Jason James Richter (born January 29, 1980) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role in the ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American Adventure film, adventure Drama (film and television), drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by ...

'' film series as Jesse, the boy who befriends Willy the

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

Early life

Richter was born on January 29, 1980, in

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...

, the son of Sandra "Sandy" Montgomery, an actress, and Gregory Lynn Richter, who was in the U.S. Navy. At the age of 3, he and his family moved to

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where a Japanese casting agency discovered him and signed him up for three TV spots. In 1989, his family moved back to the mainland, settling in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Career

Richter starred as Jesse in ''

'' (1993), a role for which he was chosen out of more than 4,000 candidates. His other films include '' Cops & Robbersons'', '' The NeverEnding Story III'', '' Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home'', '' Laserhawk'', '' Free Willy 3: The Rescue'', and ''The Setting Son''. He also reprised his role as Jesse in the music video for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's "

Childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

", which was featured in '' Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home''. In 2021, he appeared in the thriller '' The Little Things'', his first studio film since the ''Free Willy'' films. Between the ''Free Willy'' roles, he had TV guest roles on ''

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appea ...

'', ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-d ...

'' and '' The Client''. Following his appearance in ''Ricochet River'', Richter took a decade long hiatus from acting where he was the bassist Fermata.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Jason James 1980 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Musicians from San Diego Male actors from San Diego