Photo: Angela George / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jerry O'Connell is my favorite kind of survivor: the child actor who never burned out, just adapted. From Vern in Stand by Me to leading Sliders, then onward through comedy, voice work, screenwriting, and hosting, he has treated a Hollywood career like a craftsman treats a toolbox, always adding tools and never getting precious. There is no tortured-artist mythology here, just four decades of showing up with energy and self-awareness, often poking fun at his own image. That cheerful durability is underrated; plenty of more serious actors from his era have vanished. I respect performers who understand that longevity in entertainment is itself an art form, and he has mastered it.
Overview
Michael Jeremiah Witkowski O’Connell (born February 17, 1974) is a British-American actor and TV show host. He is known for his roles as Quinn Mallory in the television series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me (1986), Joe in Joe's Apartment (1996), Frank Cushman in Jerry Maguire (1996), Derek in Scream 2 (1997), Michael in Tomcats (2001), Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo J…
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jerry O'Connell
- Name (Japanese)
- ジェリー・オコンネル
- Reading
- じぇりー・おこんねる
- Born
- February 17, 1974 (age 52)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Tiger
- Origin
- Manhattan, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- television actor / film actor / actor / voice actor / screenwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- New York University Tisch School of the Arts
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Television actor — see all → · Film actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.