McKeon, Doug(las Jude) 1966-
McKEON, Doug(las Jude) 1966-
PERSONAL: Born June 10, 1966, in Pompton Plains, NJ; son of Richard F. (a stock broker) and Irene Anne (a teacher; maiden name, Kisla) McKeon.
ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Porchlight Entertainment, 11777 Mississippi Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025.
CAREER: Actor in films, including (as Robbie) Uncle Joe Shannon, United Artists, 1979; (as Frank Strelzyk) Night Crossing, Buena Vista, 1981; (as Billy Ray) On Golden Pond, Universal, 1981; (as Jonathan Bellah) Mischief, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1985; (as Ben Aitken) Turnaround, 1986; Deadly Illusion, 1989; (as Billy Coleman) Where the Red Fern Grows: Part 2, 1992; (as patron) Kounterfeit (also known as Money Crush), Live Entertainment, 1996; (as the typist) The Empty Mirror, Lions Gate Films, 1997; (as Barney) Courting Courtney, Broken Twigs Productions, 1997; and (as Breem) Critical Mass, 2000.
Actor in made-for-television movies, including (as Dirk) The Silent Eye, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1974; (as Timmy) Tell Me My Name, NBC, 1977; (as Peter) Daddy, I Don't Like It Like This, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), 1978; (as Michael) The Comeback Kid, American Broadcasting Companies (ABC), 1980; (as Scott Cameron) Desperate Lives, CBS, 1982; (as Harry Woodward) An Innocent Love (also known as One Starry Night), CBS, 1982; (as Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini) Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story, 1985; (as Lonnie) Breaking Home Ties, 1987; (as therapist) Without Consent (also known as Tell Laura I Love Her and Trapped and Deceived), ABC, 1994; (as chief of the boat) Sub Down, USA Network, 1997; and (as flight surgeon #2) Rocket's Red Glare (also known as The Mercury Project), 2000.
Actor in television series, including (as Timmy Ferraday #1) The Edge of Night, ABC, 1975-76; and (as Max Sutter) Big Shamus, Little Shamus, CBS, 1979. Actor in television miniseries, including (as Phillip Wendell) Centennial, NBC, 1978; (as Marc Schreuder) At Mother's Request, CBS, 1987; and (as Joe Allen) From the Earth to the Moon, Home Box Office (HBO), 1998. Appeared on Battle of the Network Stars XVIII (television special) as CBS team member.
Actor in stage productions, including (as Tommy) Dandelion Wine, Broadway, 1974; (as Leon) Truckwood, Broadway, 1974; and (as Eugene) Brighton Beach Memoirs, Neil Simon Theatre, New York, 1983.
AWARDS, HONORS: Golden Globe nomination for Uncle Joe Shannon.
WRITINGS:
(And director) The Boys of Sunset Ridge, Porchlight Entertainment (Los Angeles, CA), 2001.
Also author and director of the film The Gang's All Here.
SIDELIGHTS: Doug McKeon was one of the biggest child stars of the 1970s and early 1980s. He earned a Golden Globe nomination at a mere twelve years of age, for his work on the film Uncle Joe Shannon, and the same year he co-starred opposite well-known actor Brian Dennehy in the television series Big Shamus,Little Shamus. McKeon's best-known role was as Jane Fonda's son in the 1981 film On Golden Pond, which starred Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn.
McKeon continues to act as an adult, and has also written and directed a film, The Boys of Sunset Ridge. This movie covers sixty years in the lives of four boyhood friends, played by actors Ronny Cox, Burt Young, John Heard, and Pat Morita, who meet every year at the Sunset Ridge Country Club to play a game of golf and catch up on each other's lives.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
CoEvolution Quarterly, winter, 1981, Sheila Benson, review of On Golden Pond, p. 122.
Fifty Plus, December, 1981, Judith Crist, review of On Golden Pond, p. 55; February, 1982, Judith Crist, review of Night Crossing, p. 58.
Los Angeles Magazine, March, 1985, Merrill Shindler, review of Mischief, p. 40.
Maclean's, December 21, 1981, Lawrence O'Toole, review of On Golden Pond, pp. 47-48.
Newsweek, November 30, 1981, David Ansen, review of On Golden Pond, p. 105.
New York, December 7, 1981, David Denby, review of On Golden Pond, pp. 156-157; November 30, 1987, John Leonard, review of Breaking Home Ties, pp. 74-75.
New Yorker, December 7, 1981, Pauline Kael, review of On Golden Pond, pp. 198-202.
People, December 21, 1981, review of On Golden Pond, p. 14; March 22, 1982, Lee Wohlfert-Wihlborg, "He May Be the Smallest Fish in Golden Pond, but Doug McKeon Is Making a Big Splash," pp. 67-68; February 25, 1985, Ralph Novak, review of Mischief, p. 12; January 5, 1987, Jeff Jarvis, review of At Mother's Request, p. 9; November 30, 1987, Jeff Jarvis, review of Breaking Home Ties, p. 17.
Seattle Times, May 14, 1999, John Hartl, review of The Empty Mirror, p. D12.
Seventeen, January, 1982, Edwin Miller, "Teen-age Actor Doug McKeon Looks like a Disney Character, Acts like a Trooper," p. 72; March, 1982, Edwin Miller, review of On Golden Pond, p. 105.
Time, November 16, 1981, Richard Schickel, review of On Golden Pond, pp. 112-114; January 5, 1987, Richard Zoglin, review of At Mother's Request, p. 78.
Variety, February 6, 1985, review of Mischief, p. 19; May 8, 1985, review of The Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story, p. 158; January 21, 1987, review of At Mother's Request, p. 171; December 2, 1987, review of Breaking Home Ties, p. 68; October 10, 1994, Tony Scott, review of Without Consent, p. 44.
Wilson Library Bulletin, February, 1982, Judith Trojan, review of On Golden Pond, pp. 455-456.
ONLINE
Moviesite,http://www.moviesite.co.za/ (March 11, 2003).
Porchlight Entertainment Web site,http://www.porchlight.com/ (March 11, 2003).*