With The Shallows eating the competition at the box office, I figured I would dedicate this Where Are They Now edition to an actor from a previous shark attack movie. Mitchell Anderson was born in New York in August 1961. He began his career in the entertainment industry when he was 14-years-old by booking the recurring role of Kip in “Days of Our Lives” in 1985. The following year he booked a small part in family-scifi film SpaceCamp and a string of guest spots on popular television shows including “21 Jump Street,” “Deadly Nightmare,” Highway to Heaven” and “Jake and the Fatman,” all leading up to his first big role in a horror movie.
In 1987 Mitchell Anderson landed the supporting role of Sean Brody in Jaws IV: The Revenge. The son of the franchise’s hero, Martin Brody, Sean follows in his father’s footsteps by working on the police force in Amity Island until he is forced to clear a log from a buoy and is garbled up by a 28 foot great white shark. Jaws IV: The Revenge came in at #3 at the box office during its opening week in theaters and went on to gross $21,000,000 at the domestic box office. The following year Mitchell starred in the b-horror movie Deadly Dreams as Alex Torme.
His career hit a major highlight when he became a series regular as Dr. Jack McGuire in 51 episodes of “Doogie Howser, MD” from 1989 to 1991. After his run on the show, he played a supporting role in horror-thriller All-American Murder (1991) opposite Christopher Walken. He returned to television again with guest spots on “Jack’s Place,” “Matlock, “Melrose Place” and “Popular” all leading up to his final recurring role as Ross Werkman in 20 episodes of “Party of Five” from 1994 to 2000. His last role to date was the lead in drama-comedy The Last Place on Earth (2002).
So, where is Mitchell Anderson now?
In 1996 Mitchell came out as a gay man at the GLAAD Media Awards. Either due to a backlash at the time or his lack of interest in continuing as a mainstream actor, he retired from acting and is now the owner of MetroFresh Restaurant in Atlanta. His love of cooking also inspired him to release his own cook book, and he currently writes articles for www.Gay.com. He recently married his long time partner and can be spotted in a stage play every once in a while.
