Brian Peck

Brian Richard Peck (born July 29, 1960) is an American convicted sex offender and former dialogue coach and actor. From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, he worked on popular children's shows produced by Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, including ''The Amanda Show'' (1999–2002), ''Drake & Josh'' (2004–2007), and ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' (2005–2008). In 2004, Peck was convicted of sexually assaulting Drake Bell in 2001, when Bell was 15 years old.

Career

As an actor, Peck is best known for his role as Scuz in ''The Return of the Living Dead'' as well as Pickle Boy on ''All That'', the latter of which employed him as a dialogue coach. Peck also appeared on ''Boy Meets World'', ''Good Burger'', ''Growing Pains'' and ''The Amanda Show''. He also directed comedy horror anthology film ''The Willies'' (1990). He was a body double for Kirk Cameron on ''Growing Pains''.

After his release from prison, he was hired in 2005 to work on the Disney Channel teen sitcom ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody''. His crimes were overlooked in part due to character letters supporting him written by Richard and Beth Correll, directors of the show. He did voiceover work for three episodes but was later fired after Disney Channel executives learned of his conviction, and his voice lines and on-screen credits were replaced.

In 2012, Peck was a stand-in for Charlie Sheen on the FX sitcom ''Anger Management''.

Child sex abuse allegations and conviction

On August 19, 2003, Peck was arrested in California and charged with 11 counts of sexual misconduct. Among the charges were one count of lewd acts upon a child, sodomy of a person under 16, attempted sodomy of a person under 16, sexual penetration by a foreign object, four counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, sending harmful matter, and using a minor for sex acts. The abuse occurred in 2001 and the 15-year-old male victim's identity was concealed at the time of the trial to protect their identity. Peck pleaded no contest to lewd or lascivious acts with a child 14 or 15 years of age and oral copulation with a minor under 16 years of age, referred to in the California Penal Code as 288(c)(1) and 288a(b)(2), later that year. He served 16 months in prison from 2004 to 2005 and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

After his arrest, many high profile professionals from the film and television industry wrote letters of support for Peck. The over 40 individuals who voiced their support included James Marsden, Kimmy Robertson, Taran Killam, Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Rider Strong, Will Friedle, Ron Melendez (''American Horror Story''), Rich and Beth Correll, and Tom DeSanto. In 2024, the Corrells, Strong, Friedle, Kerns, and DeSanto apologized for their past support of Peck. In an episode of ''Pod Meets World'', Friedle and Strong said that they were misled by Peck, who told them that his misconduct occurred only once and that the victim was "almost 18." Kerns and DeSanto also said that they had been misled and that had they known all of the details, they would not have supported Peck.

In 2024, more than twenty years after Peck's arrest and conviction, Investigation Discovery released '' Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV'', a docuseries that addresses child sexual abuse in the entertainment industry. Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell appeared on Episode 5 and revealed that he had been sexually and psychologically abused by Peck, who worked with him on ''The Amanda Show'' and ''Drake & Josh''. Bell was 15 years old at the time, while Peck was in his early 40s. A 2014 documentary, '' An Open Secret'', also discussed Peck’s abusive conduct, though Bell had not been identified at that point in time.

Personal life

Peck studied theater at the University of Southern California. He is openly gay. He lives in Los Angeles, California, as of 2025, and has not worked in the entertainment industry since 2019.

Kyle Sullivan, who performed with Peck in the Nickelodeon show ''All That'', has recounted that Peck has had correspondence with the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Sullivan, who visited Peck's residence at the age of 14, recalled observing a significant volume of written communication exchanged between Peck and Gacy. Sullivan asserts that Gacy, who pursued painting while on death row, purportedly sent Peck an autographed painting of a clown, which Peck reportedly displayed in his residence at the time.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Notes

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, Brian
1960 births
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American criminals
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American LGBTQ people
Actors from California
American acting coaches
American gay actors
American male criminals
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people convicted of child sexual abuse
Criminals from California
Criminals from Indiana
Criminals from Los Angeles
Drake Bell
Film directors from Indiana
Film directors from Los Angeles
Film producers from California
Film producers from Indiana
Living people
LGBTQ people from California
LGBTQ people from Indiana
LGBTQ television producers
Male actors from Indiana
Male actors from Los Angeles
Nickelodeon people
People from Huntington, Indiana
Prisoners and detainees of California
Television producers from California
Television producers from Indiana
University of Southern California alumni