Wil Wheaton

Richard William (Wil) Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972 in Burbank, California) is a writer and father as well as a former child actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series ' (TNG) and Gordie LaChance in the film Stand By Me.

Biography

Like many actors who were popular from their work in the Star Trek franchise, much of Wheaton's career has been limited to Trek-oriented appearances. During his youth, he was a prominently featured guest at Star Trek conventions and very popular in teen magazines.

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Like many actors attempting to revitalize their careers, he has as of the late 1990s embraced independent film with various appearances. Several of his independent films have won awards: The Good Things, in which Wheaton portrays a frustrated Kansas tollbooth worker, was selected Best Short Film at the 2002 Deauville Film Festival. He also received the Best Actor award at the 2002 Melbourne Underground Film Festival for his performance in Jane White Is Sick And Twisted. He was also a contestant on a Star Trek themed episode of The Weakest Link, and performs improvisational and sketch comedy at the ACME Comedy Theater in Hollywood. He has a travelling sketch comedy/improv troupe called "EarnestBorg9" that performs Sci-Fi and geek-related comedy at conventions.

Related Topics:
1990s - Independent film - Kansas - Tollbooth - 2002 - Deauville Film Festival - Melbourne - The Weakest Link - Improvisation - Sketch comedy - ACME Comedy Theater - Hollywood - Sci-Fi

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Although his character (and by extension Wil himself) was loudly hated by a small but vocal group of Trekkers (see Usenet group alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die or alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die) during TNG's first run, Wheaton has emerged as a vocal member of the geek / nerd community and runs his own weblog, Wil Wheaton Dot Net. The majority of his present popularity comes from this web site, the books it has spawned, and from fans who admire his earlier work. He is a frequent poster at Slashdot and Fark, and is heavily involved with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, promoting free speech and privacy issues. Wil also contributes regularly to the Los Angeles based Metroblogging site. His work as a voice actor can be found in such diverse places as Aqualad of the cartoon Teen Titans and, most recently, as the voice of radio newsman Richard Burns in the popular ' video game.

Related Topics:
Trekkers - Usenet - Alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die - Geek - Nerd - Weblog - Wil Wheaton Dot Net - Slashdot - Fark - Electronic Frontier Foundation - Los Angeles - Metroblogging - Voice actor - Teen Titans - Radio - Newsman

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Wheaton married Anne Prince in 1999. He lives with his wife and two step-sons in Los Angeles, California. Wheaton is often confused with Will Wheaton Jr., a jazz musician who contributed to the film Mystery Men, among other works.

Related Topics:
1999 - Los Angeles, California - Will Wheaton Jr. - Jazz - Musician - Mystery Men

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In the spring of 2003, Wheaton founded the independent publishing company Monolith Press and released a book of his memoirs, entitled Dancing Barefoot. Most of the entries are extended versions of his online blog entries. Wheaton sold out three printings in four months, and in the winter of 2003, the book's success caught the eye of publisher Tim O'Reilly, who signed Wheaton to a three book contract. O'Reilly acquired Dancing Barefoot, and published Wheaton's extended memoirs, Just A Geek in summer of 2004.

Related Topics:
2003 - Monolith Press - Dancing Barefoot - Tim O'Reilly - O'Reilly - Just A Geek - 2004

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Wil had a monthly column entitled "Wil Save" in the Dungeons and Dragons based magazine Dungeon, where he related anecdotal tales of his life in relation to the famous fantasy RPG. He ceased writing the column in May of 2005. In January of 2005, Wil began a column about video games in The Onion and in June 2005 became the feature tech editor for the SuicideGirls Newswire.

Related Topics:
Dungeons and Dragons - Dungeon - RPG - January of 2005 - The Onion - June 2005 - SuicideGirls

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In February of 2005, Wil announced that he had won the role of a one-off character, the crack addicted homeless man Walter, on CSI (Episode #5.17: "Compulsion" March 10 2005). A March 10 New York Times column by John Schwartz http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/10/arts/10whea.html?ex=1268110800&en=7657e8331c810317&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland portrayed Wil's role in a highly favorable light. Duane Clark director of the episode is quoted as saying " a lot of scary volatility . He really dug his teeth into it, and on his own came up with a backstory of who Walter was. He really filled out what could have been a caricature."

Related Topics:
February of 2005 - CSI - March 10 - 2005 - New York Times - John Schwartz - Duane Clark - Backstory - Caricature

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On June 23 2005, Wil began providing advertising services for PokerStars.Com. He went on to play in the World Series of Poker. He got knocked out in the first day of the main event.

Related Topics:
June 23 - 2005 - World Series of Poker

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