Nicholas Brendon
Brendon in San Diego Comic-Con 2011.
Born	Nicholas Brendon Schultz (1971-04-12) April 12, 1971 (age 41) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	Tressa di Figlia (2001–2007)
Website
http://www.nickbrendon.com/

Nicholas Brendon (born April 12, 1971, as Nicholas Brendon Schultz in Los Angeles, California), is an actor best known for his character Xander Harris in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003).

Early life[link]

Brendon has an identical twin brother named Kelly Donovan.^[1] When Brendon was young, he had aspirations to be a professional baseball player, but was forced to give up the dream after an arm injury.^[2] At the age of 20 he decided to try his hand at acting and overcome his stuttering problem,^[3] but gave up after two years because he "couldn't stand the politics in Hollywood." He decided instead to go back to school and study medicine, but this did not work out. He also tried his hand at a variety of other jobs, including plumber's assistant, veterinary janitor, day care counselor, waiter, and production assistant for the television show Dave's World.^[4]

Career[link]

Brendon with Anthony Stewart Head at the 2004 Oakland Super SlayerCon.

Brendon's role as Xander Harris was initially that of the occasional comic relief and plucky sidekick to the lead female character, but in later seasons fewer comedic lines were given to the part. Brendon's twin brother, Kelly Donovan played Xander's sinister double "Suave Xander Harris".^[1] When the series ended in 2003, Brendon joined the cast of a new Fox sitcom, Kitchen Confidential, based on the book by chef Anthony Bourdain. Thirteen episodes were made, but the series was cancelled on December 9 of the same year, after the fourth episode aired with low ratings.

In 2006, he voiced Huntsboy #89 for season 2 of the animated series American Dragon: Jake Long. The series ended on September 1, 2007. His character's final appearance was in the episode "Shaggy Frog", which aired on April 28, 2007.

From July 26 through August 30, 2006, Brendon co-starred with Noah Wyle in the play Lobster Alice, in Los Angeles.

That same year, Brendon reunited with his former Buffy on-screen sweetheart, Charisma Carpenter, in the ABC Family TV movie Relative Chaos.

Brendon appeared in the recurring role of FBI technical analyst Kevin Lynch on the TV series Criminal Minds.^[5][6]

He played the role of Crumpet the Elf in David Sedaris’ one man show, The Santaland Diaries, which ran from November 20-December 20, 2009 at the The Blank Theatre's 2nd Stage in Hollywood, CA.

He was in the 2010 Blank Theatre production of Christopher Durang's play, Why Torture Is Wrong, And The People Who Love Them at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood.

On September 29, 2010 he premiered his web comic Very Bad Koalas, co-created with animation director/producer Steve Loter. The comic follows the journey of two sheltered and innocent koalas experiencing a variety of people and places while on the run from the law in a 1958 Cadillac El Dorado.^[7]

On October 28, 2010, Brendon began a 3-episode arc on ABC's Private Practice playing Lee McHenry, a mentally disturbed man who assaults Charlotte King.

Personal life[link]

(From left to right) Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan, Brendon, Nathan Fillion, Danny Strong and Tom Lenk at a John Kerry fund raiser.

Brendon has played a major part in the Stuttering Foundation of America. He was the first person to serve the role of honorary chairperson of the Stuttering Foundation of America's Stuttering Awareness Week for three consecutive years, from 2000 to 2003.

On April 25, 2004, at a Buffy fan convention in Cleveland, Ohio, he announced that he had voluntarily entered rehab for alcoholism.^[8]

Brendon was tasered and arrested by police in Los Angeles in the early morning of March 17, 2010. The police were responding to a call about an intoxicated individual, and confronted Brendon who allegedly swung his fists at the officers and attempted to run away. The police used a taser to stop him and arrested him for felony vandalism. Brendon was initially held on $20,000 bail.^[9][10][11]

Brendon was later charged with four misdemeanors, including one count of resisting arrest, two counts of battery against a police officer, and one count of vandalism.^[12] In May 2010, Brendon checked himself into the SOBA Recovery Center in Malibu due to use of alcohol and sleeping pills.^[13] On June 19, 2010, Brendon pleaded no contest to all four charges and received a one-year suspended jail sentence, was placed on probation for 36 months, and was required to perform 10 days of community service.^[14]

Filmography[link]

Movies[link]

Television[link]

Video games[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Saturn Awards

• 1998: Nominated, "Best Genre TV Actor" - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• 1999: Nominated, "Best Genre TV Actor" - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• 2000: Nominated, "Best Genre TV Supporting Actor" - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

References[link]