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Sean Astin (born February 25, 1971 in Santa Monica, California) is a film actor, director, and producer.
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He is the son of actors Patty Duke and John Astin (although his biological father is Michael Tell, a Jewish-American writer who divorced Patty Duke shortly before her marriage to Astin). At the time of his birth, it was widely assumed that his biological father was Desi Arnaz, Jr., although this has been proven to be incorrect. Sean is the older brother of Mackenzie Astin, also an actor (in The Facts of Life).
Astin has gained much of his acting fame from several major roles. At age 13, he debuted on the silver screen as Mikey in The Goonies (1985). He had a small role in 1989's The War of the Roses and in 1993 got the memorable part as the title character in Rudy. Astin most recently played Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's the Lord of the Rings movies.
In 1994, he directed and co-produced (with his wife, Christine) the Academy Award nominated short film Kangaroo Court.
While working on The Two Towers he persuaded a number of fellow cast and crew members, including director Peter Jackson, to act in or work as crew on his short film, The Long and Short of It (2003), which takes place on a street in Wellington, New Zealand. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, 2003, and appears on the "standard edition" DVD of The Two Towers as an extra feature together with a "making of" video.
Astin has signed on to guest star in the fifth season of the FOX drama 24.
Films Sean Astin acted in: