To be honest, I didn't know about Wil Wheaton until I saw the "The Naked Now" episode of
Star Trek: The Next Generation. I missed "Encounter at Farpoint" and saw how this young kid was
on a starship in the 24th century and tinkering with some voice box thing. Come on, what
kid watching that wouldn't be insanely jealous? Right, that's what I thought too. So Wesley Crusher
almost kills everyone on the ship because he's jacked up on the Tsiolkovsky virus, and I think to myself
"What a little poon! He gets to do that everyday and almost ruins it all!".
Needless to say, my feelings of the young Crusher improved as he actually proved his worth
throughout the series. By this time, my parents had expanded the cable television to include HBO,
Cinemax, and Showtime. Because of this, a whole new world of movies was opened to me. Good, bad, crappy,
old, new, long and short; movies are how I spent an entire summer and I started to gain respect as a
credible movie information oracle from my peers and friends. This is also when I started to notice Wil
Wheaton in other works, namely "Toy Soldiers" and "Stand By Me". At this point, his coolness factor
jumped to the level reserved only for Commander Will Riker and Data . . .
Wil Wheaton was born Richard William Wheaton III on July 29th, 1972 in Burbank, California to
Debbie and Rick Wheaton. The eldest of three children, Wil's younger siblings include a younger brother
Jeremy and a younger sister Amy.
Wil started his career by acting in several commercials, most noticeably alongside comedic legend
Bill Cosby in Jell-O ads. After the big break with Jell-O, Wil moved onto other commercials for a short
while before landing his first 'true' acting role in 1981, a made for TV movie "A Long Way Home". With his
foot in the door of Hollywood, Wil moved on to several more movies and TV appearances; notably
"Family Ties", "St. Elsewhere", and "Highway to Heaven".
Wil Wheaton gained his most fame when he starred along side River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and
Jerry O'Connell in Rob Reiner's classic "Stand By Me". As a young Gordie Lachance, Wil impressed
critics, directors, peers, and the masses alike. After "Stand By Me", the next movie that really
brought him into the mainstream again was "Toy Soldiers". A cult hit which is frequently played on
early evening Cinemax as a prelude to the softcore pornos, Wil played a student turned terrorist
fighter with an earring. This movie was blasted by critics as being too 'unlikely'. But what the hell,
it also starred Louis Gossett, Jr.
Shortly after working in this movie and several other smaller productions, Wil took a hiatus from
the "evils of Hollywood". This sabbatical lasted roughly five years. It was during this time that
Wil reflected on his career up to that point, and where he wanted to go. In 1993, our hero decided to
start working for a digital film-editing system based in Topeka, Kansas. This lasted for the better
part of a year and a half, before deciding to return on a part time basis to Hollywood.
During his time on "The Next Generation" and after his departure, Wil was a fixture on the Star Trek
convention scene. I know from personal experience that Wil puts on an excellent performance at
conventions and is very entertaining. Witty quips, anecdotes, as well as the occassional ironic musings
all frequent themselves in his shows. He did come into conflict with the management of the convention
scene for awhile and did not do them. A truly sad day for me, as when the next convention came around I
had to settle for Colm Meany and Brent Spiner. They are awesome guys and talented to no end, but they
are no Wil Wheaton, I will tell you that.
Wil's personal life is not as exciting as you would think it would be, well with him being a child
of the 80s and all. Wil married Anne Price in 1999 and is currently still attached at the hip. Along
with the addition of a wife, Wil has two stepsons in Nolan and Ryan. He works for the ACME Comedy Theatre
(Which every Wil Wheaton or general comedy fan must go. It was the best laugh riot I have ever had, by God.)
and spends a lot of his time working on his self built website wilwheaton.net. Wil is a bonafide geek and
enjoys dabbling in the dark evils of html, blogging, being the DJ of his own Radio Free Burrito radio station, as well as a little case stickering here and there.
Wil is slowly getting back into the limelight with more mainstream roles, such as the role of Bennett
Hoenicker, in Robin Williams's 'you have to be on drugs to enjoy the madness' "Flubber". He also shot several
scenes in the Star Trek movie "Nemesis", however the scenes were cut from the movie due to time restraints. Wil
seems to be at terms with the fact that there was a backlash against him (well, Wesley Crusher) during the
early years of "The Next Generation", and in fact regularly sells autographed Wesley Crusher memorabilia on eBay for
his fans to enjoy as sort of a tongue in cheek reference to all the naysayers. What a humanitarian! I know Wil from the many different works that he has done, but for the
life of me, and I know this will get me a Wil Wheaton boot in my ass, I see Wil Wheaton as the little arrogant kid
I wanted to be known as Wesley Crusher. One of the most down to earth celebrities I have seen, Wil Wheaton will command
a following until his dying day due to his interaction with the fanbase. Wil Wheaton has a Posse.