Ilan Mitchell-Smith | |
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 Mitchell-Smith in May 2017 | |
| Born | June 29, 1969 New York City, New York, U.S. |
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| Occupation(s) | Actor Professor |
| Years active | 1983–1991, 2011–present (acting) |
| Spouse | Susannah Demaree (m. 1995) |
| Children | 2 |
Ilan Mitchell-Smith (born June 29, 1969) is an American academic and former actor, best known as a co-star of the film Weird Science (1985) and Andy McCalister in Superboy . [1]
Mitchell-Smith's first passion was ballet. He studied as a child and won a scholarship to dance with the School of American Ballet. While there on his scholarship, he was discovered by a casting director and his film career began in 1982 at age 12 when he played a younger version of the title character in Sidney Lumet's Daniel . After a starring role in the 1984 film The Wild Life , he was cast as Wyatt Donnelly in the 1985 teen film Weird Science by writer/director John Hughes. The film focuses on two nerdy teenage boys who create a woman of their own (played by Kelly LeBrock), as they are unable to find girlfriends.
Mitchell-Smith starred in several other films and TV series, most notably The Chocolate War [2] and Superboy ; none of these brought him the same degree of recognition. He decided to leave acting entirely in 1991, his final role being a guest appearance on Silk Stalkings . Recently, Mitchell-Smith has performed select voiceover work (recording for two episodes—"Moon Warriors" and "Heads Will Roll"—of Fox's Axe Cop ).
In 2017, Mitchell-Smith guest-starred in the fifth-season premiere of The Goldbergs , playing science teacher Mr. Connelly. The episode, entitled "Weird Science", was based on his film Weird Science, with series character Barry Goldberg believing he can make a girlfriend in the same manner as the movie. [3]
Mitchell-Smith received his A.B. in Medieval Studies from University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and his M.A. in Medieval Studies from Fordham University. He received a doctoral degree from Texas A&M University in 2005. As of January 2020, he is an associate professor in the English department at California State University, Long Beach (CSU Long Beach) in Long Beach, California. [4] For several years prior to his appointment at CSU Long Beach, he was a professor at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. [5] Mitchell-Smith publishes on chivalry in the later Middle Ages, and he also publishes on cinematic, television, and video-game versions of medieval culture.
Mitchell-Smith has published on Dungeons & Dragons , [6] and is a staff writer for Talk Wargaming and writes a column for Forces of Geek called "Playing the Nerd". [7] He works as a technical writer and editor for smaller independent game producers, and he is an active tabletop gamer and an organizer of tabletop game events in Southern California.
Mitchell-Smith was born in New York City, New York. His mother, Clary Mitchell-Smith, is a psychotherapist, and his father, Larry Smith, is an art history teacher. [8]
He met Susannah Demaree at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California. They were married in 1995. They have two children, born in 1998 and 2000.
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