Justin Tyler Berfield (born February 25, 1986) is an American former actor, writer, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Malcolm's dimwitted older brother,

Reese Reese may refer to: Places Germany * Reese, Germany, a hamlet in Lower Saxony on the River Aue United States * Reese, Michigan, United States, a community east of Saginaw * Reese, Pennsylvania, United States, a community in Blair County * Reese, T ...

, on the family sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle''. He also played Ross Malloy on

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on terrestrial television, broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture be ...

sitcom ''

Unhappily Ever After ''Unhappily Ever After'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for 100 episodes on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 23, 1999, for a total of five seasons. The series was produced by Touchstone Television. Synopsis The series fo ...

''. As of 2010, Berfield is

Chief Creative Officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated wit ...

of Virgin Produced, a film and television development, packaging, and production company announced in 2010 by the

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding co ...

Early life

Berfield was born in

Agoura Hills, California Agoura Hills () is a city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. It is in the eastern Conejo Valley between the ...

, to Gail Berfield (née Stark) and Eric "Rick" Berfield. He is the younger brother of actor Lorne Berfield. Berfield is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Acting career

Berfield's first screen appearance was in a

Folgers Folgers Coffee is a brand of ground, instant, and single-use pod coffee produced and sold in the United States, with additional distribution in Asia, Canada and Mexico. It forms part of the food and beverage division of The J.M. Smucker Co ...

coffee commercial at age five. He went on to appear in 20 other nationally broadcast American commercials as a young child. His TV debut came in the short-lived series '' The Good Life'' (1994) in which he co-starred with

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, '' The Drew Carey Show'', an ...

. More TV appearances followed in ''

Hardball Hardball, in English, more specifically American English, generally refers to baseball (as opposed to its variant softball), especially when played very competitively. Metaphorically, it refers to uncompromising and ruthless methods or dealings, ...

'', '' The Boys Are Back'', and '' The Mommies'' (1994–1995). Berfield's first long-running TV role was as Ross Malloy in ''

'' (1995–1999), in which he notched up 100 episode appearances. In 1995, he (then aged 9) was one of 3000 juvenile actors who auditioned for the role of the young Anakin Skywalker in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace''. In 1999,

Linwood Boomer Linwood Boomer (born October 9, 1955) is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and former actor. He is known for playing the role of Adam Kendall on the drama '' Little House on the Prairie'', and for creating the Fox sitcom ''Malc ...

cast Berfield to play Reese, the trouble-making older brother of

Frankie Muniz Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award ...

's title character on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle'' (in reality, Berfield is nearly 3 months younger than Muniz), which premiered on January 9, 2000. He appeared in all 151 episodes of that series, and with the recording of the 100th episode became the youngest actor in screen history to have appeared in 100 episodes of two different TV series. After ''Malcolm in the Middle'' ended on May 14, 2006, Berfield concentrated on production work, although he made a one-off appearance in the series '' Sons of Tucson'' in 2010.

Charity work

In 2001, Berfield was asked to serve as a National

Youth Ambassador A youth ambassador is a young agent, representative and/or steward for the charity for which they work.Anaphylaxis CampaignYouth Ambassadors/ref> Youth ambassadors have been introduced in order to promote participation, or spread goodwill or knowle ...

for Ronald McDonald House Charities, in which he participated for three years until turning 18. He has been active with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and most recently

Virgin Unite Virgin Unite is the working name of The Virgin Foundation, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. Created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees in September 2004, Virgin Unite pools volunteering efforts from across the Virgin G ...

, the charitable arm of

Personal life

Berfield has a daughter with his wife Liza.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berfield, Justin 1986 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors American film producers American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Film producers from California Jewish American male actors Jewish American writers Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from Santa Monica, California People from Agoura Hills, California Television producers from California Jewish American television producers Jewish American film producers