A new Children of the Corn movie is coming out later this year. Based on the 1977 short story of the same name from Stephen King, the the original 1984 movie has been the recipient of a remake and eight currently released sequels. It’s also one of the numerous occasions when the first movie is always the best, and with that in mind I started to wonder – what happened to the star of Children of the Corn, Mr. Peter Horton. Born in Washington State in August 1953, Peter started his acting career at the age of 26 with a two episode arc on “Dallas” in 1979. Although he recurred on “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” from 1982 to 1983, he previously held small roles in model murder-mystery She’s Dressed to Kill (1979), revenge flick Fade to Black (1980), cult drama Split Image (1982) and the HOSPITAL segment in Amazon Women of the Moon (1987).
In between all the this success, he landed the role of Burt in Children of the Corn (1984), which was a box office hit and is often regarded as one of the best horror films of all time. Then, Peter booked what could possibly be the biggest role of his career. From 1987 to 1991 he co-lead “Thirtysomething” as Gary Shepherd, which eventually lead him to co-lead “Brimstone” from 1998 to 1999 and “The Geena Davis Show” from 2000 to 2001. Other noteworthy roles include teen comedy The Baby-Sitters Club (1995), crime comedy 2 Days in the Valley (1995) and fantasy flicks T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (1998) and The Dust Factory (2004).
So, where is Peter Horton now?
He’s made guest appearances on hit television shows including “Brothers & Sisters,” “CSI: NY” and “Life Unexpected,” but he’s marginally left the world of acting behind. This is in support of his new career as an executive producer and director. Peter has executively produced episodes of “Six Degrees” from 2006 to 2007 and “The Philanthropist” in 2009. He also directed and produced multiple episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” from 2005 to 2007, of which Peter was nominated for 3 Emmy Awards. Other directing and producing credits include “American Odyssey,” “Once and Again” and “The Shield.”
