Joseph Ashton (born November 18, 1986) is an American former child actor, who was best known for his role as Oswald "Otto" Rocket in

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

's animated series ''

Rocket Power ''Rocket Power'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó and produced by Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Animation Studio for Nickelodeon. The show centers on the daily lives of Otto, Reggie, Twister ...

''.

Early life

Joseph Ashton was born on November 18, 1986, in

Cherokee, California Cherokee is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Butte County, California. It is an area inhabited by Maidu Indians prior to the gold rush, but that takes its name from a band of Cherokee prospectors who perfected a minin ...

. His parents reportedly have

Cherokee descent Individuals with some degree of documented Cherokee descent who do not meet the criteria for Cherokee tribal citizenship may describe themselves as "being of Cherokee descent" or as "being a Cherokee descendant". These terms are also used by non-Na ...

. He is the younger brother of actor Mathew Valencia.

Career

Ashton begin his acting career in 1994, he first appeared before the camera as an infant in a national McDonald's commercial. He had a regular role on the CBS drama '' L.A. Doctors''. His guest-starring roles on television series include ''ER'', ''Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman'', ''Walker, Texas Ranger'', ''Martial Law'', ''Cracker'' and ''Smart Guy''. He appeared in ''Asylum'' as Young Tordone on HBO, and the NBC mini series ''

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English rock supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and ...

''. Ashton's film debut was in the 1994 remake of ''

The Little Rascals ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

''. He notably starred in the title role of the 1997 film, '' The Education of Little Tree'', a well-reviewed low-budget film about a 1930s-era boy discovering his Native American heritage. He earned a Young Artist Award for Best Performance In A Feature Film for the movie. Roger Ebert, in his review said "Ashton, as Little Tree, is another of those young actors who is fresh and natural on camera; I believed in his character." The ''Boston Phoenix'' lauded him as "adorable and energetic." Ashton starred as 'Sonny', in '' Slappy and the Stinkers'' and won a

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 ...

for Best Young Ensemble Performance in a feature film. He also appeared in the 2003 remake of ''

Where the Red Fern Grows ''Where the Red Fern Grows'' is a 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls about a boy who buys and trains two Redbone Coonhounds for hunting. It is a work of autobiographical fiction based on Rawls' childhood in the Ozarks. Plot The novel b ...

'', playing the main character, Billy Coleman. Ashton was also the voice of Otto Rocket in

's animated series ''

'' from 1999 to 2004. He reprised his role as the voice of Otto Rocket in the television movie ''Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand'' for Nickelodeon and in the video games. Ashton has lent his voice to other animated projects including ''Hey Arnold'', '' Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?'' and the animated films '' Babes in Toyland'' and ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

''. Ashton has also teamed up with EndlessEntertainment Co., and even produced his own films.

Personal life

He is a graduate of the

University of La Verne The University of La Verne (ULV) is a private university in La Verne, California. Founded in 1891, the university is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, College o ...

, where he majored in TV and radio broadcasting.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Joseph Living people American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors Nickelodeon people People from Butte County, California University of La Verne alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1986 births Phi Delta Theta members