Jerry O'Connell (born February 17, 1974), is an American television and film actor. He was born in New York City to an immigrant Irish Catholic father and an U.S.-born mother, and was raised in Manhattan with his younger brother, Charlie O'Connell. He is probably best known as "the fat kid from Stand By Me" and his role of Quinn Mallory in the TV series Sliders. O'Connell began his acting career at a young age. As a youngster, he did commercial work for Duncan Hines cookies. Shortly after at the age of eleven, he landed his first feature starring role in Rob Reiner's Stand By Me. As a teenager, he starred in the series My Secret Identity, and attended Manhattan's Professional Children's School.
O'Connell went on to attend New York University (NYU) in 1992. While there, he majored in film and competed on the NYU fencing team, serving a stint as captain of the sabre squad. While in film school, Jerry studied screen writing and left NYU several credits short of graduation in 1995.
During a summer break from NYU, Jerry starred in the feature film Calendar Girl along side Jason Priestley and Gabriel Olds. He also appeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom, Camp Wilder with Jay Mohr and Hilary Swank in 1992. In his Junior year, O'Connell auditioned for two TV pilots: Sliders and Party of Five. He was offered the role of Quinn Mallory in the TV series Sliders, which ran for three seasons on Fox and two seasons on the Sci-Fi Channel. He served as producer during his fourth and final season, and is credited with writing and directing several episodes.
O'Connell has since gone on to star in such movies as Body Shots, Mission to Mars, Tomcats, and Kangaroo Jack. O'Connell has also tried his hand at screenwriting and sold his first screenplay, for First Daughter, to New Regency in 1999. The film was released in 2004 by 20th Century Fox-based Davis Entertainment. O'Connell served as executive producer on the film, which was about a young secret service agent sent to keep an eye on the president's college-age daughter and starred Katie Holmes.
O'Connell currently stars as Detective Woody Hoyt on the NBC crime drama Crossing Jordan (2001), and recently got engaged to actress/model Rebecca Romijn.
His younger brother Charlie O'Connell, also an alumnus of NYU and who was most recently seen as The Bachelor, has also appeared with Jerry in several projects, and in some other roles, as well, but is not as successful an actor.
