Justin Tyler Berfield (born February 25, 1986) is an American writer, producer and actor. He is known for his portrayals of Reese on the family sitcom ''

Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons consisting of 151 episodes. The ...

'' and Ross Malloy on

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

sitcom '' Unhappily Ever After''. As of 2010, Berfield is Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Produced, a film and television development, packaging, and production company announced in 2010 by the

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding compa ...

Early life

Berfield was born on February 25, 1986, in

Agoura Hills, California Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...

, to Gail Berfield (née Stark) and Eric "Rick" Berfield. He is the younger brother of actor Lorne Berfield. Berfield is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Acting career

Berfield's first screen appearance was in a Folgers coffee commercial at age five. He went on to appear in 20 other nationally broadcast American commercials as a young child. His TV debut came in the short-lived series '' The Good Life'' (1994) in which he co-starred with

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey gained stardom in his own Situa ...

. Berfield also made appearances in the TV shows '' Hardball'', '' The Boys Are Back'', and '' The Mommies'' (1994–1995). Berfield's first long-running TV role was as Ross Malloy in '' Unhappily Ever After'' (1995–1999), in which he appeared in 100 episodes. In 1995, he (then aged 9) was one of 3000 juvenile actors who auditioned for the role of the young Anakin Skywalker in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace''. Berfield's big breakthrough role came in 1999 when Linwood Boomer cast him to play Reese, the trouble-making older brother of Frankie Muniz's title character on the Fox sitcom ''

'' (in reality, Berfield is nearly three months younger than Muniz), which premiered on January 9, 2000. He appeared in all 151 episodes of that series. The original run of ''Malcolm in the Middle'' ended on May 14, 2006, though Berfield remained active for another six years, concentrating on production work; in February 2025, he confirmed in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post that he would return for the reboot of the series. He also made a one-off appearance in the series '' Sons of Tucson'' in 2010.

Charity work

In 2001, Berfield was asked to serve as a National Youth Ambassador for Ronald McDonald House Charities, in which he participated for three years until turning 18. He has been active with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and most recently Virgin Unite, the charitable arm of

Personal life

Berfield has two children with his wife Liza Almeida, whom he married in 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berfield, Justin 1986 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Film producers from California Jewish American male actors Jewish American television writers American television writers Jews from California Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from Santa Monica, California People from Agoura Hills, California