Thomas Dekker (actor)
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Thomas Alexander Dekker (born December 28, 1987) is an American actor, musician, singer, director and producer. He is known for his roles as
John Connor John Connor is a fictional character in the ''Terminator'' franchise. Created by writer and director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film ''The Terminator'' and first appears in its 1991 sequel '' Terminator 2: Jud ...
in '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', Adam Conant on ''
The Secret Circle The Secret Circle is a supernatural, young-adult series of books created by L. J. Smith. The narrative follows the character of Cassie Blake as she is initiated into a "Circle" of eleven other teenage witches and the danger that ensues when the ...
'', and Zach on '' Heroes''. Dekker did the voice of Littlefoot in ''
The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous ''The Land Befo ...
V-IX'' (singing voice in '' The Land Before Time V'') and as Fievel Mousekewitz in '' An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island'' and '' An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster''. He played Jesse Braun in the 2010 remake of ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenka ...
'', and Smith in Gregg Araki's film '' Kaboom''. Dekker starred as Gregory Valentine in the TV show '' Backstrom''. He has also written and produced two albums.


Early life

Dekker was born in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. His mother, Hilary (née Williams), is a concert pianist, acting coach, actor, and singer from
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, and his late father, David John Ellis Dekker, was an American artist, set designer, opera singer, and actor of
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
and
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
ancestry. His maternal grandfather was Alun Williams, a radio broadcaster for the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. As a child, he and his parents moved all over the world, including his mother's native
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
.


Career


Early career

Starting his acting career at age six, Dekker was first seen in the soap ''
The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...
''. He then appeared in '' Star Trek Generations,'' two episodes of '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and the film '' Village of the Damned'' (1995). Dekker also appeared as a child actor on ''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...
'' (season 5, episode 16, 1994) and as Bobby (season 7, episode 4, 1995). In 1997, he became a regular on the
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...
show '' Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show'' which is based on the movie of the same name where he played Nick Szalinski for three years. After the show ended in 2000, he went on to appear in '' Run of the House'', '' Fillmore!'', ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'', ''
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...
'', ''
Boston Public ''Boston Public'' is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. Set in Boston, the series centers on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school in the Boston Public Schools district. It feature ...
'', '' Reba'' and '' 7th Heaven''. He appeared in films such as ''
Campus Confidential This is a list of television films produced for the cable network Freeform and its predecessors, The Family Channel, Fox Family, and ABC Family. The network temporarily stopped making new original films from 2013 until 2016. Most films are subseq ...
'' and '' An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster''. Dekker has won three
Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
s for his work in ''
The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous ''The Land Befo ...
'' films and one for his guest appearance on ''
Boston Public ''Boston Public'' is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. Set in Boston, the series centers on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school in the Boston Public Schools district. It feature ...
''. In 2001, he played the part of young Donny Osmond in the film ''
Inside the Osmonds ''Inside the Osmonds'' is a 2001 ABC-TV movie about the personal lives and professional careers of The Osmonds, and how the stresses and strains of their careers and the turbulent 1970s and 1980s affected their relationships with each other and ...
''.


2006–present

In 2006, Dekker landed a recurring role on '' Heroes'' playing the character of Zach (
Claire Bennet Claire Bennet is a fictional character in the NBC psychological thriller superhero drama series '' Heroes''. She is portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and first appeared on television in the pilot episode of the series, "Genesis", on September 25, ...
's best friend). He played Zach for eleven episodes before leaving ''Heroes'' to take a starring role in Fox's new show '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'' as
John Connor John Connor is a fictional character in the ''Terminator'' franchise. Created by writer and director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film ''The Terminator'' and first appears in its 1991 sequel '' Terminator 2: Jud ...
, starring opposite
Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she rec ...
and
Summer Glau Summer Lyn Glau (; born July 24, 1981) is an American actress best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy television series: as River Tam in ''Firefly'' (2002) and its continuation film ''Serenity'' (2005), as Tess Doerner in ''The ...
. That show debuted January 13, 2008 and was canceled on May 18, 2009. Dekker also played the lead character Nate Palmer in the web-based science fiction series ''IQ-145''. In 2009, Dekker appeared in '' From Within'' (filmed in 2007), '' My Sister's Keeper'', a drama in which he starred with
Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for fo ...
,
Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nic ...
,
Abigail Breslin Abigail Kathleen Breslin (born April 14, 1996) is an American actress. She rose to prominence with the comedy-drama film ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at ...
and ''
Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...
'' star Sofia Vassilieva, and ''
Laid to Rest Laid may refer to: *"Get laid", a slang term for sexual intercourse Geography * Laid, Sutherland, a township in Scotland * Chelghoum Laïd District, a district of Mila Province, Algeria *Laid (Estonian: island) as in: ** Saarnaki laid, an island ...
'' alongside
Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she rec ...
. In 2010, Dekker starred in the remake of ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenka ...
'', released on April 30, 2010. His character's name was Jesse Braun, loosely based on the character Rod Lane in the original. That same year he also had a role in ''
All About Evil ''All About Evil'' is a 2010 American black comedy slasher film and marks the feature film directorial debut of Joshua Grannell, who also wrote the script. The film stars Natasha Lyonne as an unhinged theatre owner who begins making snuff films a ...
'', an indie horror film. Dekker starred in
Gregg Araki Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his heavy involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His film ''Kaboom (film), Kaboom'' (2010) was the first winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm. Ear ...
's '' Kaboom'' (2010). It is the first film ever awarded the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
"Queer Palm Award" for its contribution to
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
presence in cinema. Dekker was a "top candidate" for the lead role in Paramount's remake of ''
Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...
'' (2011), but the role went to
Kenny Wormald Kenneth Edgar Wormald (born July 27, 1984) is an American dancer, reality television star and actor. His best known role to date is perhaps as Ren McCormack in the 2011 remake of 1984's '' Footloose''. Wormald was a regular on the MTV reality te ...
. In April 2011, Dekker starred as
Lance Loud Alanson Russell "Lance" Loud (June 26, 1951 – December 22, 2001) was an American television personality, magazine columnist, and new wave rock-n-roll performer. Loud is best known for his 1973 appearance in ''An American Family'', a pionee ...
in the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
original film '' Cinema Verite'', about the creation of America's first
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
series, ''
An American Family ''An American Family'' is an American television documentary series that followed the life of a California family in the early 1970s. Widely referred to as the first example of an American reality TV show, the series drew millions of weekly vie ...
''. Dekker played the role of Adam, the male lead on the television series ''
The Secret Circle The Secret Circle is a supernatural, young-adult series of books created by L. J. Smith. The narrative follows the character of Cassie Blake as she is initiated into a "Circle" of eleven other teenage witches and the danger that ensues when the ...
'' developed by
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. He appeared in Daughtry's music video for their single " Waiting for Superman", which was released September 17, 2013. Dekker was a regular on the 2015 Fox crime drama '' Backstrom'', playing Gregory Valentine, the gay underworld contact and roommate of
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Emm ...
's title character, revealed to be his half-brother.


Music

Dekker was brought up with a musical background, and started writing music at age ten while living in Canada. At the age of fifteen he landed a record deal; however after feeling that he wasn't as involved in the music as he would have liked, he left to concentrate on making his own music. At the age of sixteen, Dekker started writing and producing his own
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
influenced by
electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
which he describes as "electrofolk". His debut album ''Psyanotic'' was released in 2008.


Personal life

Dekker has stated that for much of his childhood, he was a victim of sexual molestation. In his teenage years, he was part of a "metalhead" subculture, where he "caused trouble in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
," and was arrested "five or six times." Dekker was involved in an auto accident on October 15, 2009, when he hit a 17-year-old cyclist training for a race on a freeway onramp. Originally charged with two counts of felony DUI, the charge was reduced to one count of misdemeanor reckless driving when it was found that the cyclist was at fault. He pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to a fine of $300 and two years of informal probation, and ordered to attend a 12-hour alcohol-education class. Dekker is a
vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...
. On April 20, 2011 in an interview with '' Out'' magazine Dekker spoke about his sexuality, which had been the subject of speculation: On July 13, 2017, Dekker came out as gay and revealed that he married Canadian actor Jesse Haddock in April that year.


Awards

*
Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
 — Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series — Leading Young Actor (''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show'') (1997) * Young Artist Award  — Best Performance in a Voice-Over: TV/Film/Video — Young Actor (''An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster'') (1999) * Young Artist Award  — Best Performance in a TV Series — Guest Starring Young Actor (''Boston Public'') (2000) * Young Artist Award  — Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role (''The Land Before Time IX: Journey to the Big Water'') (2002)


Filmography


Film


Television


Music videos


Discography


Albums

* '' Psyanotic'' (2008) * ''Into the Night'' (2018)


Soundtracks

* From '' The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island'': ** 1997: "Friends for Dinner", "Always There", "Big Water" * From '' An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island'': ** 1998: "Anywhere in Your Dreams" * From '' The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock'': ** 1998: "Bad Luck", "The Legend of the Lone Dinosaur", "On Your Own" * From '' An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster'': ** 1999: "Get the Facts", "Who Will" * From '' The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire'': ** 2000: "Beyond the Mysterious Beyond", "Good Inside" * From '' The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze'': ** 2001: "Family", "The Lesson" * From '' The Land Before Time IX: Journey to the Big Water'': ** 2002: "Imaginary Friends", "No One Has to Be Alone", "Chanson D'Ennui", "Big Water" * From '' 7th Heaven'': ** From the episode '' Red Socks'' ** 2005: "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" ** 2008: "From Within"


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dekker, Thomas 1987 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers American male child actors American male film actors American people of Dutch descent American people of English descent American people of Welsh descent American male soap opera actors American male television actors American male voice actors American gay actors American gay musicians LGBT people from Nevada Male actors from Las Vegas Singers from Nevada 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people