When an 11-year-old O'Connell made his film debut as a chunky goofball in 1986's
Stand by Me, no one---not even the actor himself---imagined that he would one day become a Hollywood heartthrob and land looker Rebecca Romijn as his better half. O'Connell was already slimming down during his three-year stint as a teen with superpowers on
My Secret Identity, and by the mid-'90s he was in great shape on the sci-fi show
Sliders. O’Connell then made a bid for big-screen success, staring in a couple of comedies, tackling a few dramatic supporting parts, and even branching out into screenwriting with 2004’s
First Daughter. But the small screen remained his primary medium. He landed a plum role as hunky detective Woody Hoyt on
Crossing Jordan in 2002, and stayed with the show until it ended. Since then, he starred in several short-lived sitcoms, including
Carpoolers and
Do Not Disturb, and has kept busy raising his twin daughters. In his spare time, O’Connell attends Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.
Jerry O'Connell Fast Facts:
- Began taking acting classes at age 6.
- Competed on New York University's fencing team.
- No fear factor here: in a scene from 1996's Joe's Apartment in which his mouth was filled with cockroaches, he suggested using live ones rather than the fake rubber kind.
- Sold his first feature script, First Daughter, in 1999 (released in 2004).
- Modeled for a 2005 Perry Ellis clothing campaign.
- Was ranked No. 70 on VH1's countdown of 100 Greatest Kid Stars.
- Jerry O'Connell Relationships:
- Charlie O'Connell - Brother
- Linda O'Connell - Mother
- Michael O'Connell - Father
- Rebecca Romijn - Wife
- Charlie Tamara Tulip O'Connell - Daughter
- Dolly Rebecca Rose O'Connell - Daughter
- College:
- New York University, New York, NY (BFA, 1995); attends Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles, CA