The Facts of Life

Background:

“There was a period when I became disillusioned with the politics of what goes on in show business. My mom had missed a lot of her childhood, so I figured it would be a good time to hang up my acting shoes . . . I was probably reading too much J.D. Salinger at the time.” Mackenzie Astin

Award winning actor MacKenzie Astin, son of actor/director/writer John Astin and actress Patty Duke and younger brother of actor Sean Astin, reached TV success at age 12 in the girls' prep school sitcom “The Facts of Life” (1985-1988), from which he took home a Young Artist Award. Since then, he has acted in several TV films, including “A Child Lost Forever” (1992), “The Long Island Incident” (1998), “Selma, Lord, Selma” (1999), and such movies as “Iron Will” (1994), “The Evening Star” (1996), “In Love and War” (1996), “The Last Days of Disco” (1998) and “The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human” (1999). His more recent projects include “Stranger Than Fiction”(2000), “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” (2001, TV), “How to Deal” (2003), “Off the Lip” (2004), “Love's Enduring Promise” (2004, TV), “In from the Night” (2006, TV) and “The Final Season” (2007).

Astin's fans should not miss his fine acting in the forthcoming drama movie “The Four Children of Tander Welch” (2008).

Outside acting, Astin likes playing basketball and hanging out with friends. He also enjoys spending time with his family. An avid Dodgers fan, he frequently plays the game with his brother, Sean, in Hollywood Stars Celebrity Softball Games at Dodger field. Astin cites Kurt Vonnegut and J.D. Salinger as his favorite authors.

Mack

Childhood and Family:

Mackenzie Alexander Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, to celebrity parents actor-director John Astin and actress Patty Duke. They divorced in 1985 after having been together for 13 years. At the time, Mackenzie was 12 and older brother Sean (also an actor) was 14. Sean was a product of Duke's previous marriage to Michael Tell (together from June 26 to July 9, 1970) before the marriage was annulled. Mackenzie also has three more older half-brothers, David, Allen and Thomas, from his dad's first marriage, and a younger half-brother, Kevin Michael Pearce, from his mom's next marriage to Michael Pearce.

Mack, as he is known by family and close friends, was educated at Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School and University High School in Los Angeles, California. In 1990, he put acting on the backburner to attend the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, in which he majored in history, but later dropped out.

Love's Enduring Promise

Career:

The offspring of celebrated actors John Astin and Patty Duke, Mackenzie Astin knew that he wanted to follow in his parents' footsteps when he was only a little boy. Although his mother did not completely agree with Astin's aspiration, she was quite supportive and ready to help her son whenever he needed. Born and raised in Hollywood, Astin made his professional debut at age 9 when he landed a a part in the made-for-TV film “Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal” (CBS, 1982), playing Tony Belinski. He continued to have guest roles in the shows “Finder of Lost Loves” (1984), “Hail to the Chief,” a short-lived ABC sitcom starring his mother, and “Hotel” (both 1985) and a second TV film exposure in the reunion “I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later” (also 1985), but the young Astin did not gain a true shot with fame until he was cast in the regular role of Andy Moffett Stickle on the NBC long-running comedy series “The Facts of Life,” opposite Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields and Mindy Cohn. Playing the disobedient youth from 1985 to 1988, he won a 1986 Young Artist in the category of Best Young Supporting Actor in a Television Series. While working on the show, Astin had the opportunity to break into the cinematic industry with a supporting part as cheater in the rough comedy “The Garbage Pail Kids Movie” (1987).

Despite his early success, Astin decided to leave acting to complete high school and attend college. He, however, soon departed college and resumed his acting career in 1992 by having the supporting role of Beverly D'Angelo's son, Dennis, in “A Child Lost Forever,” an NBC television film concerning about child abuse theme. He also played the recurring role of Charlie Gallagher on two episodes of the drama series “Brooklyn Bridge” (1992-1993). Astin revisited the big screen in 1994 to star as Will Stoneman in the Disney adventure “Iron Will,” with Kevin Spacey and David Ogden Stiers, and next appeared in Lawrence Kasdan's flop “Wyatt Earp” (also 1994), which starred Kevon Costner. He followed them up by making a cameo appearance as a golf champ in brother Sean's starring vehicle “Harrison Bergeron” (1995, TV) and reuniting with his “A Child Lost Forever” costar Beverly D'Angelo for the made-for-TV film “Widow's Kiss” (1996) before costarring as the grandson of Shirley MacLaine in “The Evening Star” (1996), a disappointing installment to James L Brooks' fantastic “Terms of Endearment” (1984). Although his next film, the Richard Attenborough-directed “In Love and War” (1996), was also a box office dud, the actor did earn some notice for his portrayal of Henry Villard, a friend and romantic contender to Ernest Hemingway (played by Chris O'Donnel).

Astin spent the rest of the decade working in no less than four projects. He costarred with Laurie Metcalf and Peter MacNeill in the based-on-true-story telepic “The Long Island Incident” (1998), as Kevin McCarthy, joined Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale and Chris Eigeman for the ensemble of Whit Stillman's “The Last Days of Disco” (1998) and portrayed Jonathan Daniels in the award-nominating civil rights drama TV film “Selma, Lord, Selma” (1999). Also in 1999, he played miserable male in the “mocumentary” called “The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human.”

A guest spot in an episode of “The Outer Limits” and a starring role in the Eric Bross-directed thriller “Stranger Than Fiction” (both 2000) marked Astin's opening work in the new millennium. In the next years, he could be seen in the TV films “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” (2001, opposite Nathan Lane) and “Everything But the Girl” (2001) as well as in such movies as “The Zeros” (2001), “The Month of August” (2002), “Two Days” (2003, with Paul Rudd and Donal Logue) and “How to Deal” (2003, starred Mandy Moore and Allison Janney). Besides, he also returned to series TV as a regular in the short-lived legal drama “First Years” (NBC, 2001), in which he was cast as an openly gay named Warren Harrison. The show also starred Samantha Mathis, Bruce Winant and Kevin Connolly.

Next up for Astin, he costarred with Marguerite Moreau in the surfing movie “Off the Lip” (2004), was cast opposite January Jones in the based-on-novel telepic “Love's Enduring Promise” (2004), from which he jointly nabbed a Camie award from the 2005 Character and Morality in Entertainment, and was seen in the movies “In from the Night” (TV), “Duncan Removed” and “Military Intelligence and You!” (all 2006). He also guested in such TV series as “Lost” (2005), “House M.D..” “Pepper Dennis” and “Justice” (all 2006). In 2007, he appeared as Chip Dolan in the sport-themed movie “The Final Season,” which starred brother Sean as Kent Stock, and made guest appearance as Brandon in an episode of '”My Name Is Earl” called “Get a Real Job.”

The 35-year-old actor is set to star with her mother in the drama film directed and penned by Ashlon Langley, “The Four Children of Tander Welch” (2008).

Awards:

• Character and Morality in Entertainment: Camie, “Love's Enduring Promise,” 2005

• Young Artist: Best Young Supporting Actor in a Television Series, “The Facts of Life,” 1986