- More from Famously...
- Famous Arrests
- Famous Scandals
- Famous Brands
View information about Jonathan Brandis's death here on famously-dead.com. You can view information about Jonathan Brandis's death and other famous deaths. You can view by name or by cause of death. We also have included the most popular famous deaths.
Jonathan Brandis's Death
- Jonathan Brandis
- Actor
- April 13, 1976
- November 12, 2003
- Suicide
The life and death of Jonathan Brandis:
He accomplished a lot in his brief life as a child model, actor, director and screenwriter. A fixture in teen magazines, he's best remembered for his role in the NBC TV series "seaQuest DSV". However, he died of injuries suffered when he mysteriously hanged himself in his Los Angeles home at the age of 27.
Jonathan Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut. His mother Mary was a teacher.
His father Gregory was a firefighter and food distributor. Jonathan was only four years old when he started working as a child model…
…and started appearing in TV commercials.
By the time he was six, he'd netted the role of Kevin Buchanan on the "One Life to Live" soap opera. The family had relocated to Los Angeles and Jonathan racked up an impressive resume, appearing on other TV shows like "Who's the Boss", "The Wonder Years", "L.A. Law", "Full House", "Kate & Allie" and "Murder She Wrote."
He also worked in movies, with a major role in Steven King's "It" in 1990.
Other film appearances came in "Sidekicks" with Chuck Norris and Rodney Dangerfield's "Ladybugs".
By the age of 17, he landed his biggest part as Lucas Wolenczak, a scientific prodigy and Steven Spielberg's "seaQuest DSV".
Besides his acting, Jonathan also directed several independent films and wrote screenplays, while also hitting the TV talk show circuit.
He dated Tatyana Ali…
…who'd been part of the cast of the NBC TV sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
But in November, 2003, it all ended when Jonathan died at a Los Angeles hospital from injuries he suffered when he hanged himself.
A friend found him and there was no suicide note. No one knows the full reason, although some friends said he was depressed because his career was slowing and that he was drinking heavily.
This is believed to be his last publicity photo.
Jonathan's remains were cremated and his ashes were given to loved ones.