Wil Wheaton

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This article is about the actor and writer. For the musician, see Will Wheaton.
Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton in 2001
Born Richard William Wheaton III
July 29, 1972 (1972-07-29) (age 35)
Burbank, California, U.S.A.
Occupation Writer, actor
Years active 1982 — present
Spouse(s) Anne Prince
Official website

Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American writer and actor. As the latter, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation ("ST:TNG"), as Gordie LaChance in the film Stand By Me, and as prep-school rebel Joseph 'Joey' Trotta in Toy Soldiers.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Wheaton was born in Burbank, California, to Debbie O’Connor and Richard William Wheaton, Jr.[1]. He has a brother and a sister. Like many actors made popular by 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.

After leaving Star Trek, Wheaton quit acting altogether. He moved to Topeka, Kansas, to work as a programmer for Newtek, where he helped develop the Video Toaster 4000.[2] Due to his public profile, he later served as a technology evangelist for the product.[3]

In the late 1990s, he embraced work in independent film, appearing in a number of roles. Several of his independent films have won awards: The Good Things, in which Wheaton portrays a frustrated Kansas tollbooth worker,[4] 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.

Although his character – and, by extension, Wheaton himself – was loudly hated by a large and vocal group of Trekkers during ST:TNG's first run (see Usenet groups alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die or alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die), Wheaton has explained that he was required to speak the lines written by others in the scripts and that he dislikes his Star Trek character. He did, however, enjoy working on the show and praises the other actors for their talent, especially Patrick Stewart.[5]

Wheaton has emerged as a vocal member of the geek/nerd community and runs his own weblog, Wil Wheaton Dot Net. The issue of Wheaton's popularity amongst fandom is covered in a number of web comics. ArcaneTimes of Friday, March 25, 2005 offers a sympathetic position. Something Positive presents a range of opinions as part of the storyline Mike's Kid: September 28, 2006 - September 30, 2006.

Much of his present popularity comes from Wil Wheaton Dot Net, the books it has spawned, and from fans who admire his earlier work. Wheaton 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 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game.[6]

Wheaton married Anne Prince in 1999. He lives with his wife and two stepsons in Pasadena, California.[7]

Wil Wheaton (left) meets Tim O'Reilly at the 2003 booksigning of Dancing Barefoot at Powell's in Portland, Oregon.
Wil Wheaton (left) meets Tim O'Reilly at the 2003 booksigning of Dancing Barefoot at Powell's in Portland, Oregon.

In spring 2003, Wheaton founded the independent publishing company Monolith Press and released a book of his memoirs, entitled Dancing Barefoot. Monolith Press was "founded on the idea that publication should not be limited by opportunity."[8] Most of the entries are extended versions of his online blog entries. Wheaton sold out three printings in four months, and in winter 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. The book's sales were apparently rather disappointing. Wheaton has since written about his bitterness regarding how the book was marketed, believing it was pitched as a Star Trek book when he intended it as more of a personal memoir.[citation needed]

Wheaton had a monthly column entitled "Wil Save" in the Dungeons & 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 2005.

In January 2005, Wheaton began a column about early video games called Games of Our Lives in The Onion, but has not written new material for that column since October 2006. Nevertheless, the column remains posted on the website as a regular feature, despite more than a year having passed without new material.

In June 2005, he became the feature Geek editor for the SuicideGirls Newswire. A column that Wheaton wrote for Salon.com in 2005, The Real War on Christmas, attacked conservative commentators like Bill O'Reilly and detailed his arguments with his conservative parents over current political matters.[9] Wheaton's parents were very offended by the article, and Wheaton posted a lengthy apology on his site and an interview in which his parents gave their version of events.[10]

In 2003, Wheaton began noting on his blog his love for the game of poker. The following year, Wheaton began writing more extensively about his poker-playing experiences, including stories about playing Texas hold 'em tournaments locally and in Las Vegas. Eventually, Wheaton worked up to regular play, including a notable run at the 2005 World Poker Tour Championships. On June 23, 2005, Wheaton accepted an invitation to join Team PokerStars.[11] He went on to play in that year's World Series of Poker. In June 2007 Wheaton announced he would no longer be on Team Pokerstars due to changes in the U.S. legal system that would cause poker sites to have to focus on European and Asian markets[12] and held a farewell Pokerstars tournament on June 5, 2007, which he titled So Long and Thanks for All the Chips.[13]

In April 2006, Wheaton signed on to voice the role of Kyle in the Nickelodeon cartoon, Kyle + Rosemary. The show is scheduled to debut in Summer 2008.

In late September of 2006, Wheaton began hosting a Revision3 syndicated video podcast called InDigital along with Jessica Corbin and veteran host Hahn Choi.

In July 2007, Wil revealed the title of his third book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives.[14]

Though never one to shy away from politics (he describes himself as a libertarian[15]) in September 2006 Wheaton very stringently clarified his anti-Bush beliefs in a blog posting regarding congressional debate over whether to permit torture of unlawful combatants, stating: "Shame on President Bush. Shame on his Republican allies in congress."[16]

On August 24, 2007, Wheaton gave the keynote for the yearly Penny Arcade Expo, which was subsequently made available online. Wheaton stepped in following a public battle between the formerly-scheduled keynote debate participants, noted anti-games activist Jack Thompson and Hal Halpin, the president of the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA). Much of Wheaton’s address focused on the violence in videogames debate, endearing him to the audience and winning him widespread acclaim for expressing his views.

On September 18, 2007, Wheaton announced via his website that he will be providing a voice for an upcoming episode of Family Guy.

On October 23, 2007, Wheaton announced via his website that he will make a guest appearance in an upcoming episode of Numb3rs. The episode aired November 23, 2007.

On December 14, 2007, he made a cameo in a LoadingReadyRun[17] comedy sketch entitled "Lock Out".

On May 30, 2008, he guest starred in an episode of Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show as talent agent Moschi Schwartz (introduced by Kiko as "Mushy Shorts").

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Movies

  • The Secret of NIMH (1982) (voice)
  • Hambone and Hillie (1984)
  • The Last Starfighter (1984) (scenes deleted from film but included as DVD extra)
  • The Buddy System (1984)
  • Stand by Me (1986)
  • The Curse (1987)
  • She's Having a Baby (1988) (uncredited Cameo)
  • Toy Soldiers (1991)
  • December (1991)
  • The Liars' Club (1993)
  • "Lifestories: Families In Crisis" (1995)
  • Pie in the Sky (1996)
  • Boys' Night Out (1996)
  • Mr Stitch (1996)
  • Trekkies (1997)
  • Flubber (1997)
  • Tales of Glamour and Excess (1997)
  • Fag Hag (1998)
  • Foreign Correspondents (1999)
  • The Girls' Room (2000)
  • Deep Core (2000)
  • Python (2000)
  • Speechless... (2001)
  • The Good Things (2001)
  • Jane White Is Sick & Twisted (2002)
  • Fish Don't Blink (2002)
  • Star Trek Nemesis (2002) (briefly; extended scene deleted but appears as DVD extra in some regions)
  • Book of Days (2003)
  • Four Fingers of the Dragon (2003)
  • Neverland (2003)

[edit] Television

[edit] Incorrectly attributed to Wil Wheaton

Numerous sources incorrectly list – or, in the case of the Internet Movie Database, had previously listed – Wil Wheaton as providing "additional voices" in the Disney animated feature Brother Bear. The voice actor is "Willie Wheaton", who is not the same person as Wil Wheaton.[18]

Wheaton is often confused with Will Wheaton Jr., a jazz musician who contributed to the film Mystery Men, among other works.

[edit] Video games

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ 1
  2. ^ Tasha Robinson. AV Club: Inventory: 13 Memorably Unpopular Characters From Popular TV, AVClub.com, June 7, 2006.
  3. ^ Flying Toasters, Wired.
  4. ^ The Good Things (2001) Internet Movie Database Inc.
  5. ^ Wil Wheaton blog at TV Squad
  6. ^ Full cast and crew for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (VG) Internet Movie Database Inc.
  7. ^ Wil Wheaton. "Seeking Sanctuary" WilWheatonDotNet in Exile, May 15, 2006. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  8. ^ About Monolith Press
  9. ^ Wil Wheaton. "The real war on Christmas," Salon, December 22, 2005. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  10. ^ Wil Wheaton. "Nothing is more important than family," WilWheatonDotNet in Exile, December 29, 2005. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  11. ^ Wil Wheaton Joins Team Pokerstars, PokerStarsBlog.com, June 2005.
  12. ^ Wil Wheaton. "So long, and thanks for all the chips," WilWheatonDotNet in Exile, June 1, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  13. ^ Wil Wheaton. "Reminder: Final WWdN poker tourney is tonight," WilWheatonDotNet in Exile, June 5, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  14. ^ Wil Wheaton. "In which I reveal the cover and title of my new book" WilWheatonDotNet in Exile, July 25, 2007. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
  15. ^ James W. Harris. "'Star Trek' star is now a libertarian freedom-fighter,"), Liberator Online, Volume 7, Number 1, January 8, 2002; cites Salon.com, December 12, 2001. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  16. ^ Wil Wheaton. "A statement of conscience," WilWheatonDotNet in Exile, September 28, 2006. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  17. ^ http://loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/240/Lock+Out Loadingreadyrun.com
  18. ^ Wil Wheaton requests others to correct erroneous listings, Slashdot.org. Retrieved July 29, 2007.

[edit] External links

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v • d • e
Revision3 — Revision3 Shows
Principals
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Current hosts
Alex Albrecht · Veronica Belmont · Brian Brushwood · Jeff Cannata · Jessica Corbin · Zadi Diaz · Josh Flanagan · Dan Huard · Conor Kilpatrick · Joyce Kim · Sarah Lane · Om Malik · Bert Monroy · Patrick Norton · Ron Richards · Kevin Rose · Martin Sargent · Jay Speiden · Dan Trachtenberg · Gary Vaynerchuk
Former hosts
Hahn Choi · Stewart Engesser · Andrew Hahn · Jonathan London · Diane Mizota · Joey Rabier · Irene McGee · David Randolph · Heather Stewart · Wil Wheaton