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Jonathan BrandisAn appreciation by John Hutchinson December 2003I sometimes find it very hard to take it in when we hear the news that we have lost yet another star from the Cult TV spectrum. I know it cannot possibly compare with the loss of a loved one, but it is hard all the same. And when the person concerned is just 27 years old, had a solid body of work behind him, showed great promise of good things to come and was near the top of my list of people I would have liked to see at a future Cult TV weekend,then it becomes that much harder. Just such a person was JONATHAN BRANDIS, the fine and gifted young actor who tragically brought his own life to an end earlier this month even though it was over a week before the news surfaced to any extent at least over here. Jonathan Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut,the only son of Greg and Mary Brandis, on April 13, 1976. His acting career began at the age of 5 and as is often the case, it was TV commercials that gave him his first major exposure. He appeared in over 80 of them and also scored guest roles in shows like "Sledge Hammer","LA Law", "Full House", "Who's The Boss", "Blossom" "Murder She Wrote" ,"Alien Nation", "The Flash" and "The Wonder Years". He also attended special acting school and when the time came later for graduation he would double up on his studies in order to ensure that he could continue his hectic working schedule and keep up his academic studies. His first really big break came in 1990, however, when he took the lead role of Bastion in the movie "Never Ending Story II The Next Chapter" in which he co-starred with future "Dawsons Creek" star John Wesley Shipp, with whom he would also co-star in "The Flash". In this movie Bastion had to save the kingdom of Fantasia from destruction at the hands of the evil sorceress Xayride. Saves of a different nature were in evidence a couple of years later when Jonathan co-starred with Rodney Dangerfield in the Sidney J Furie movie "Ladybugs" which told the story of a man who in order to impress his employer had to coach a girls soccer team to success. The film may have betrayed a slightly off kilter American idea of soccer, but in the dual role of Matthew who was drafted into the team as Martha to help improve things, Jonathan acquitted himself well. So by now things were going well on the big screen for Jonathan, and a co-starring role with Chuck Norris in "Sidekicks" added to this, but the small screen was always beckoning. Back in 1990, Jonathan had appeared in the TV adaptation of Stephen King's "IT" as William "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough one of a group of friends battling a supernatural menace which visits plague and horrible deaths on their hometown of Dery, Maine every 30 years. He was in good company as well. Annette O'Toole (in between playing Lana Lang in the Superman movies and Martha Kent in "Smallville"), Richard Thomas, the late great John Ritter and a very young Seth Green, who would later star in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" were amongst the rest of the cast. But it was in 1993 that Jonathan landed the role for which most people will probably remember him, that of the scientific whizz kid Lucas Wolenczak in "Seaquest DSV". "Seaquest DSV" was set in the 21st century, the premise of the series being that humankind had colonized the oceans and set up the United Earth Oceans(UEO) organisation to police them. Their most powerful undersea vehicle is the Seaquest Deep Submergence Vehicle and the man chosen to captain the Vehicle is a former high ranking UEO officer Nathan Bridger(Roy Scheider)whom they tempt out of retirement to assume command. And it is on board the "Seaquest" that Bridger encounters an array of memorable characters, amongst them teenage scientific genius Lucas who amongst other things has devided a voice synthesising system which enables Enisgn Darwin, the onboard dolphin, to speak. In spite of the high budget and production values and the fact that Stephen Spielberg was one of the driving forces behind it, "Seaquest" was not a ratings success,but one character in it was a success,and that was Lucas. Jonathan was taking his big chance with both hands and clearly giving it his best shot. This paid off because it has been argued that it was Jonathan's personal popularity especially amongst the younger audience that did more to keep the show on the air as long as it was than anything else. In a break from the shooting of "Seaquest" Jonathan travelled to the Czech Republic in 1994 to shoot "Good King Wenceslas" in which he played Prince Wenceslas opposite such stalwarts as Stefanie Powers, Leo McKern and Joan Fontaine. After the demise of "Seaquest" Jonathan maintained a high profile with a series of well regarded TV movies including "Born Free A New Adventure" and two which have been screened a number of times in the UK on five, "Fall Into Darkness" (in which he co-starred with then girlfriend Tatyana M Ali)and "Two Came Back"(which saw him co-starring with Melissa Joan Hart). An interesting sounding new addition to this list-as yet unseen in this country to my knowledge-is "The Year That Trembled" made in 2002. Just earlier this year, Jonathan took the lead role in a Warner Brothers TV Pilot for the ABC network entitled "111 Gramercy Place" a drama written by "Ed" writer Bob Brush which also co-starred veterans Frank Langella, Tippi Hedren and Joel Grey. Jonathan's sad death is at the moment shrouded in a degree of mystery. Reports are suggesting that tests are to be carried out the results of which should be known in 4-6 weeks.What has become a little clearer though is the chain of events which led to his tragic end. It seems that late on the night of November 11 a friend had visited Jonathan at his apartment in Los Angeles and discovered that Jonathan had attempted to hang himself. The friend naturally dialled 911, and Jonathan was transported by paramedics to the Cedars-Sinai Hospital where sadly he died the following day as a result of his injuries. No motive for the suicide has yet been suggested, and Jonathan apparently did not leave a note of any kind. It is my personal view that in the death of Jonathan Brandis we have lost a gifted young actor who despite his many years in the entertainment business still showed tremendous promise and potential. He was easy on the eye and the ear and always enhanced whichever production he was involved with. He will be long remembered and very sadly missed. Jonathan's Mum and Dad survive him and I am sure we share in their grief. John Hutchinson. NB Much of the information for this appreciation has been derived from the Jonathan Brandis Internet Movie Database, the information about "111 Gramercy Street" came from zap2ittv.com and anything else came directly from me. This item also appears in the December 2003 Newsletter of the Programme Preservation Society, a British based non profit organisation for those who are interested in the collection of TV programmes past and present. The writer, John Hutchinson, is their Librarian. For further information please log on to their website at pps-tv.co.uk. |
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"...things were going well on the big screen for Jonathan, and a co-starring role with Chuck Norris in "Sidekicks" added to this, but the small screen was always beckoning." "...we have lost a gifted young actor who despite his many years in the entertainment business still showed tremendous promise and potential." |
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In memoriam, Jonathan Gregory Brandis 1976-2003 |
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