Description:
Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St. Elmo's Fire, and Jack Richmond in Suddenly Susan.
Early life
Nelson was born in Portland, Maine, the son of Merle (née Royte), a court mediator and former member of the Maine state legislature, and Leonard Nelson, a corporate lawyer. His family is Jewish and his father was the first Jewish president of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has two sisters, Eve and Julie. He w
Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St. Elmo's Fire, and Jack Richmond in Suddenly Susan.
Early life
Nelson was born in Portland, Maine, the son of Merle (née Royte), a court mediator and former member of the Maine state legislature, and Leonard Nelson, a corporate lawyer. His family is Jewish and his father was the first Jewish president of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has two sisters, Eve and Julie. He went to school at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and Waynflete School in Portland, Maine, and studied at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, leaving during his sophomore year. He subsequently moved to Manhattan to study acting with Stella Adler.
Career
1980s
Nelson began acting in the early 1980s, starring in Making the Grade (1984) and Fandango (1985), the latter in which he starred opposite a young Kevin Costner. It was nevertheless his roles in Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire and John Hughes' The Breakfast Club - and his affiliation with the Brat Pack - that made Nelson a star (along with Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy). The St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) music video - also directed by Joel Schumacher - reached #1 in the USA (1985) and was written and performed by John Parr; Nelson appears in the video.[8] A subsequent article in New York magazine, which focused primarily on the success of these films, resulted in the term 'Brat Pack' being coined.
In 1986 Nelson provided the voice of Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime in The Transformers: The Movie and teamed-up with Breakfast Club alumna Ally Sheedy for a third time in Blue City. He also provided narration for Bill Couturie's Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam, a critically acclaimed war documentary that features a talented cast including Tom Berenger, Robert De Niro, Willem Dafoe, and Matt Dillon. Film critic Roger Ebert praises the documentary and it maintains a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[10][11] 1987 saw him starring in the Bob Clark courtroom comedy From the Hip, which co-starred John Hurt and Elizabeth Perkins; he also provided a stand-out performance in Billionaire Boys Club (film), a courtroom thriller based on actual events. Nelson closed the 1980s with the William Lustig thriller, Relentless (1989), in which he plays a Los Angeles serial killer being hunted by two cops (Robert Loggia and Leo Rossi); he also provided a cameo in the Adam Rifkin road movie Never on Tuesday (1989) along with Nicolas Cage, Cary Elwes, Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen.
1990s
Nelson began 1990s with a starring role opposite Max Von Sydow in the World War II drama Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990); the film focuses on the horror of the Hiroshima bombing; it co-stars Mako Iwamatsu and Pat Morita. He then worked for a second time with Adam Rifkin, this time starring in The Dark Backward (1991) with Bill Paxton; this quirky comedy also featured fellow actor Rob Lowe, as well as Lara Flynn Boyle, James Caan, and Wayne Newton; Nelson plays the worst comedian in stand-up comedy history. 1991 would also see a starring role in the Mario Van Peebles-directed New Jack City, an urban gangster film with Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Vanessa L. Williams, and Chris Rock; the film was a commercial success.[14] He then had a special guest appearance in the popular HBO TV series Tales from the Crypt - episode What's Cookin (1992) - with Christopher Reeve and Meat Loaf, followed by a starring role with Richard Jordan in the thriller Primary Motive (1992), and a similar role in Entangled (1993) opposite Pierce Brosnan, which was set in Paris.
In 1994 Nelson starred with Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler in the comedy Airheads, with Gina Gershon in the psychological thriller Flinch, and also wrote, produced, and starred in the thriller Every Breath. He headlined the Australian thriller, Blackwater Trail (1995), with Peter Phelps before receiving a starring role on the NBC television sitcom Suddenly Susan (1996), which saw success for a four-season run; this was followed by a starring role in the Shaquille O'Neil movie Steel (1997); the film also starred Annabeth Gish and Richard Roundtree (Steel was a commercial flop). Nelson wrapped up the 1990s with another urban gangster thriller, Light It Up (film) (1999), which featured an ensemble cast including R&B singer/actor Usher Raymond (in his first leading role), Rosario Dawson, Forest Whitaker, and Vanessa L. Williams; he also played Alan Freed in the latter's life story, Mr. Rock 'N' Roll: The Alan Freed Story (1999) opposite Madchen Amick and Paula Abdul.
2000s and Beyond
Since the 1990s, Nelson has appeared in myriad TV series including The Outer Limits (2000), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2006), CSI: NY (2007), Las Vegas (TV series) (2007), Eleventh Hour (2008) as a psychologist researching soldiers returning from Iraq who suffer from Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Psych (TV series) (2010), and a recurring role in Two and a Half Men (2010).
Films have included the Psychological thriller Cabin by the Lake (2000), its sequel Return to Cabin by the Lake (2001), and The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day; he made a cameo appearance in the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back; the film's writer/director, Kevin Smith, had been a long-time fan of Nelson and the "Brat Pack" films.[17] Later, Nelson reprised his role of Rodimus Prime in Transformers Animated (2009) and portrayed Father Charley Lock on Brookwood Sleazebags (2010), a pilot he did for HBO[18][19]
Nelson has recently co-written and starred in the short film The Spin Room: Super Tuesday (2012).
Popular culture
Judd Nelson is frequently referenced in relation to the eighties due to the popularity of his early films: The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire (1985); indeed, regarding his working relationship with John Hughes - and his role in The Breakfast Club - Nelson appeared at the 2010 Academy Awards to pay a tribute to the late film director along with other cast members of Hughes' films.[20]
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Tags: Brat Pack (5), Actor (3), American (2), Male (2), John Bender (2), Born 1959 (2), Born In Maine (1), Portland Maine USA (1), November 28 (1), Born In November (1), The Breakfast Club (1), Haverford College (1), Used To Be Hot (1), 80's Actor (1), Underrated (1), 80s Star (1), White (1)
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