Byron Thames (born April 23, 1969) is an American television and film actor and musician.

Early life

Born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, his family moved shortly after his birth to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He moved to

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, with his mother at age eight to pursue a career as an actor.

Career

After meeting actor/director

Michael Landon Michael Landon Sr. (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on th ...

, Thames was cast in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television network dramatic television series ''

Father Murphy ''Father Murphy'' is an American Western drama television series that aired on the NBC network from November 3, 1981, to September 18, 1983. Michael Landon created the series, was the executive producer, and directed the show in partnership w ...

'' in 1981 at the age of eleven opposite actor and former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

athlete

Merlin Olsen Merlin Jay Olsen (; September 15, 1940 – March 11, 2010) was an American professional football player, announcer, and actor. For his entire 15-year professional football career he was a defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams in the Nationa ...

. The series ran for two seasons and ended in 1983. The following year, he was cast in ''

Johnny Dangerously ''Johnny Dangerously'' is a 1984 American crime comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling; two of its four screenwriters, Jeff Harris and Bernie Kukoff, had previously created the hit series ''Diff'rent Strokes''. The film, a parody of 1930s c ...

'', playing the part of actor

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...

's character as a child, and appeared in a starring role in the

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

-penned dramatic film '' Blame It on the Night''. In 1985 he received a starring role in ''

Seven Minutes in Heaven Seven minutes in heaven (or seven minutes in the closet) is a kissing party game mostly played at teenage parties. The game may also be played with a different duration. Game Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space ...

''. The film centered on the relationships of three teenage friends, portrayed by Thames,

Jennifer Connelly Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in the 1984 crime film ''Once Upon a Time in America''. After a few more years of modeling, she began t ...

and

Maddie Corman Maddie Corman (born Madeleine Cornman; August 15, 1970) is an American actress. She has appeared in over 25 films, including ''Seven Minutes in Heaven'', '' Some Kind of Wonderful'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane'' and ''A Beautiful Day in t ...

. During the 1980s, Thames also made appearances in a number of television series, including: ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'', ''

Silver Spoons ''Silver Spoons'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982, to May 11, 1986, and in first-run syndication from September 27, 1986, to May 30, 1987. The series was produced by Embassy Television for th ...

'', ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five s ...

'', ''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...

'', ''

Highway To Heaven ''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred its creator and co-director Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth to help peo ...

'' and ''

Brand New Life ''Brand New Life'' is an American comedy-drama television series starring Barbara Eden and Don Murray and produced by Walt Disney Television and NBC Productions that aired on NBC as part of '' The Magical World of Disney'' during the 1989–9 ...

''. In 2001, he appeared in ''

Don's Plum ''Don's Plum'' is a 2001 black-and-white independent drama film directed by R. D. Robb, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Kevin Connolly. It was filmed in 1995–1996, and written by Robb with Bethany Ashton, Tawd Beckman, David ...

'' as the title character, "Don Plum". In 2004, he co-starred with James Vallo in the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

sci-fi comedy ''Space Daze'' which was distributed by

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production company, production and film distributor, distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz (producer), Michael Herz in 1974. They are the longest running independent film ...

in 2005 and then reprised his role in the 2009 sequel ''Spaced Out''. In 2007, he teamed up again with Vallo and ''Space Daze'' writer/director John Wesley Norton playing the lead role in the then titled ''Working Title'' which was later released as '' Not Another B Movie'' in 2011 (also distributed by Troma). Thames provided additional voices in two Blue Sky films ''

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

'' and ''

Rio 2 ''Rio 2'' is a 2014 American animated musical comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. It is the sequel to the 2011 animated film and the second installment of the ''Rio'' franchise. The title refers to the ci ...

'', along with Jim Conroy, John Storey,

Randy Thom David Randall Thom (born August 21, 1951) is an American sound designer and the director of sound design at Skywalker Sound. Career Thom started his film career with a phone call to Walter Murch, who invited him to visit a re-mix of ''American ...

Jason Harris Katz Jason Harris Katz is an American voice actor and former television host. He was the host of the short-lived '' Double Dare 2000'' on Nickelodeon. He was also the host of Nickelodeon's ''Big Help on the Road'' in the late 1990s. He appeared on ...

, Holly Dorff, David Cowgill, and more.

Personal life

Byron Thames married actress Lisa Alpert in 1993. They had one son together, singer and actor

Hudson Thames Hudson Thames (born March 19, 1994) is an American actor and musician best known for providing as the voice double of Peter Parker / Spider-Man from Tom Holland in several animated installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), most notably ...

. They divorced in 1995 and he married actress Tricia Leigh Fisher in August 2007. The couple resides in

, with their child, as well as their children from his prior marriage and her previous relationship.Lovetripper.com: Tricia Leigh Fisher's Los Angeles Wedding
, lovetripper.com; accessed March 22, 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thames, Byron 1969 births American male film actors American male television actors American male child actors Byron Thames Male actors from New Orleans Musicians from New Orleans Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors