Actors - Barret Oliver

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	Actors - Barret Oliver

Barret Oliver (born August 24 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA) was an US child actor and currently works as a photographer. He is most famous for his role as the boy 'Bastian' in the film adaption of The Neverending Story and for his role as an android in D.A.R.Y.L..

Early Years

His parents were Kent and Kathy Oliver - Kent was an interior designer. There was no family connection with the entertainment industry, Kent and Kathy already had one son, Kyle, then aged 2. Though little information is available about Barret's early years, it is generally accepted that he attended the Los Feliz (private) School - also sometimes called the Apple School - and continued to live in the LA area throughout his acting career.

In the late 1970s, a friend of the Oliver family with Hollywood connections introduced Kyle to the movie business, where he soon achieved some modest success in juvenile roles. At once Barret - on his own initiative - declared that he too would like to venture on to the screen. His first appearances were in a number of commercials, and this led to small roles in TV productions such as Battlestar Galactica and The Incredible Hulk.

Early '80s TV and Film

By 1982, Barret was being offered more significant, speaking roles in feature movies - Kiss Me Goodbye, Jekyll Hyde..Together Again, and Uncommon Valor. There was also a well-developed character-part for him in the pilot episode of Knight Rider for TV, and in a further pilot for The Circle Family which did not evolve into the expected series. During the Fall of the same year, he was one of 200 boys to audition for the role of 'Bastian' in the imminent production of The Neverending Story, to be directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Barret made a strong impression, but was initially rejected on the grounds of being too young and immature for the role.

The Never Ending Story

By March 1983, however, the casting directors for The Neverending Story had still not found their ideal 'Bastian', and Barret was called to re-audition. The agents were amazed that he had matured so much in a few months, and they were impressed by the confidence and intensity with which he read the scene with Bastian in conversation with Koreander, though he had declined the chance of a practice run. It happened that Petersen was in LA at that time for the Oscar presentations. So it was arranged that Barret should meet Petersen in a lounge at LA airport - Petersen's Lufthansa flight was delayed so that the meeting could take place. Barret was immediately confirmed in the 'Bastian' role, and shooting began in Munich only a few weeks later.

Frankenweenie

The Neverending Story was filmed in Munich during the spring and summer of 1983, and premiered in Germany in April 1984. Barret's powerful contribution to the success of this movie brought him a measure of international stardom, and it is still regarded as a classic. However, at just this time Tim Burton was planning his first live-action movie under the Disney banner. This was to be Frankenweenie, a spoof of (but also loving tribute to) the Gothic horror genre. The lead role was that of a young boy who uses Frankensteinian techniques to resuscitate his beloved dog, killed in a traffic accident. Burton was keen to cast Barret in this part, and the movie was shot in a few weeks in the early summer of 1984. Once it was completed, however, Disney lost the courage to release it, though it is now regarded as a minor classic, and is widely available.

Early '80s TV Roles

Thus Barret was at that time denied the acclaim due to him for a further fine performance in a lead role. Yet in that same year he also featured in Wes Craven's Invitation To Hell, in the Highway To Heaven episode To Touch the Moon, and in the Finder Of Lost Loves episode Portraits. These were minor productions, but Barret had a major role in each of them, and his performances - especially in the latter two - confirmed his status as an important and reliably sensitive juvenile actor. The camera was clearly Barret's friend, and he could appeal to an audience profoundly without sentimentality or cuteness.

Mid '80s Film Career

D.A.R.Y.L. and Cocoon

Barret was not short of screen work at this time. He spent the late summer of 1984 in Florida, filming the role of 'David' in Cocoon under the direction of Ron Howard. Barret plays this role to perfection, but he himself was quick to acknowledge his debt to Howard's directorial assistance. The 'David' character is central to the movie's storyline, appearing in both the first and last scene, and Barret also had the chance to learn from working with a cast of former Hollywood stars. Yet Barret's career was developing further even while Cocoon was being shot. He had been shortlisted for the title role of Daryl in D.A.R.Y.L., and he was flown to New York during the Cocoon shoot to confirm him in this role.

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Actors - Barret Oliver

Early Years

Early '80s TV and Film

Early '80s TV Roles

Mid '80s Film Career

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