Erik Per Sullivan (born July 12, 1991) is an American former

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is best known for his role as Dewey, the younger brother to middle child Malcolm (

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 ...

) on the Fox series '' Malcolm in the Middle''.

Early life

Sullivan was born on July 12, 1991, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the only child of his mother, Ann, born in Sweden and naturalized as a US citizen in 2007, and Fred Sullivan, of Irish descent, who owns a Mexican eatery called The Alamo. He speaks a little

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, and his family visits Sweden almost every year. At a young age, he began studying piano and the saxophone. He has a first-degree black belt in

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

. Sullivan studied at the

Mount Saint Charles Academy Mount Saint Charles Academy is a private Roman Catholic coeducational junior/senior high school located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. History In the late 1800s, a significant number of French C ...

, in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

, and Phillips Exeter Academy in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. Beginning in 2009, he attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Career

From January 9, 2000, to May 14, 2006, Sullivan played Malcolm's younger brother Dewey in the Fox sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle''. In 2005, along with ''Malcolm'' co-star

Jane Kaczmarek Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nominat ...

, he wrote the afterword to the children's book ''

Together ''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi ...

'', which is about farming and was inspired by the

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Heifer International Heifer International (also known as Heifer Project International) is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. Heifer International distributes animals, along wit ...

. Sullivan had a starring role in the 2004 movie ''

Christmas with the Kranks ''Christmas with the Kranks'' is a 2004 American Christmas comedy film based on the 2001 novel ''Skipping Christmas'' by John Grisham. It was directed by Joe Roth, written and produced by Chris Columbus, and starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Da ...

'' and has played a variety of characters in film and on television, including the title role in the independent film ''Mo'' (2007), as well as voicing Sheldon the Seahorse in both the animated film '' Finding Nemo'' and its video game tie-in. Sullivan's last acting credit was an appearance in the 2010 film '' Twelve'' when he was 18 years old. He has since kept a low profile, being notably absent from several ''Malcolm in the Middle'' cast reunions.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Erik Per 1991 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male taekwondo practitioners American male television actors American male voice actors American people of Irish descent American people of Swedish descent Male actors from Worcester, Massachusetts People from Milford, Massachusetts Phillips Exeter Academy alumni University of Southern California alumni