Sean Astin Biography
Born: February 25, 1971
Sean Astin had starred in ten movies, directed a short film, and formed his own production company all before his 21st birthday. The elder son of actress Patty_Duke and actor/director John_Astin, he knew the hazards of Hollywood life: As a popular child star, Astin refrained from drinking, drugs, and narcissism. He juggled acting with attending classes at Crossroads High School for the Arts and Los Angeles Valley College, eventually graduating cum laude from the University of California at Los Angeles with dual degrees in History and American Literature and Culture. When his younger brother, fellow kid actor Mackenzie_Astin, temporarily fled Los Angeles to pursue journalism, Astin doggedly remained in town -- he once half-heartedly considered a law career, but could never part with being an entertainer.
Astin was born in Santa Monica, CA, on February 25, 1971. His famous parents actively supported his childhood ambition to become an actor, and Astin was cast in TV specials, movies, and even series until 1983. Barely a year later, screenwriter Steven_Spielberg handpicked the 13-year-old Astin to star as Michael "Mikey" Walsh in Richard_Donner's children's adventure film The_Goonies (1985). Astin earned his first Young Artist Award for his work on the film and went on to act in a host of teen pictures. He headlined the Disney Channel television movie The B.R.A.T. Patrol (1986), joined Kevin_Bacon for the wilderness adventure White_Water_Summer (1987), and appeared with Dudley_Moore and Kirk_Cameron in the comedy Like_Father,_Like_Son (1987).
In 1988, Astin directed his first short film, a Vietnam picture about the unexpected relationship between an American GI and a Viet Cong soldier titled On My Honor. Astin's own production company, Lava Entertainment, financed the film. While continuing to develop projects through Lava Entertainment, Astin starred with Dermot_Mulroney in 1989's Staying_Together. He won his second Young Artist Award for his performance in the picture. Also in 1989, Astin portrayed the teenage son of feuding couple Kathleen_Turner and Michael_Douglas in Danny DeVito's The War of the Roses. He finished off the '80s by enlisting in the all-star cast of Michael Caton-Jones' World War II drama Memphis_Belle (1990). The film -- which also features Matthew_Modine, Harry_Connick_Jr., Billy_Zane, and Eric_Stoltz -- followed the crew of the Memphis Belle bomber on their harrowing final run over Germany. Astin's stocky build and comic timing lent well to his incarnation as the group's tail gunner, Sergeant Richard "Rascal" Moore. When Astin initially lost the lead role in his next picture, Toy_Soldiers (1991), to Wil_Wheaton, he treated the film's director, Dan_Petrie_Jr., to a screening of Memphis_Belle. Petrie was so impressed by his work that he relegated Wheaton to a supporting part and cast Astin as Toy_Soldiers' hero, a rebellious student who saves his prep school from South American terrorists.
In the spring of 1992, Astin starred with Pauly_Shore and Brendan_Fraser in Encino_Man, a comedy about two California high school students who discover a caveman. He then reunited with Dermot_Mulroney in the drama Where the Day Takes You (1992), which also stars Will_Smith, Christian_Slater, Lara_Flynn_Boyle, and Ricki_Lake. 1993 saw Astin play the title character in Rudy, the memorable film about a tenacious boy determined to play football for Notre Dame despite the fact that he is too small. Football coaches around the United States still show the film before games to inspire their players, and, to this day, strangers still chant "Rudy! Rudy!" when they spot Astin on the street.
After filming Safe_Passage (1994) with Susan_Sarandon and Sam_Shepard, Astin appeared in the independent film The_Low_Life (1995), for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1995 Fort Lauderdale Film Festival. That same year, he wrote, directed, and produced his second short film, Kangaroo Court. The picture tells the story of a police officer who is put on trial by an inner-city gang and stars Gregory_Hines and Michael O'Keefe. It earned Astin an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film (coincidently, John_Astin was nominated in the same category for his film Prelude in 1969).
Astin continued to work steadily throughout the '90s. In 1995, he starred in Showtime's adaptation of Kurt_Vonnegut_Jr.'s futuristic short story Harrison_Bergeron. In 1996, he made a cameo as a doomed soldier in the first feature film to depict Desert Storm, Edward_Zwick's Courage_Under_Fire. In 1997, he directed and starred in an episode of HBO's Perversions of Science called "Snap Ending" and was one of several narrators in the Academy Award-winning Holocaust documentary The_Long_Way_Home. In 1998, Astin took a small role in Warren_Beatty's Bulworth and began work on a string of independent films -- including Boy_Meets_Girl (1998), Dish_Dogs (1998), Kimberly (1999), Deterrence (1999), and Icebreaker (1999).
The decade also brought changes to Astin's personal life. On July 11, 1992, he married Christine Astin (born Harrell) at Patty_Duke's Idaho farm. The couple met when she worked at Astin's talent agency and they co-founded Lava Entertainment together. Then, in 1994, Astin underwent DNA testing that revealed rock promoter Michael Tell to be his biological father (Patty_Duke and Tell had been briefly married before her engagement to John_Astin). Though the actor is friendly with Tell, he still considers those who raised him to be his parents. Two years later, Astin and his wife had their first child, Alexandra Louise, in November of 1996.
In the summer of 1999, Astin landed the coveted part of portly hobbit Samwise "Sam" Gamgee in Peter_Jackson's highly anticipated three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's -The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Auditions for the role were held over several months in every English-speaking country in the world. Astin's father had appeared in Jackson's horror film The_Frighteners, and the veteran actor's fondness for the director made Astin determined to get the part. When he found that his only competition was an overweight English thespian, Astin gained 30 pounds to secure the role. All three installments of the trilogy -- The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The_Two_Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) -- were filmed simultaneously over an 18-month period in New Zealand. Astin's wife and daughter accompanied him to the shoot and Alexandra made her acting debut as a young hobbit in Sam Gamgee's family. The couple had a second child, Elizabeth Louise, between the release of the first and second films.
After the success of the Lord of the Rings franchise, Astin kept busy with a slew of projects throughout the 2000's, like 50 First Dates, Click, and an arc on the TV series 24. Astin would also do extensive voice acting in the 2000's and 2010's, on kids shows like Special Agent Oso and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
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