Jerry O'Connell

Jeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor, best known for playing Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Quinn Mallory in the TV series Sliders, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan.

Biography

Early life

O'Connell was born in New York City, the son of Linda (née Witkowski), an art teacher, and Michael O'Connell, an advertising agency art director. His maternal grandfather, Charles S. Witkowski, was the mayor of Jersey City, NJ. O'Connell is of Irish and Polish ancestry. O'Connell was raised in Manhattan with a younger brother Charlie O'Connell, also an actor. O'Connell began his acting career at a young age. As a child, he did commercial work for Duncan Hines cookies. Shortly after at the age of eleven, he landed his first feature film role in Rob Reiner's Stand By Me. As a teenager, he starred in the Canadian TV series My Secret Identity, and attended Manhattan's Professional Children's School. His first starring role was in the Canadian television series My Secret Identity from 1988–1991.

O'Connell attended New York University (NYU) from 1991 to 1994, majoring in film. While there, he studied screen writing and competed on the NYU fencing team, serving a stint as captain of the sabre squad. However, he left NYU several credits short of graduation in 1999.

Adult career

During a summer break from NYU, Jerry starred in the feature film Calendar Girl alongside Jason Priestley and Gabriel Olds. He also appeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom, Camp Wilder with Jay Mohr and Hilary Swank in 1992. In his Junior year, O'Connell auditioned for the TV pilot Sliders. He was offered the role of Quinn Mallory in the series, which ran for three seasons on Fox and two seasons on the Sci-Fi Channel. He served as producer during his fourth and final season, and is credited with writing and directing several episodes.

O'Connell has since gone on to star in such movies as Jerry Maguire, Body Shots, Mission to Mars, Tomcats, Scream 2, and Kangaroo Jack. O'Connell has also tried his hand at screenwriting and sold his first screenplay, for First Daughter, to New Regency in 1999. The film was released in 2004 by 20th Century Fox-based Davis Entertainment. O'Connell served as executive producer on the film, which was about a young secret service agent sent to keep an eye on the president's college-age daughter and starred Katie Holmes.

O'Connell starred as Detective Woody Hoyt on the NBC crime drama Crossing Jordan (2001) until its cancellation, and was engaged to TV personality Giuliana DePandi. Now, he is married to actress/model Rebecca Romijn. He starred opposite his fiancée in an episode of Ugly Betty. O'Connell has also starred as Hoyt in several episodes of Las Vegas. In 2004, he wore a diaper on Last Call with Carson Daly, during a mock commercial skit for the GoodNites bedwetting product. The National Enquirer caught him filming the skit and printed a photo of him in his diaper.

In 2005, O'Connell guest-starred in one episode of the animated series Justice League Unlimited. In the episode, entitled "The Clash", he provided the voice of Captain Marvel.

His younger brother Charlie O'Connell, an alumnus of NYU who was most recently seen as The Bachelor, is also an actor who has appeared with Jerry in several productions, usually playing the brother of Jerry's character, such as in Sliders and Crossing Jordan.

In 2007-08 Jerry stared in ABC's Carpoolers which ran from October 2, 2007 to March 4, 2008 and although it has not appeared in the Fall '08 lineup, it could come back in the future seasons on ABC.

In early 2008, Jerry O'Connell acted in a widely circulated Internet video parody of the leaked Tom Cruise video on Scientology. He also co-wrote and appeared in a video parody called "Young Hillary Clinton," satirizing Hillary Clinton's primary campaign. On February 2, 2008, O'Connell hosted VH1's Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash, which aired the night before Super Bowl XLII and featured musical guests Maroon 5 and Mary J. Blige. On April 28, 2008, Jerry O'Connell appeared as a guest star on ABC's Samantha Who?.

In the fall of 2008 Jerry O'Connell starred in FOX's Do Not Disturb, with Niecy Nash, as Neil the egotistical, hyper-stylish, detail-oriented general manager who will do whatever it takes to keep the hotel and its employees up to his standards but FOX cancelled the show after only three episodes.

Personal life

On July 14, 2007, O'Connell married actress and former model Rebecca Romijn near Los Angeles in Calabasas, California.

A self-proclaimed "Super Super Fan" of The Howard Stern Show, Jerry unfortunately placed last in the Celebrity version of the "Super Fan Contest" that took place on May 13, 2008. His opponents were Jimmy Kimmel and Jeff Probst. Kimmel ultimately won the contest by a large margin. On the same program Jerry revealed that his marriage with Rebecca is not blissful, full of fights and disagreements. After weeks of officially stating that they were "trying" to get pregnant, a publicist for the pair confirmed that Rebecca is pregnant with twin girls; which will be born in the winter. When talking about having two little girls O'Connell said "I am excited I am having girls. I know guys are supposed to say, 'I want a boy. I want to play baseball,' but I think I'm going to be good raising girls...I can't wait. They're going to be tough chicks. They're only having sex when I'm dead. If they don't date boys at all and just want to be infatuated with their father, that's what I'm really going for. The nunnery!"

Filmography

• Charles in Charge (1984) playing David Landon in episode: "The Organization Man" (episode # 4.20) 1989
• The Equalizer (1985) playing "Bobby" in episode: "The Child Broker" (episode # 3.13) 1988-01-20
• Stand by Me (1986) - Vern Tessio
• The Room Upstairs (1987) (TV) - Carl
• My Secret Identity (1988–1991) (TV Series) - Andrew Clements
• Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988) (TV) - Ralphie Parker
• Camp Wilder (1992) (TV Series) - Brody Wilder
• Calendar Girl (1993) - Scott Foreman
• Sliders (1995–1999) (TV series) - Quinn Mallory
• The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky (a.k.a. Hole in the Sky) (1995) (TV) - Mac
• Blue River (1995) (TV) - Lawrence Sellars
• Jerry Maguire (1996 film) - Frank Cushman
• Joe's Apartment (1996) - Joe
• Scream 2 (1997) - Derek Feldman
• Body Shots (1997) - Michael Penorisi
• Mission to Mars (2000) - Phil Ohlmyer
• Tomcats (2001) - Michael Delaney
• Night Visions (2001) playing Andy in episode: "Rest Stop" (episode # 1.9) 2001-08-02
• Buying the Cow (2002) - David Collins
• The New Guy (2002) - Highland High Party Twin
• Crossing Jordan (2002–2007) (TV series) - Detective Woody Hoyt
• Las Vegas (2002–2007) (TV series) - Detective Woody Hoyt (5 episodes, 2004–2006)
• Romeo Fire (2002) TV series pilot - Ryan Wheeler
• Kangaroo Jack (2003) - Charlie Carbone
• The Far Slags (2004)-Sean Cooley
• Justice League Unlimited (TV Series) (2005) - Captain Marvel
• Yours, Mine and Ours (2005) - Max/Mac
• Room 6 (2006) - Lucas
• Man About Town (2006) - David Lilly
• The Batman - (episode # 4.7) Dick Grayson/Nightwing
• Ugly Betty - Season 1Derailed
• Gene Simmons Family Jewels(2007)Kentucky Derby (as himself)
• Carpoolers (2007)(TV series) - Laird Holcomb
• Samantha Who? - Craig (TV series) (1 episode, 2008)
• Do Not Disturb (2008) (TV series) - Neil
• Mad TV - Season 14 Premiere (Guest Starring)
• Obsessed (2009) (filming) - Ben

Producer

• Sliders (1995) TV series (producer: 1998–1999)
• First Daughter (2004)

Director

• Sliders (1997) TV series - "Stoker"
• Sliders (1999) TV series - "Slidecage," "Lipschitz Live," "Data World," "Roads Taken"

Writer

• Sliders (1999) - "Way out West",
• First Daughter (2004) - screenplay

Music videos

• "David Duchovny" - Bree Sharp
• "Heartbreaker" - Mariah Carey (1999)

References

External links

• Jerry O'Connell at the Internet Movie Database