- Nicholas Brendon
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Nicholas Brendon 
Brendon at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, October 2, 2010.Born Nicholas Brendon Schultz
April 12, 1971
Los Angeles, California, United StatesOccupation Actor Spouse Tressa di Figlia (2001–2007) Website http://www.nickbrendon.com/ Nicholas Brendon (born April 12, 1971, as Nicholas Brendon Schultz in Los Angeles, California), is an actor best known for his character Xander Harris in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003).
Contents
Early life
Brendon has an identical twin brother named Kelly Donovan.[1] When Brendon was young, he had aspirations to be a professional baseball player, but was forced to give up the dream after an arm injury.[2] At the age of 20 he decided to try his hand at acting and overcome his stuttering problem,[3] but gave up after two years because he "couldn't stand the politics in Hollywood." He decided instead to go back to school and study medicine, but this did not work out. He also tried his hand at a variety of other jobs, including plumber's assistant, veterinary janitor, day care counselor, waiter, and production assistant for the television show Dave's World.[4]
Career
Brendon with Anthony Stewart Head at the 2004 Oakland Super SlayerCon.
Brendon's role as Xander Harris was initially that of the occasional comic relief and plucky sidekick to the lead female character, but in later seasons fewer comedic lines were given to the part. Brendon's twin brother, Kelly Donovan played Xander's sinister double "Suave Xander Harris".[1] When the series ended in 2003, Brendon joined the cast of a new Fox sitcom, Kitchen Confidential, based on the book by chef Anthony Bourdain. Thirteen episodes were made, but the series was cancelled on December 9 of the same year, after the fourth episode aired with low ratings.
In 2006, he voiced Huntsboy #89 for season 2 of the animated series American Dragon: Jake Long. The series ended on September 1, 2007. His character's final appearance was in the episode "Shaggy Frog", which aired on April 28, 2007.
From July 26 through August 30, 2006, Brendon co-starred with Noah Wyle in the play Lobster Alice, in Los Angeles.
That same year, Brendon reunited with his former Buffy on-screen sweetheart, Charisma Carpenter, in the ABC Family TV movie Relative Chaos.
Brendon appeared in the recurring role of FBI technical analyst Kevin Lynch on the TV series Criminal Minds.[5][6]
He played the role of Crumpet the Elf in David Sedaris’ one man show, The Santaland Diaries, which ran from November 20-December 20, 2009 at the The Blank Theatre's 2nd Stage in Hollywood, CA.
He was in the 2010 Blank Theatre production of Christopher Durang's play, Why Torture Is Wrong, And The People Who Love Them at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood.
On September 29, 2010 he premiered his web comic Very Bad Koalas, co-created with animation director/producer Steve Loter. The comic follows the journey of two sheltered and innocent koalas experiencing a variety of people and places while on the run from the law in a 1958 Cadillac El Dorado.[7]
On October 28, 2010, Brendon began a 3-episode arc on ABC's Private Practice playing Lee McHenry, a mentally disturbed man who assaults Charlotte King.
Personal life
(From left to right) Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan, Brendon, Nathan Fillion, Danny Strong and Tom Lenk at a John Kerry fund raiser.Brendon has played a major part in the Stuttering Foundation of America. He was the first person to serve the role of honorary chairperson of the Stuttering Foundation of America's Stuttering Awareness Week for three consecutive years, from 2000 to 2003.
On April 25, 2004, at a Buffy fan convention in Cleveland, Ohio, he announced that he had voluntarily entered rehab for alcoholism.[8]
Brendon was tasered and arrested by police in Los Angeles in the early morning of March 17, 2010. The police were responding to a call about an intoxicated individual, and confronted Brendon who allegedly swung his fists at the officers and attempted to run away. The police used a taser to stop him and arrested him for felony vandalism. Brendon was initially held on $20,000 bail.[9][10][11]
Brendon was later charged with four misdemeanors, including one count of resisting arrest, two counts of battery against a police officer, and one count of vandalism.[12] In May 2010, Brendon checked himself into the SOBA Recovery Center in Malibu due to use of alcohol and sleeping pills.[13] On June 19, 2010, Brendon pleaded no contest to all four charges and received a one-year suspended jail sentence, was placed on probation for 36 months, and was required to perform 10 days of community service.[14]
Filmography
Movies
Year Title Role Notes 1995 Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest Basketball Player One Dimension Films 2000 Psycho Beach Party Starcat Sundance Film Festival 2002 Demon Island Kyle First Look Home Entertainment 2007 Unholy Lucas Anchor Bay Entertainment 2008 Blood on the Highway Chase Sinclair BOH Productions 2009 A Golden Christmas Michael Maple Island Films 2009 My Neighbor's Secret Brent Keller Lifetime Television 2010 The Portal Paul Tiger Entertainment Television
Year Title Role Notes 1993 Married… with Children Guy In Ray-Ray's Gang Episode: Hood 'n the Boyz 1995 Dave's World Episode: Do the Write Thing 1997-2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Xander Harris 143 episodes 2003 The Pool at Maddy Breaker's TV movie 2004 Celeste in the City Dana Blodgett/Harrison TV-Movie ABC Family 2005-2006 Kitchen Confidential Seth Richman 13 episodes 2006 Relative Chaos Gil Gilbert TV-Movie ABC Family 2006–2007 American Dragon: Jake Long Huntsboy #89 Voice Role
6 episodes2007 Fire Serpent Jake Relm Syfy Pictures
Original Movie2007-2011 Criminal Minds Kevin Lynch Recurring character 2009 Without a Trace Edger Episode: Undertow 2010–2011 Private Practice Lee McHenry All In Season 4
Episode: All In The Family (Brief appearance)
Episode: Did you hear what happened to Charlotte King?
Episode: Can't Find My Way Back Home
Episode: Blind LoveVideo games
Year Title Role Notes 2002 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Xander Harris Voice Role 2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds Voice Role Awards and nominations
Saturn Awards
- 1998: Nominated, "Best Genre TV Actor" - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 1999: Nominated, "Best Genre TV Actor" - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2000: Nominated, "Best Genre TV Supporting Actor" - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
References
- ^ a b "Oh, Brother! Nicholas Brendon, Kelly Donovan To Attend Philadelphia Comic Con!", Wizard World, accessed June 10, 2011.
- ^ Nicholas Brendon - Yahoo! TV
- ^ BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - Interview with Nicholas Brendon
- ^ Nicholas Brendon
- ^ TV Listings for "Roadkill", The Futon Critic, accessed June 10, 2011.
- ^ "Nicholas Brendon back on 'Criminal Minds'". NickBrendon.com. May 5, 2009
- ^ About Very Bad Koalas. verbadkoalas.com. accessed September 22, 2011.
- ^ "Former Buffy star Brendon enters rehab". Whedon.info. April 30, 2004
- ^ "Nicholas Brendon Arrested". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a209300/buffy-star-nicholas-brendon-arrested.html. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ "Nicholas Brendon Arrested". Hollywood Crush. http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2010/03/17/buffy-star-nicholas-brendan-arrested-tased-by-police/. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ "Nicholas Brendon Arrested". Canoe. http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2010/03/17/13261491-wenn-story.html. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ "Nicholas Brendon Charged". Hollywood Crush. http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2010/04/07/nicholas-brendon-arrested/. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ "'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' star Nicholas Brendon enters rehab, report claims". Fox News. May 11, 2010. http://entertainment.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/05/11/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-star-nicholas-brendon-enters-rehab-says-report/.
- ^ "Actor Nicholas Brendon gets probation". UPI. http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2010/06/20/Actor-Nicholas-Brendon-gets-probation/UPI-84311277051739/. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
External links
- Nicholas Brendon's site
- Very Bad Koalas
- Stuttering Foundation site
- Nicholas Brendon at the Internet Movie Database
Major members of the Buffy and Angel casts Amy Acker · Amber Benson · Marc Blucas · David Boreanaz · Nicholas Brendon · Charisma Carpenter · Emma Caulfield · Alexis Denisof · Eliza Dushku · Sarah Michelle Gellar · Seth Green · Andy Hallett · Alyson Hannigan · Anthony Stewart Head · Vincent Kartheiser · James Marsters · Mercedes McNab · Glenn Quinn · J. August Richards · Michelle TrachtenbergCategories:- 1971 births
- American television actors
- Identical twins
- Identical twin actors
- Living people
- People from Los Angeles, California
- Actors from California
- People self-identifying as alcoholics
- Twin people from the United States
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