In the late 1980s and early '90s, Brandon Crane landed a couple of high-profile gigs. The child actor played Doug Porter on The Wonder Years and starred as the young version of Ben Hanscom in the It miniseries alongside Tim Curry and John Ritter. Now 46, Crane is no longer acting as frequently, but he does often reminisce about his early career, including at fan conventions.
After leaving onscreen roles behind around the age of 15, Crane went on to explore other pursuits. Today, he's also a husband and father of two. Read on to find out more about Crane's current life and career.
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Crane was in a number of major TV shows.
Crane played Doug in 18 episodes of The Wonder Years between 1989 and 1991. Doug was a buddy of lead character Kevin (Fred Savage), who Kevin first befriends during a falling out with Paul (Josh Saviano). Around the same time, Crane played Ben in the 1990 miniseries version of It. The bullied kid with a secret crush in the Stephen King adaptation is the other role he's best remembered for today.
"This was the chance of a lifetime—and my first foray outside of comedy," Crane says of It on his website. "I was finally able to stretch a little bit and learned so much working with so many of the television big shots of that era. I made lasting friendships and brought home enough memories to last a lifetime. Working with Tim Curry was absolutely bonkers."
Additionally, as a child and teen star, Crane appeared in episodes of Magnum, P.I., Mr. Belvedere, Full House, and Step by Step.
He went on to study theater.
Of the years following those roles, Crane writes on his website, "I reached the awkward years and the work dried up. I had a nice run, and now it was time to finish High School and move onto the next thing."
In college, Crane majored in theater. "It was awesome and now I was hell-bent on becoming a craftsman," his website reads. "I would go on to get my Equity card and work for some great theatre companies all over Southern California." According to his LinkedIn page, he has worked in theater lighting and design, as well as theatrical technical direction and project management. He's also worked in web development.
Crane did take on another onscreen role in 2019: He made a cameo in the movie It Chapter Two.
He's a father.
Crane has been married to his wife, Ami Davis, since 2005. Davis is a baker and the owner of Culture Bakehouse. The couple have two children, Fiona and Evyn. During an interview with The Rockstop in 2017, Crane explained that his daughters weren't interested in his childhood acting work.
"My daughters are five and 11 and they just don't care. And I think I love that. Part of me loves that," he said. "I didn't raise them in that environment where I was surrounded by the industry. I've been out of that for a while. So they don't care. They think it's kind of cool, but they're really not that interested. And that's OK."
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You can meet him at fan events.
Crane attends horror fan conventions and events tied to his role in It, and he's reunited with his co-stars while participating in panels. He was also interviewed for the 2021 documentary, Pennywise: The Story of It.
"Thank you keeping it alive," Crane said during an interview with Red Carpet News TV at London Film and Comic Con in 2019. "When we did this, there were feature films of Stephen King works—we didn't believe for a second that this was going to have the traction that it had. Almost 30 years later, I have people telling me almost on a daily basis on social media how much my character helped them get through a phase in their life. I never in a million years thought that the impact would be as it is."
Lia Beck Lia Beck is a writer living in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to Best Life, she has written for Refinery29, Bustle, Hello Giggles, InStyle, and more.Read moreFiled Under1980s • Celebrities • Entertainment • NewsRead This NextSee Karen From "The Wonder Years" Now
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