Sean Astin
Sean Astin born on February 25, 1971 is an American film actor, director, and producer best known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24.
Astin’s first acting role was in a 1981 television movie titled Please Don’t Hit Me, Mom, in which he played a child with an abusive mother (portrayed by his real-life mother Patty Duke). He made his silver screen debut at age 13 as Mikey in The Goonies (1985).
Following The Goonies, Sean Astin appeared in several more films, including The War of the Roses (1989), the World War II film Memphis Belle (1990), Toy Soldiers (1990), Encino Man (1992) and the college football drama Rudy (1993), in which he played titular character Daniel Ruettiger.
In 1994, Astin directed and co-produced (with his wife, Christine Astin) the short film Kangaroo Court, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. Astin continued to appear in films throughout the 1990s, including the Showtime science fiction film Harrison Bergeron (1995), the Gulf War film Courage Under Fire (1996), and the Warren Beatty political satire Bulworth (1998).
Astin married Christine Harrell on July 11, 1992. They have three daughters: Alexandra (born November 27, 1996), Elizabeth (born August 6, 2002), and Isabella (born July 22, 2005), all with the middle name Louise. His wife held the Miss Indiana Teen USA title in 1984.
Astin has a tattoo on his ankle of the Elvish word for “nine,” commemorating his Lord of the Rings involvement and his character’s membership in the Fellowship of the Ring. Of the other Fellowship actors (Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and John Rhys-Davies), all have the same tattoo except Rhys-Davies, whose stunt double was tattooed instead.
During the 2004 United States presidential election, Astin backed Senator John Kerry and participated in Kerry’s campaign rally in Portland, Oregon, as the opening speaker. In the 2008 presidential election, Astin lent his support to Senator Hillary Clinton and made multiple campaign appearances on her behalf, including joining Clinton’s daughter Chelsea Clinton at some stops.
