Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor and writer. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me, Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers, and Bennett Hoenicker in Flubber. Wheaton has also appeared in recurring voice acting roles as Aqualad in Teen Titans, Cosmic Boy in Legion of Super Heroes, and Mike Morningstar/Darkstar in the Ben 10 franchise's original continuity. He appeared regularly as a fictionalized version of himself on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory and in the roles of Fawkes on The Guild, Colin Mason on Leverage, and Dr. Isaac Parrish on Eureka. Wheaton was the host and co-creator of the YouTube board game show TableTop. He has narrated numerous audio books, including Ready Player One and The Martian.
This article is about the actor. For the musician, see Will Wheaton. For the 19th-century lawyer and baseball pioneer, see William Wheaton.
Wil Wheaton
- Actor
- writer
- television personality
- blogger
- narrator
1980–present
2
Early life[edit]
Wheaton was born July 29, 1972, in Burbank, California, to Debra "Debbie" Nordean (née O'Connor), an actress, and Richard William Wheaton Jr., a medical specialist.[1][2][3] He has a brother, Jeremy, and a sister, Amy,[4] both of whom appeared uncredited in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "When the Bough Breaks".[5] Amy appeared alongside Wil in the 1987 film The Curse.[6]
As an adult, Wheaton described his father as being abusive to him as a child and his mother as being an enabler of that abuse. He also stated that his parents forced him to become an actor. He is currently estranged from his parents.[7][8]
Career[edit]
Early work and Stand By Me[edit]
Wheaton made his acting debut in the television film A Long Way Home (1981), which starred Timothy Hutton.[9] He voiced the character of Martin in the animated film The Secret of NIMH (1982), the film adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1971).[10] Wheaton also appeared in Hambone and Hillie (1983), The Buddy System (1984) (opposite Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon), and The Last Starfighter.[9]
Wheaton first gained widespread attention for his work in Stand by Me (1986), the film adaptation of Stephen King's novella The Body.[11][12][13] In Stand by Me, Wheaton played the lead role of Gordie Lachance, a 12-year-old storyteller mourning the loss of his elder brother.[13] In her review of the film, Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Wheaton makes Gordie's 'sensitivity' tangible, but not effete. He's a gem".[14] In addition to being successful at the box office,[15] Stand by Me was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama[16][17] and became known as a coming-of-age classic.[18][19]
Personal life[edit]
Wheaton married Anne Prince on November 7, 1999,[82] and lives in Arcadia, California, with her and her two sons from a previous relationship.[83] Upon reaching maturity, both sons asked Wheaton to legally adopt them, which he did.[84]
Wheaton was roommates with Chris Hardwick while Chris attended UCLA.[85] They met at a showing of Arachnophobia in Burbank, California.[30]
Wheaton has struggled with alcohol addiction.[86] In January 2021, Wheaton announced he had been sober from alcohol for five years.[87]
Wheaton lives with complex post-traumatic stress disorder,[88] generalized anxiety disorder,[89][90] and chronic depression.[91][92] He supports mental health nonprofit organizations in raising awareness for these conditions.[93][94]
He criticized Dave Chappelle for making transphobic jokes after his The Closer special. Wheaton said popular comics had influenced him to think homophobic humor was acceptable when he was young.[95]
In 2022, Wheaton participated in Celebrity Jeopardy!, playing for the National Women's Law Center. He reached the finals, defeating Troian Bellisario and Hasan Minhaj in the quarterfinals, and John Michael Higgins and Joel Kim Booster in the semifinals.[96] He finished in third place, behind winner Ike Barinholtz and runner-up Patton Oswalt, earning $100,000.[97]
An asteroid was named after him: 391257 Wilwheaton.[100]