Erik Thomas von Detten (born October 3, 1982) is an American singer and former actor. He is known for his roles in ''

Escape to Witch Mountain ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted for film by Disney as '' Escape to Witch Mountain'' in 1975 which spawned the ''Witch Mountain'' franchise. The novel was illustrated by ...

'', ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

'', ''

Brink! ''Brink!'' is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie that depicts the sport of aggressive inline skating. Written by Jeff Schechter and directed by Greg Beeman, the film stars Erik von Detten as Andy "Brink" Brinker, a high school inline skater who ...

'', ''

Meego MeeGo is a discontinued Linux distribution hosted by the Linux Foundation, using source code from the operating systems Moblin (produced by Intel) and Maemo (produced by Nokia). Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances ...

'', ''

The Princess Diaries ''The Princess Diaries'' is a series of epistolary young adult novels written by Meg Cabot, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000. The series revolves around Amelia 'Mia' Thermopolis, a teenager in New York who discovers ...

'', ''

Complete Savages ''Complete Savages'' is an American sitcom that was broadcast on ABC from September 24, 2004 to June 17, 2005. It was part of ABC's final '' TGIF'' comedy line-up. The show was created by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker and executive produced by ...

'', and ''

So Weird ''So Weird'' is a television series that aired on the Disney Channel as a mid-season replacement from January 18, 1999, to September 28, 2001. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the first two seasons, the series centered on ...

''. He voiced Erwin Lawson through the full run of '' Recess'' (1997-2001) and the series' four successive

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

films.

Early life

Erik Thomas von Detten was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, the son of Susan von Detten (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Farber), a photographer, and Volker von Detten. He has three sisters, Dolly, Britta and Andrea, and a brother, Timothy. He has German, English, and Russian Jewish ancestry. His family moved to a two-story house in

El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of th ...

when he was a young child. In El Segundo, von Detten attended the local public elementary school, and was a member of the

Cub Scouts Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a 'P ...

Career

One of von Detten's earliest roles was

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on the daytime soap opera ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' from 1992 until 1993, appearing in 55 episodes. Nicholas was revealed to be the secret son of

Lawrence Alamain A list of notable characters from the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' that significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 1, 1990, and the end of 1999. Stephanie Johnson Stephanie Johnson was created by head writer Richard ...

(

Michael Sabatino Michael Sabatino (born June 25, 1955 in Venice, California) is an American actor. Personal life Sabatino attended the University of California, Irvine, where he set a school record for the pole vault of 17½ feet. He has been married to actres ...

) and

Carly Manning Carly Manning is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera '' Days of Our Lives''. Crystal Chappell portrayed the character from June 12, 1990, to October 18, 1993. After a sixteen-year absence, she reprised the role on October 2, 2009, to Septe ...

(

Crystal Chappell Crystal Elizabeth Chappell (born August 4, 1965) is an American actress who played Carly Manning on ''Days of Our Lives'' from 1990 to 1993, Maggie Carpenter on ''One Life to Live'' from 1995–97 and Olivia Spencer on ''Guiding Light'' from ...

), two of the show's major characters. As a result, von Detten was heavily involved in some of the show's main storylines, despite only being 10 years old. In 1995, when he was 13, von Detten provided the voice of the villainous and heartless toy-tormentor Sid Phillips in ''

''. He starred in the film '' Christmas Every Day'' in 1996, played Wally Cleaver in the 1997 film '' Leave It to Beaver'', and in 1998, had the lead as the title character in the Disney Channel original movie ''

''. He followed this up on the television series ''

'', on which he played Clu Bell from 1999 to 2001. Von Detten also appeared in a theatrical release as Josh Bryant in ''

'' in 2001. In addition, he has made several television appearances in shows such as ''

Dinotopia ''Dinotopia'' is a series of illustrated fantasy books, created by author and illustrator James Gurney. It is set in the titular Dinotopia, an isolated island inhabited by shipwrecked humans and Sapience, sapient dinosaurs who have learned to H ...

'' (2002), the first celebrity edition of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

reality show '' The Mole'', the third season's '' Celebrity Mole Hawaii'' (2003), and Fox's ''

Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American family television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes. The series follows a dysfunctional ...

''. Von Detten has also played the part of Chris Savage in the short-lived sitcom ''

''. In 2007, he made his stage debut in the children's play ''

The Christmas Princess ''The Christmas Princess'' is a children's play comedy written by Arthur M. Jolly. It opened off-Broadway in December 2005 at The Coop Theatre Company in Los Angeles and is published by YouthPlays, Inc. The play was written as a modern fairyta ...

'' in Santa Monica. In 2009, he was featured in the music video " Wanted" by pop singer

Jessie James Jessica Rose James Decker (born April 12, 1988) is an American country pop singer. At age 15, after auditioning for and being rejected by most of the country labels in Nashville, Tennessee, Decker began working with Carla Wallace of Big Yello ...

. In 2010, he made a brief cameo appearance before he retired from acting in ''

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in the ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to ''Toy Story 2'' (1999). It was d ...

'' reprising his role as Sid Phillips, who is now a garbageman in his 20s. As of 2018, von Detten worked for Rosland Capital, a precious metals asset management firm. He is now a sales manager at a commodities brokerage firm.

Personal life

Von Detten has been married to his wife, Angela, a Taiwanese-American real estate agent, since 2018. They have a daughter, Claire Elizabeth (b. 2019), and a son, Thomas Henry (b. 2021).

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Von Detten, Erik 1982 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from San Diego American male video game actors American male voice actors American male child actors American male film actors American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American male television actors Living people Participants in American reality television series