child actor, born in 1974, landed his first role at just eight years old, portraying an autistic boy in St. Elsewhere. To help him prepare, his mother explained that children with autism often live in worlds of their own.
“And I understood that. I would sit there and have this whole world going on in my head. I’d be following the patterns on the wall, and in my head there was an imaginary war going on between the shapes,” he once reflected.
He also made a guest appearance in an early episode of Airwolf, earning a nomination for ”Best Young Actor: Guest in a Series.”
Soon, he was everywhere starring in family dramas like Our House and My Two Dads, learning lines instead of math homework, and growing up under the lights.
“I played pretend, and I was good at playing pretend… and all of a sudden people were making a lot of money, and I didn’t want to do it anymore,” he recalled years later.
The teenage heartthrob loved acting but felt trapped by the world it created. Normal childhood moments — playgrounds, friends, school dances — were replaced with studios, scripts, and interviews.
