I had no idea he died 2 weeks ago (suicide) until today... he was Martha/Matthew in LADIES BUGS the movie along with many other films "never ending story" etc...so sad
not to be gauche but by any chance was it autoasphyxiation? i've heard that is more common than we'd think, and the cause of many accidental suicides by hanging.
As to Brandis, i recognize the name but have not seen many of his roles. The name resounds for something else as well...was he openly gay?
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
Don't know if he was gay.. perhaps you are thinking of openly gay actor Chad Allen......
As far as hanging, it was apparently intentional on his part. I read an article stating that earlier he had been with friends and said that it was the last time they would all be together but none of them made teh connection.
Child performers have a rough way to go. Although I yearned to be professional as a child, knowing what I know now, my parents had the right idea. I've known a lot of people who were in the business as kids, and 95% of them are off-balance. They were expected to act like little adults at age 10. They go through terrible esteem issues when they grow up and don't work as much. I had one friend who was always told she was talented enough to be a prima ballerina when she was a child at the NYCB school. However, when she hit puberty the boobs came, the body changed -- and she was booted out on her pointe shoes. Her mother even RESENTED her for growing up, and made no bones about it. Truly sick.
Another friend was a cute kid -- absolutely cherubic -- that did a lot of commercials -- and while he was doing those commercials, would also be abused by some of the sick adults he worked with. He ended up being a call boy, and is now dead.
I know you can't blame all the adult woes of former child performers on the business, but we all have to agree that it's not exactly the most stable way to grow up.
Updated On: 11/25/03 at 10:51 AM
I remember when I was a child I wanted more than anything to be a professional actor, like the children I saw on the disney channel or nickelodeon. I even went on a couple of auditions yet nothing ever came of it. Looking back on it now I'm grateful that I was able to have a somewhat "normal" childhood instead of growing up in the spotlight. Now that I'm grown up, educated and know how to function in the "real world" I'm much better suited to enter the world of showbuisness, if I ever get that lucky! :-p
omg, when i saw the namme jonanthan brandis i thought maybe i was thinking of the wrong actors....he was so young....i remember having a crush on him when i was younger...i can't believe he killed himself...
(formerly bronte604)
"You really just love money and power and capitalism? You know they're never going to love you back."
"Things happen for the best...I don't even believe that myself."
There is an article (1 page) on Jonathan in this week's PEOPLE magazine (the one with a scary picture of Michael Jackson on the cover). It didn't say anything more than we already discussed here... no mention of any homosexuality for those wondering. -david.
I use to get him mixed up with Chad Allen all the time. I don't think Jonathan Brandis was gay. I had heard about the thought of suicide but I never read any follow up. So, thanks for posting info because I had been wondering exactly how he died.