Brandon de Wilde grew up to be a cute geek

Geek? Maybe twink but no way a geek.

in the Oscar clip he's more geeky r1 (the glasses)

Didn't he die young?

Yeah... died at thirty when he crashed his camper van. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Sad. He's cute in OP's vid.

He was traveling to appear in a production of Butterflies are Free.

I would have happily made sweet love to him.

He was nominated for an Oscar when he was 11 for Shane. Frank Sinatra beat him. Was Sinatra really that acclaimed as an actor?

I went to high school with his cousin, who looked a lot like him. Same last name, so I asked him . Very blond. Nice kid.

De Wilde was gorgeous in Hud

Actor Brian Geraghty is a dead ringer for him, he’s what De Wilde would have looked like if he lived past 30

Brandon was a big boy.

R10, yum!

Such a fine (and handsome!) young actor —his death was heartbreaking. I remember seeing his “What’s My Line” appearance on YouTube — what an adorable charmer!

There simply must be some nude photos of this delicious young man!

Charming indeed!

R10, that's where he stowed his chewing tabacky.

I seem to remember that when he died the great Julie Harris, with whom he costarred in "The Member of the wedding," wrote a lovely tribute to him.

Brandon De Wilde and Julie Harris also appeared on an episode of “The Name of the Game” (along with Anne Baxter, Steve Forrest and Tisha Sterling) in 1968. I haven’t seen the episode so I don’t know if they shared any scenes, but it’s cool to think of two stars of “The Member of the Wedding” reunited.

He grew up to be incredibly handsome and it's alleged that he was packing.

R18 See R10. I think we do away with the "alleged" part.

One of the all time great kid performances in Shane. Unforgettable.

Here he's depicting the average datalounger during childhood.

Nice

Found this YouTube. Brandon deWilde is in the segment with Ann Sothern.

R23 I loved this show growing up!

Brandon's girlfriend in that segment was played by Brenda Benet, the tragic ex-wife of Bill Bixby and lesbian lover of Faux News' Tammy Fox.

^^ Make that Tammy Bruce.

“Love American Style” was a Friday-night perennial during my growing-up years, it was always a treat to see who was going to pop-up in those iconic opening credits (Diane Keaton! Sue Lyon! DL icon Vivian Vance!)

Wow, R24 — I didn’t know that Brenda Benet was involved with Tammy Bruce before her death! Quite an age difference there, and if Bruce is truthful about her age, she was a teenager when her relationship with Benet began!

This is why I love DL — not only a thread about the wonderful Brandon de Wilde, but info I didn’t know about Brenda Benet and Tammy Bruce!

Brandon deWilde was also in In Harm's Way which is kind of an odd film... a WWII movie (Pacific war) directed by Otto Preminger and filmed in black and white in 1965. Big name cast: John Wayne, Patricia Neal, Kirk Douglas, even Henry Fonda has a cameo role. Solid supporting cast including BdW.

Picture a movie that starts around the time of Pearl Harbor, in Honolulu, yet all the women have 1965 teased hair styles and are wearing 1965 sheath dresses and stiletto heels. It's very disorienting. i know that hair and makeup are frequently anachronistic but this takes it to a whole new level.

Kirk Douglas plays a booze and broads, good-time Charlie guy who is a pilot. He meets up with a young virginal nurse (Jill Haworth) who is the girlfriend of BdW, says he'll drive her home from a party (I forget exactly) and rapes her. She is so distraught she kills herself. He ends up volunteering for a suicide surveillance mission.

It's weird because of the whole Natalie Wood rumor, when was that supposed to have happened?

[quote]Brandon deWilde was also in In Harm's Way which is kind of an odd film... a WWII movie (Pacific war) directed by Otto Preminger and filmed in black and white in 1965.

I spilled several loads to the Playboy pictorial that included a semi-nude still of Hugh O'Brian from that film.

Agreed, R28, the bouffants and outfits that Jill Haworth and Barbara Bouchet sport in “In Harm’s Way” are VERY anachronistic. I read in Elizabeth Ashley’s book “Actress” that Otto Preminger offered her a role (my guess would be the one later played by Paula Prentiss) in the film, but she turned it down.

Preminger was known to be rough on actors, hope that Brandon de Wilde’s experience with him was a good one!

Interesting parallel with Douglas/“In Harm’s Way/the Natalie Wood rumor.

It was shocking in the movie, his character didn't seem to have any real regrets. Sad that she died, of course but a bit mystified why she took the pills. No real fallout from his buddies or superior officers? It's been awhile since I've seen it. Of course he died a hero, radioing in the location of the Japanese fleet.

It's one of the few John Wayne films where he didn't seem like an anachronism in "modern dress". Preminger could be a petty tyrant and got worse with age, but he managed to get some semblance of a performance out of Wayne.

de Wilkde did a lot of episodic tv in the 60s. He no longer was a movie star, but he seemed to do ok as a working actor.

He was an excellent child actor-"Shane" ," Member if the Wedding" ,and" Hud". Don't forgot " They All Fall Down". When he was on Broadway, as a little boy, he used to run and knock on everyone's door when it was showtime because he was so excited.

R27 Yes; Tammy was 19 when she got involved with Benet, who was 36. Tammy had been her personal secretary. She was at the house the day Benet killed herself.

He worked with some amazing people over the course of his too-brief career, a testament to his talent and charisma.

I seem to recall a biography a few years ago, though I’m unsure of of its quality.

I grew up in Denver, and I remember being a kid and seeing the reporting of his death on the local news. It was so weird to know that a famous Hollywood person had died on a street in my little city!

Shane? ... Shane?

Damn, poor Brenda...I'd kill myself too if I was involved with Tammy Bruce...

Here’s Brandon deWilde, Julie Harris, Steve Forrest, Tisha Sterling and Anne Baxter in “The Name of the Game”. Obviously inspired by the Starkweather killings.

[quote]Was Sinatra really that acclaimed as an actor?

Perhaps not, but let’s just say his “people” had an enforcement division.

R41 plus Sinatra was in the midst of a comeback with From Here to Eternity. It was a popular victory. I’ve heard De Wilde’s parents didn’t take him to the Oscars and he found out he lost awhile after the ceremony.

Brandon and Eva Marie Saint are excellent in John Frankenheimer's "A Fall Down". Warren Beatty, as Brandon's older brother, gives one of his most painful Method performances, and Angela Lansbury, as the mother, is over the top.

I believe deWilde was discovered when they were having trouble finding a 7-year-old for the stage play THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, and someone remembered one of the stage managers had a son.

Or something.

Growing up, I always assumed his last name was pronounced "dee wild", but a few years ago a friend pronounced it "duh wilda" -- which is correct?

The latter - though it's annoying.

Agreed, R43, Eva Marie Saint and Brandon deWilde have the best performances in “All Fall Down”. Karl Malden and (sad to say) Angela Lansbury were a bit over the top, and Warren Beatty was an Actor’s Studio caricature. Allegedly, Beatty’s self-indulgent acting preparation antics were a source of irritation on the set. Even Lansbury later spoke about it, albeit diplomatically.

GAVE the best performances, not have — sorry!

Da wilduh? Well, I never in all my life.

De Wilde was one of those child actors that never made the transition to an adult career, and not because of his premature death, but because he kept doing the cutesy bit that made him seem mentally challenged.

I don’t think he did a cutesy bit as an adult, the performances I’ve seen have shown him to be a fine, sensitive actor. But I too have wondered why his star dimmed by the late-60s. Maybe Dustin Hoffman’s ascension in “The Graduate” rendered deWilde’s more preppy type less interesting? At any rate, his untimely passing was a loss for the performances that might have been.

And incidentally, performance aside, deWilde’s role in “The Name of the Game” episode posted upthread features a pivotal scene in his underwear!

There was a cultural upheaval & by the late 60s, anything not hip was passé. Annette & Frankie, Sal Mineo, Bobby Vinton, Tommy Sands...people like this were washed up. (Mineo was attempting to revive his career when murdered). Poor Brandon was part of the previous generation of actors.

Child actor Kurt Russell was appearing in dreck when he had an incredible break out role in Escape From New York. That kind of career revival was rare.

He drove Paul Newman to distraction.

[quote] Brandon de Wilde grew up

Not really

Interesting theory, R52 — I agree!

Obviously R53

His death was the subject of the Gram Parsons song, "In My Hour of Darkness."

And Emmylou Harris and Bill Danoff, in turn, wrote this song about Gram Parsons' death.

Never knew that, R57!