Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton

Active - 1981 - 2021  |   Born - Apr 29, 1972 in Burbank, California, United States  |   Genres - Science Fiction, Fantasy, Action

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Biography by AllMovie

Wil Wheaton was eight years old when he got his first showbiz break, appearing with Bill Cosby in a Jell-O pudding commercial. The following year (1982), Wheaton was prominently featured in the voiceover cast of the animated The Secret of NIMH. During this same period, he made his Los Angeles stage debut in a Company of Angels Theatre production of All My Sons. His starmaking turn was as Gordie Lachance, the Stephen King alter-ego, in the 1986 feature Stand By Me (1986). He then went on to play the title role in the 1987 Disney TV-movie Young Harry Houdini. Wheaton gained worldwide fame (and a worldwide website) as ensign Wesley Crusher in the weekly TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role he played from 1987 to 1990. After leaving STNG on his own accord, Wheaton transitioned into adult roles with appearances in Flubber and a slew of independent films, and in 2001 he launched Wil Wheaton Dot Net, a blog that quickly gained a considerable following while turning the veteran actor into something of a geek icon. Meanwhile, in addition to staying busy with voice roles in such popular videogames as the Grand Theft Auto series and Fallout: New Vegas, Wheaton also contributed vocally to such animated television series' as Naruto, Ben 10: Alien Force, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In 2009 he began riffing on his own public persona with a recurring role as a fictional version of himself on The Big Bang Theory, and in 2010 he joined the cast of the quirky Sci-fi Channel series Eureka as Dr. Isaac Parrish. The author of both Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek, Wheaton is the brother of actress Amy Wheaton.

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Factsheet

  • First acting job was at age 7 in a Jell-O commercial opposite Bill Cosby.
  • Asked to be written out of Star Trek: The Next Generation during the show's fourth season; he subsequently returned to the show for several guest appearances.
  • Was a roommate of actor Chris Hardwick when they were both teenagers. 
  • Took a brief break from acting in the early 1990s and took a computer job in Kansas.
  • Published his first book, Dancing Barefoot, a compilation of stories originally published on his blog, in 2004. He published a companion book, Just a Geek, later that year.
  • Has a recurring role on The Big Bang Theory, playing a fictional version of himself.