Paris Themmen

Last updated

Paris Themmen
Paris Themmen by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Themmen in 2017
Born (1959-06-25) June 25, 1959 (age 65)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • businessman
  • real estate broker
  • casting director
Years active1967–present
Known for Mike Teevee in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Spouse
Nikki Grillos
(m. 2014)
[1]
Parent Ivana Marburger Themmen (mother)
Relatives Susan Blu (sister-in-law)
Website paristhemmen.com

Paris Themmen (born June 25, 1959) is an American actor who started his career as a child actor. He is best known for his role as Mike Teevee in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory . After leaving acting, he worked in business as a real estate broker and casting director.

Contents

Early life

Themmen was born on June 25, 1959, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Ivana Marburger Themmen and Harold B. Themmen, both classical musicians. [2] Themmen's mother was a composer for orchestras in the late 20th century. [3] [4] A guitar concerto of hers was in final contention for the 1982 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. [5] Themmen's father, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, was a clarinetist and librarian for the American Ballet Theatre, and also played for the Boston Pops Orchestra. [6]

Career

Child actor

Themmen appeared in radio and TV commercials, voice-overs and theater performing on Broadway in Mame with Ann Miller in 1967 and in The Rothschilds in 1970. In 1971, aged 11, he got his breakthrough role in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as Mike Teevee.

Business careers

Declaring a hiatus from acting at age 14 to "just be a kid," Themmen went on to receive a B.F.A. in theatre from New York University. He founded Access International, a travel service that arranged Europe-bound charter flights for backpackers.

Following brief stints in real estate, film production, commercial casting, business representation at Walt Disney Imagineering, and a few other ventures, he now signs autographs at movie conventions, runs a photography business, and makes sporadic appearances in commercials, plays and TV shows. [7]

Film appearance

Themmen's adult acting appearances include "Virtuoso", a 2000, sixth-season episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager , [8] as a fawning fan. He was billed as a "former child star" in two 2008 episodes of the American game show Duel . [9] [10]

On May 4, 2011, Themmen appeared on the British television morning show Daybreak , alongside the other child actors from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory : Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket), Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt), Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde) and Michael Böllner (Augustus Gloop). They made an additional 40th Anniversary reunion appearance on NBC's Today Show eleven days later. [11] [12] He reunited with the partial Wonka cast again on the program in 2015. [13]

On January 23, 2015, Themmen appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast. The episode was recorded live in Wilmington, Massachusetts during North East ComicCon. [14]

Themmen was a Jeopardy! contestant on March 13, 2018, finishing in second place. [15] [16] His wife, Nikki Grillos, previously appeared on the program in 2015, returning twice as a champion before being defeated on her third appearance. [1] [17] [18]

Personal life

Themmen has been married to Nikki Grillos since 2014. [1] Together, the couple currently resides in Los Angeles, California. [19]

Themmen's sister Allegra Themmen-Pigott (1967–2019) was a coloratura soprano opera singer and music therapist. [20] His sister Tania Themmen is married to voice actress and voice director Susan Blu. [21]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Mike Teevee

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1975The Rock 'n' Fun Magic ShowHimself
1994 Macross Plus Additional VoicesTV mini-series
1999ScreenplayMail Room ClerkTV movie
2000 Star Trek: Voyager Fawning FanEpisode: Virtuoso
2003After They Were FamousHimselfDocumentary
2011 Daybreak 1 episode
Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate FactoryDocumentary
Top Chef: Just DessertsEpisode: Pure Imagination [22]
2011; 2015 Today 2 episodes
2012Beyond the MarqueeEpisode: Meet the Wonka Kids [23]
Men with No LivesEpisode: Who Is Hugh Jardon? Stan Lee's Comikaze Special
2016 Cake Wars 1 episode [24]
LeagueOne: In the Spotlight!Episode: Child Star Remembers Gene Wilder!
2018 Jeopardy! 1 episode [25]
2021 To Tell the Truth 1 episode [26]

Film work

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991 Until the End of the World Production AssistantUncredited
2005Citizen Candy Man: A ChocumentarySpecial Thanks
2011 Something Borrowed Production Assistant
2012 The Owner First Assistant Director

Theatre

YearTitleRoleNotes
1967 Mame Performer
1970–1971 The Rothschilds Young Jacob RothschildBroadway

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References

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  2. Fanfare Magazine, Volume 6, Issues 3-4, 1983 page 276
  3. McLellan, Joseph (September 26, 1982). "Remember Music You Could Hum?". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  4. American Woman Composers News, Volume 1, Issues 2-3
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  6. Teck, Catherine. Music for the Dance: Reflections on a Collaborative Art. Greenwood Press, 1989, page 108
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  10. Duel, July 4, 2008, broadcast
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  14. Reid, Ken (January 23, 2015). "TV Guidance Counselor LIVE! with Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee)" (Podcast) via Sound Cloud.
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  19. Gurliacci, David (January 14, 2017). "Celebrity Chefs and The Amazing Kreskin at Chocolate Expo on Jan 29". Darienite.com.
  20. Themmen-Pigott, Allegra. Life in the Key of Allegra: A Personal and Professional Journey with the Healing Powers of Music. 2019
  21. Peeples, Jase (July 18, 2014). "Susan Blu: Transformation of an Animation Icon". Advocate. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
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