Jason James Richter

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Jason James Richter
Born (1980-01-29) January 29, 1980 (age 45)
Medford, Oregon
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present
Notable work

Jason James Richter (born January 29, 1980) [1] is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role in the Free Willy film series as Jesse, the boy who befriends Willy the orca. [1]

Contents

Early life

Richter was born on January 29, 1980, in Medford, Oregon, [1] the son of Sandra "Sandy" Montgomery, an actress, and Gregory Lynn Richter, who was in the U.S. Navy. At the age of 3, he and his family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where a Japanese casting agency discovered him and signed him up for three TV spots. In 1989, his family moved back to the mainland, settling in San Diego, California. [2]

Career

Richter starred as Jesse in Free Willy (1993), a role for which he was chosen out of more than 4,000 candidates. [3]

His other films include Cops & Robbersons , The NeverEnding Story III , Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home , Laserhawk , Free Willy 3: The Rescue , and The Setting Son. He also reprised his role as Jesse in the music video for Michael Jackson's "Childhood", which was featured in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home . In 2021, he appeared in the thriller The Little Things , his first studio film since the Free Willy films. Between the Free Willy roles, he had TV guest roles on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch , Rugrats and The Client .

Following his appearance in Ricochet River, Richter took a decade long hiatus from acting where he was the bassist Fermata. [4]

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1993 Free Willy Jesse Greenwood
1994 Cops & Robbersons Kevin Robberson
1994 The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia Bastian
1995 Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home Jesse Greenwood
1997 Free Willy 3: The Rescue
1997The Setting SonBig Bully
1997 Laserhawk Zach Raymond
2001Ricochet RiverWade
2009 Tekken Bonner's AssociateAlso assistant director
2013The Quiet LoudPaulShort film; also director, writer & producer
2014Life's a PitchJimmyTV film
2016ViciousJeffAlso producer
2017 Last Rampage BrawleyAlso associate producer
20173 SolitudeElliot
2017High & Outside: A Baseball NoirJohnny
2018InhumaneDr. Aaron Graybor
2018 Remember the Sultana Corporal Erastus Winters/
Corporal William Norton/
Private John Zazier (voice)
2018818Alex
2018DriverAlexander Hutchins
2019 The Brawler John Olson
2019InfidelityGarret Walker
2021 The Little Things Detective Williams
2021 Last Call Saville
2023Natty KnocksLeo
2023Nothing to See HereDaniel
2024Final HeistTBA
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1995Movie MagicHimselfEpisode: "Aqua Animatronics"
1996 The Client Chris LoveEpisode: "The Morning After"
1997 Sabrina the Teenage Witch DanteEpisode: "Dante's Inferno"
Rugrats Ringo the BullEpisode: "He Saw, She Saw/Piggy's Pizza Palace"
2001 Mega Movie Magic Himself (archive footage)Episode: "Free Willy 2/Independence Day"
2009 Bones Clown No. 2Episode: "Double Trouble in the Panhandle"
2011 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior Matthew KeaneEpisode: "Nighthawk"
Music videos
YearTitleRoleArtistDirector
1995"Childhood"Jesse Michael Jackson Nicholas Brandt
2018"Pink Honey"Tall ManHousesBrook Linder

Awards and nominations

AwardYearCategoryNominated
work		ResultRef.
Young Artist Awards 1994 Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture: Drama Free Willy (shared with Edward Furlong for A Home of Our Own )Won [5]
MTV Movie & TV Awards 1994 Breakthrough PerformanceFree WillyNominated [6]
Best KissFree Willy(shared with Keiko)Nominated [7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Baker, Jeff (April 30, 2014). "17 actors you (maybe) didn't know were from Oregon". The Oregonian . Portland, Oregon. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Jason Richter "Free WIlly" 1993 - Bobbie Wygant Archive". June 21, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  3. ↑ Tom Gliatto (August 14, 1995). "Prince of Whales". People. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Where Are They Now? Jason James Richter". Themodernage.org. January 25, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Fifteenth Annual Youth in Film Awards 1992–1993". youngartistawards.org. Archived from the original on April 3, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Free Willy MTV Awards, 1994". en.kinorium.com. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  7. ↑ "All 26 MTV Movie Awards "Best Kiss" Winners, Ranked". Cosmopolitan . June 17, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
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