JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS (Tom Sawyer) recently starred as Ben Archer in Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action comedy hit “Man of the House.” In addition, he provided the voice of Young Simba in Walt Disney Pictures’ “The Lion King,” the most successful animated film of all time. He also plays Tim Allen’s middle son, Randy, in the top-rated Buena Vista Television series “Home Improvement.”
Thomas was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and moved with his family to Sacramento, California when he was 5. Prior to beginning his acting career in 1989, he worked a a fashion and print model in Sacramento and San Francisco. He also appeared in industrial films, commercials and as Tiny Tim in a regional production of “Scrooge.”
Prior to being cast in “Home Improvement,” Thomas played Kevin, Greg Brady’s son on the series “The Bradys.” In addition to acting, he maintains a straight “A” grade average in school and also enjoys fly fishing and traveling.
Thirteen-year-old BRAD RENFRO (Huckleberry Finn) was raised in Knoxville, Tennessee where he was cast as the lead in Joel Schumacher’s “The Client” after a national search for an unknown actor. He received rave reviews for his performance, and most recently starred in Universal’s “The Cure,” directed by Peter Horton.
ERIC SCHWEIG (Injun Joe) recently starred as Metacomet in Hollywood Pictures’ “The Scarlet Letter,” directed by Roland Joffé, and as Epenow in Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action drama “Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale.” He also starred as Uncas in “The Last of the Mohicans” and was featured in the TNT film “Broken Chain.”
His work for television includes the films “Due South” and “For Love & Glory,” as well as “Beyond the Stars,” and the series “Black Stallion” and “War of the Worlds.”
Schweig was raised in Canada’s Northwest Territories and later moved to
the province of Ontario where he first appeared on stage in a 1987 Toronto production of “The Cradle Will Fall.” After appearing in a few music videos and supporting parts he moved into starring roles in motion pictures.
CHARLES ROCKET (Judge Thatcher) is perhaps best known to audiences as a series regular on the legendary television program “Saturday Night Live.” In feature films, he was seen in “Dumb and Dumber,” “Shortcuts,” “It’s Pat,” “Dances With Wolves,” and “Earth Girls Are Easy.” He recently wrapped production on Andrew Davis’ “Steal Big, Steal Little.”
Rocket has also had guest starring roles on such television series as “Lois and Clark,” “Wings,” “Quantum Leap,” and was a series regular on “Flying Blind.”
Born in Bangor, Maine, Rocket trained with Del Close, one of the originators of Second City; Lee Strasberg Studios in Los Angeles; and the HB Studios in New
York.
AMY WRIGHT (Aunt Polly) has worked extensively on both the stage and in motion pictures. Her recent feature credits include “The Scarlet Letter,” “Beethoven’s 2nd,” “Josh and S.A.M.,” “Deceived,” “Hard Promises,” “Love Hurts,” “Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will?” “The Miss Firecracker Contest,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “Inside Moves,” “Heartland,” “Breaking Away,” “The Amityville Horror,” and “The Deer Hunter.”
A frequent performer with the Circle Repertory Theater, Wright created the role of Shirley in Lanford Wilson’s off-Broadway production “Fifth of July,” and then re-created the role on Broadway. She currently appears off-Broadway in “Mrs. Klein” with Uta Hagen. She also appeared in the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit comedy “Noises Off.” Her other theatre credits include the off-Broadway productions of “Prin,” “Triple Feature,” “Breakfast with Les and Bess,” “A Village Wooing,” “Nightshift,” “The Stranger,” “Miss Julie,” and “Hamlet.”
On television, Wright appeared in the made-for-television movies “To Dance With the White Dog,” “Prisoner of Silence,” and “Final Verdicts,” among others.
MICHAEL McSHANE (Muff Potter) is perhaps best remembered by film audiences for his role as Friar Tuck in “Robin Hood.” Other film credits include “Richie Rich,” “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” and “Peggy Sue Got Married.” While living in London, McShane frequently worked for British television including “A Summer Days Dream,” a BBC production with Sir John Gielgud; “The Broadway Stories,” “The Big One,” and “S and M,” all for Channel 4.
Now living in Claremont, California, McShane has been a series regular on “Whose Line is it Anyway” for The Comedy Channel, and has appeared in regional stage shows all over the country including theatre productions of “Hamlet” and “Twelfth Night.”
Award-winning stage actress MARIAN SELDES (Widow Douglas) has spent her life performing in theatre. She won a Tony Award for her work in Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance,” and was nominated for a Tony and received a Drama Desk Award for “Father’s Day,” by Oliver Hailey.
Seldes made her Broadway debut in “Medea,” and has since appeared in “Crime and Punishment,” “That Lady,” “Ondine,” “The Chalk Garden,” “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore,” “Tiny Alice,” “Equus,” “The Merchant,” and “Death Trap.”
Off-Broadway she won Obie Awards for “The Ginger Man” and “Isadora Duncan.” Other off-Broadway stage credits include “Painting Churches” (Outer Critics Circle Award), “Richard III” for the New York Shakespeare Festival, “Gertrude Stein and a Companion,” and Garson Kanin’s “Happy Ending.”
For more than 20 years she was a member of the drama department of The Juilliard School in New York City.
For television, Seldes has appeared on “Murphy Brown,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Law and Order,” and “Wings.” Her television film credits include HBO’s “Truman” in which she played Eleanor Roosevelt and “Bitter Blood.” She also starred in the ABC series “Good and Evil.”
Seldes is the author of The Bright Lights. A Theatre Life, and a novel, Time Together.
She is currently starring in the national tour of Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize
winning play “Three Tall Women.” In January, 1996, she will be inducted into the
Theatre Hall of Fame.
RACHAEL LEIGH COOK (Becky Thatcher) began her career as a print model. She was spotted in an ad and won the lead role in the short film “26 Summer Street.” The film, based on a William Carlos Williams short story, was directed by Steve Larson and Peter Syvertson.
Cook starred in the Columbia Pictures feature “The Babysitter’s Club,” directed by Melanic Mayron, based on the popular books by Ann M. Martin. She plays the role of loyal Mary Anne, the conservative teenager of the bunch. Recently Cook completed filming Tristar’s feature “Carpool” starring Tom Arnold and David Paymer, directed by Arthur Hiller.
Cook, 16, is currently a sophomore in high school in Minneapolis.
Born in Mississippi, LANNY FLAHERTY (Emmett) has appeared in such films as “Natural Born Killers,” “Sommersby,” “Miller’s Crossing,” and “Blood ln Blood Out” (aka “Bound By Honor” ).
Flaherty has spent a lot of time in theatre performing in the Broadway productions of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” “Sweet Bird of Youth,” and “Of Mice and Men.”
His off-Broadway credits include “Moe’s Lucky 7,” “Mad Forest,” “The Stick Wife,” and “Abundance.”
For television, he appeared in the miniseries “Lonesome Dove,” as well as the long-running sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live,” and in the daytime dramas “The Guiding Light,” and “As the World Turns.”
Eight-year-old COURTLAND MEAD (Sid) is already a veteran of film and television having worked in the business since he was 3 years old.
Courtland’s feature film credits are “The Little Rascals,” “Corrina, Corrina,” “Grand Canyon,” and “Dragon World.” He just finished production on “Hellraiser IV” to be released by Dimension films. He also stars in the Warner Bros. series “Kirk,” with Kirk Cameron (Sundays at 7:30).
Courtland has won several Youth in Film Awards for his performance in both film and daytime television.
He lives in Pomona, California.
PETER MACKENZIE (Mr. Sneed) has appeared in numerous motion pictures, television and theatre productions. His feature film credits include “Nick of Time” for director John Badham, “T. Rex,” “Speechless,” “Lorenzo’s Oil” and “Torch Song Trilogy.”
On television, Mackenzie has been seen in guest starring roles on numerous sitcoms and episodics, including “The Faculty” (series regular), “The Boys Are Back,” “Herman’s Head” (series regular), “The George Carlin Show,” “The Equalizer,” “Spenser: For Hire,” and “William Tell.”
Mackenzie studied acting with the legendary Lee Strasberg and Herbert Berghof. He subsequently appeared on stage in productions of “All’s Well That Ends Well,” “Women of Manhattan,” “The Lady from the Sea,” “Our Town,” “You Can Never Tell,” “The Heiress,” “The Normal Heart” and “Abel and Bela.”