Biography
Launched to fame via coming-of-age classic "Stand by Me" (1986) aged just twelve, Jerry O'Connell sustained his career into adulthood with leading roles in "Sliders" (Fox, 1995-2000), "Joe's Apartment" (1996) and "Carter" (Bravo, 2018-). Born in Manhattan, NY in 1974, O'Connell landed arguably his most famous part, chubby kid Vern Tessio, in Stephen King adaptation "Stand by Me" (1986), in his first ever film. He went on to bag supporting roles in TV movie "The Room Upstairs" (1987) and nostalgic family comedy "Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss" (1987), play teen superhero Andrew Clements and middle child Brody in sitcoms "My Secret Identity" (CTV, 1988-1991) and "Camp Wilder" (ABC, 1992-93), and share top billing in rites-of-passage tale "Calendar Girl" (1993). After graduating from New York University with a film degree, O'Connell returned to screens in western "The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky" (1995) and sibling drama "Blue River" (1995), and was cast as physics graduate Quinn Mallory in "Sliders" (Fox, 1995-2000), the parallel universe sci-fi he also directed and produced several episodes of. During his five-season stint, O'Connell also took the leading role in "Joe's Apartment" (1996), appeared as a reverend and Vietnam War veteran in TV movies "What the Deaf Man Heard" (1997) and "The '60s" (1999), and played star quarterback Frank in "Jerry Maguire" (1996), the ill-fated Derek in "Scream 2" (1997) and a clubber accused of date rape in "Body Shots" (1999). O'Connell then appeared as mission specialist Phil in space adventure "Mission to Mars" (2000), cartoonist Michael in sex farce "Tomcats" (2001) and groom-to-be David in rom-com "Buying the Cow" (2002), was cast in crime drama "Crossing Jordan" (NBC, 2001-07) as Detective Woody Hoyt and scored box-office success with animal caper "Kangaroo Jack" (2003). After earning producer and screenwriter credits on rom-com "First Daughter" (2004), O'Connell played a billionaire in much-maligned "Fat Slags" (2004), appeared alongside future wife Rebecca Romjin in both "Lies & Alibis" (2006) and "Man About Town" (2006), and starred in horror "Room 6" (2007). O'Connell then played womanizing dentist Laird and general manager Neal in short-lived sitcoms "Carpoolers" (ABC, 2007-08) and "Do Not Disturb" (Fox, 2008), took the romantic leads in "Midnight Bayou" (2009) and "Baby on Board" (2009), and enjoyed supporting roles in commercial hits "Obsessed" (2009) and "Piranha 3D" (2010). After starring opposite James Belushi in legal dramedy "The Defenders" (CBS, 2010-11), O'Connell showed up in parodies "Scary Movie 5" (2013) and "Burning Love" (E!, 2012-13), was cast as Stuart in the swiftly-canceled sitcom "We Are Men" (CBS, 2013), and played Sheriff Dan Lamb in the big-screen "Veronica Mars" (2014). O'Connell then appeared as a sex-crazed crew member in "Space Station 76" (2014), part-time drug dealer in "The Lookalike" (2014) and father figure in "A Mermaid's Tale" (2016), before taking center stage as the eponymous actor-turned-detective in crime procedural "Carter" (Bravo, 2018-). In 2018, O'Connell appeared as George Cooper, the resentful older brother of Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) on "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS 2009- ). After impressing as stand-in host on "The Wendy Williams Show" (Syndication, 2008-), O'Connell was given his own talk show, "Real Men Watch Bravo" (Bravo, 2018-).
