Jerry O'Connell was born in New York City on February 17th, 1974. Raised in Manhattan with younger brother Charlie, Jerry discovered acting at an early age. He appeared as an extra in "Hannah and Her Sisters" and had the opportunity to study theater under the direction of Marlene Mancini and Hebert Berghof of H.B. Studios. As a youngster, O'Connell did commercial work for Duncan Hines cookies. Shortly after at the age of eleven, he landed his first feature starring role in Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me". As a teenager, he starred in the series "My Secret Identity", and attended Manhattan's Professional Children's School.

Jerry went on to attend New York University in 1992 where he majored in film and served as captain of the saber team. While in film school, Jerry studied screen writing and within three short years he graduated (1995) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. During a summer break from NYU, Jerry starred in the feature film "Calendar Girl" along side Jason Priestly and Gabriel Olds. He also appeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom, "Camp Wilder" with Jay Mohr and Hilary Swank in 1992. In his Junior year, Jerry auditioned for two TV pilots; "Sliders" and "Party of Five." He was offered the role of Quinn Mallory in the TV series "Sliders" which ran for three seasons on Fox and two seasons on the Sci Fi Channel. He served as producer during his fourth and final season with the show, and is credited with writing and directing several episodes.

Jerry has since gone on to star in such movies as "Body Shots," "Mission to Mars," "Tomcats" and "Kangaroo Jack". He is also an accomplished writer, having sold his first screenplay entitled "First Daughter" to New Regency in 1999. Jerry served as executive producer on this feature film about a young secret service agent sent to keep an eye on the president's college-age daughter.

Jerry O'Connell can now be seen starring on the NBC series "Crossing Jordan" as Detective Woody Hoyt, and he costars in the British independent feature "Fat Slags," scheduled for release in late 2004. Other notable feature films include "Joe's Apartment," "Jerry Maguire," and "Scream 2." Jerry currently resides in Los Angeles with his brother Charlie (also an actor) close by in the condominium beneath his.

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