In her review of the film, Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that 'Wheaton makes Gordie's 'sensitivity' tangible, but not effete. In Stand by Me, Wheaton played the lead role of Gordie Lachance, a 12-year-old storyteller mourning the loss of his elder brother. Wheaton first gained widespread attention for his work in Stand by Me (1986), the film adaptation of Stephen King's novella The Body. Wheaton also appeared in Hambone and Hillie (1983), The Buddy System (1984) (opposite Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon), and the Last Starfighter. He voiced the character of Martin in the animated film The Secret of NIMH (1982), the movie adaptation of Robert C.
Wheaton made his acting debut in the television film A Long Way Home (1981), which starred Timothy Hutton. He also stated that his parents forced him to become an actor. Īs an adult, Wheaton described his father as being abusive to him as a child and his mother as being an enabler of that abuse. Amy appeared alongside Wil in the 1987 film The Curse. He has a brother, Jeremy, and a sister, Amy, each of whom appeared uncredited in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ' When the Bough Breaks'. Wheaton was born July 29, 1972, in Burbank, California, to Debra 'Debbie' Nordean (née O'Connor), an actress, and Richard William Wheaton Jr., a medical specialist.
