Judd Nelson - Biography

Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. 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

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 (in which he played rebel John Bender), as well as providing the voice of Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime in The 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 film Fandango. He also started work on a musical entitled Rob Hanley: Sutton Trust Warrior, but a lack of funding meant the project was ceased in preproduction.

Following his role in The Breakfast Club, several of Nelson's 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 (1994) 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 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/director, Kevin Smith, had been a long-time fan of Nelson and the "Brat Pack" films. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, Nelson mostly appeared in television roles such as NBC's Las Vegas and lower-budget films, although he also acted on stage.

Nelson also appeared in the television series ' as a friend of a murder victim and Eleventh Hour on November 20, 2008 as a psychologist researching soldiers returning from Iraq who suffer from Posttraumatic 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 2009, Nelson appeared in the sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.

More recently, he portrayed Father Charley Lock on Brookwood Sleazebags, a pilot he did for HBO. Nelson also reprised his role of Rodimus Prime from the 1986 Transformers film for the newest Transformers television series, Transformers Animated.

Nelson appeared at the 2010 Academy Awards to pay tribute to late film director John Hughes along with other cast members of Hughes' films.

Popular culture

Judd Nelson is frequently referenced in relation to the eighties due to the popularity of his films.

Filmography

External links