Judd Nelson Biography
Summary
"Judd Asher Nelson" (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as John Bender in "The Breakfast Club", Alec Newbary in "St. Elmo's Fire" and Jack Richmond in "Suddenly Susan".
Biography
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 who 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 studied at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, leaving part way through his sophomore year. He subsequently moved to Manhattan where he studied acting with Stella Adler.
Career
Nelson was one of the 1980s 'Brat Pack', starring in such films as Joel Schumacher's "St. Elmo's Fire" and John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" (which was his most popular role as rebel 'John Bender'), as well as providing the voice of Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime in "Transformers: The Movie". He also starred in a film titled "Making the Grade" and co-starred alongside a young Kevin Costner in the road-trip movie "Fandango".
Following his starring role in "The Breakfast Club", Nelson's career failed to take off in a big way, as several of his films performed poorly at the box office, including "Blue City" (co-starring "Breakfast Club" alumna Ally Sheedy) and "From the Hip", both of which garnered him Razzie nominations. His career lost momentum for a time, and in the 1990s he appeared in "Flinch" co-Starring Gina Gershon. He was also in urban-themed dramas such as "New Jack City" and "Light It Up". However, in 1996 he received a starring role on the NBC television sitcom "Suddenly Susan", which saw enormous success for a four-season run. Nelson made a cameo appearance in the 2001 film, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"; the film's writer and director, Kevin Smith, had been a long time fan of Nelson and the 'Brat Pack' movies. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, Nelson mostly appeared in television roles such as NBC's Las Vegas (one of which was the popular TV series Moonlighting, in an episode entitled 'Camille') and lower-budget films, although he also acted on stage.
Nelson also appeared in the television show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" as a friend of a murder victim and "Eleventh Hour" (... more) on November 20, 2008 as a psychologist researching soldiers returning from Iraq who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He plays the host in "The Real Fear Factor", a spoof on "Fear Factor", in "National Lampoon's TV: The Movie". In December '08 Nelson was reported to be cast in the upcoming sequel 'Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'.
Most recently, Nelson is reprised his role of Rodimus Prime from the 1986 Transformers movie for the newest Transformers television series : Transformers Animated.
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Judd Nelson.
