Paris Themmen | |
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![]() Themmen in 2017 | |
Born | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | June 25, 1959
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1967–present |
Known for | Mike Teevee in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory |
Spouse | Nikki Grillos (m. 2014) |
Parent | Ivana Marburger Themmen (mother) |
Relatives | Susan Blu (sister-in-law) [2] |
Website | paristhemmen |
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.
Themmen was born on June 25, 1959, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Ivana Marburger Themmen and Harold B. Themmen, both classical musicians. [3] Themmen's mother was a renowned composer for orchestras in the late 20th century. [4] [5] A guitar concerto of hers was in final contention for the 1982 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. [6] 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. [7]
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.
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. [8]
Themmen's adult acting appearances include "Virtuoso", a 2000, sixth-season episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager , [9] as a fawning fan. He was billed as a "former child star" in two 2008 episodes of the American game show Duel . [10] [11]
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. [12] [13] He reunited with the partial Wonka cast again on the program in 2015. [14]
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. [15]
Themmen was a Jeopardy! contestant on March 13, 2018, finishing in second place. [16] [17] His wife, Nikki Grillos, previously appeared on the program in 2015, returning twice as a champion before being defeated on her third appearance. [1] [18] [19]
Themmen has been married to Nikki Grillos since 2014. [1] Together, the couple currently resides in Los Angeles, California. [20]
Themmen's sister Allegra Themmen-Pigott (1967–2019) was a coloratura soprano opera singer and music therapist. [21] His sister Tania is married to voice actress and voice director Susan Blu. [22]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory | Mike Teevee |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1975 | The Rock 'n' Fun Magic Show | Himself | |
1994 | Macross Plus | Additional Voices | TV mini-series |
1999 | Screenplay | Mail Room Clerk | TV movie |
2000 | Star Trek: Voyager | Fawning Fan | Episode: Virtuoso |
2003 | After They Were Famous | Himself | Documentary |
2011 | Daybreak | 1 episode | |
Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory | Documentary | ||
Top Chef: Just Desserts | Episode: Pure Imagination [23] | ||
2011; 2015 | Today | 2 episodes | |
2012 | Beyond the Marquee | Episode: Meet the Wonka Kids [24] | |
Men with No Lives | Episode: Who Is Hugh Jardon? Stan Lee's Comikaze Special | ||
2016 | Cake Wars | 1 episode [25] | |
LeagueOne: In the Spotlight! | Episode: Child Star Remembers Gene Wilder! | ||
2018 | Jeopardy! | 1 episode [26] | |
2021 | To Tell the Truth | 1 episode [27] | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Until the End of the World | Production Assistant | Uncredited |
2005 | Citizen Candy Man: A Chocumentary | Special Thanks | |
2011 | Something Borrowed | Production Assistant | |
2012 | The Owner | First Assistant Director |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1967 | Mame | Performer | |
1970–1971 | The Rothschilds | Young Jacob Rothschild | Broadway |
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 American musical science fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart from a screenplay by Roald Dahl, based on his 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It stars Gene Wilder as chocolatier Willy Wonka. The film tells the story of a poor child named Charlie Bucket who, upon finding a Golden Ticket in a chocolate bar, wins the chance to visit Willy Wonka's chocolate factory along with four other children from around the world.
Roy Mitchell Kinnear was an English character actor and comedian. He was known for his acting roles in movies such as Henry Salt in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Algernon in The Beatles' Help! (1965), Clapper in How I Won the War (1967), and Planchet in The Three Musketeers (1973). Kinnear reprised the role of Planchet in the 1974 and 1989 sequels, and died following an accident during filming of the latter.
Gene Wilder was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). He collaborated with Mel Brooks on the films The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974), and with Richard Pryor in the films Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991).
Peter Gardner Ostrum is an American retired veterinarian and former child actor, whose only film role was as Charlie Bucket in the 1971 motion picture Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, its 1972 sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and several films based on those books. He is the eccentric founder and proprietor of the Wonka Chocolate Factory.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 musical fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and written by John August, based on the 1964 British novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket, alongside David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, Deep Roy, and Christopher Lee. The storyline follows Charlie as he wins a contest along with four other children and is led by Wonka on a tour of his chocolate factory.
The Wonka Bar is a fictional chocolate bar, introduced as a key story point in the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Wonka Bars appear in each film adaptation of the novel: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005); and Wonka (2023). The bar also appeared in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical (2013).
"Pure Imagination" is a song from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It was written by British composers Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the movie. It was sung by Gene Wilder who played the character of Willy Wonka. Bricusse has stated that the song was written over the phone in one day. The song has a spoken introduction.
Denise Marie Nickerson was an American child actress. At the age of 13 she starred as Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. She later played Allison on The Electric Company, and had recurring roles as Amy Jennings, Nora Collins, and Amy Collins in the soap opera Dark Shadows. She retired from acting in 1978 and later worked as a receptionist and office manager.
The Everlasting Gobstopper is a gobstopper candy from Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. According to its creator Willy Wonka, it was intended "for children with very little pocket money". It not only changes colours and flavours when sucked on, but also never gets any smaller or disappears. In 1976, the name of the fictional candy was used for a product similar to a normal gobstopper, or jawbreaker.
Julie Dawn Cole is an English actress. She began her career as a child performer in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, playing Veruca Salt. She is the last surviving female cast member of the film, as of 2024.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride was a dark ride located in the Cloud Cuckoo Land area of Alton Towers theme park, Staffordshire, England. It was based upon the famous 1964 Roald Dahl book of the same name, and took its thematic inspiration from the illustrations of Quentin Blake. The ride closed at the end of the 2015 season and was replaced by the Alton Towers Dungeon in 2019.
Rusty Goffe is an English actor, best known for his appearances in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and the Harry Potter franchise. He played Goober on Stupid!.
31 Nights of Halloween is an American seasonal programming block on Freeform. It originally began airing in 1998, after the Family Channel became Fox Family, and was continued through the channel's change into ABC Family, and later, Freeform. The 13 Days of Halloween block was created mainly due to the success of the channel's 25 Days of Christmas, which had started two years earlier. The special block lasted from October 19 until Halloween night, covering the thirteen days before the holiday. Starting in 2018, the program aired throughout the whole month of October.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a musical based on the 1964 children's novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, with book by David Greig, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a media franchise based on the 1964 novel of the same name by British author Roald Dahl. It includes two books, three live-action theatrical films, three video games and miscellaneous other properties, such as touring musicals and theatrical adaptations, various merchandise and defunct amusement park ride.
Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble is the eighth studio album by American rock group Primus. The album is a re-imagining of the soundtrack of the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The album was released on October 21, 2014. It is the first full-length album with Tim "Herb" Alexander since 1995's Tales from the Punchbowl.
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