Barret Spencer Oliver was born on 24 August 1973, in Los Angeles, California, USA, and attended Los Feliz (Apple) School, an Elementary School in Los Angeles. He developed an interest in acting after his elder brother, Kyle, became involved in acting from childhood.
Barret by his admission stated that he started with a commercial with no lines but by the mid 80’s he was quite a bankable child star. His next big step was on a 1981 episode of the TV series “The Incredible Hulk,” and during 1982-83 he had small roles in the films “Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again,” “Kiss Me Goodbye” and “Uncommon Valor.” On television, he played Q.P. in the TV movie “The Circle Family” and guest-starred in the series “Knight Rider” and “Love, Sidney.”
It was 1984 and playing the role of Bastian in the beloved hit “The NeverEnding Story” that shot him to child star fame. That same year he also appeared in Wes Craven’s “Invitation to Hell.” The next year in 1985 he played the title character in “D.A.R.Y.L.” and also played David in “Cocoon.” The next few years he filmed some TV movies and made guest appearances before returning in 1988 for the sequel to Cocoon. The next year he played Willie Saravian in the film “Scenes from the “Class Struggle in Beverly Hills” (1989) and that was it for Barret Oliver.
Much like Charlie Korsmo with no facts to back it up, I think Barret simply got tired of acting and walked away from that life, Last reports in 2004 placed him teaching photography in Los Angeles, California. His print work has been part of numerous gallery and museum exhibitions. He has also done the Wet-Plate process in Ireland for a Guinness commercial and in Romania for the motion picture Cold Mountain. Also, he has written articles on photography and contributed to demonstrations and workshops. He also authored the book “A History of the Woodburytype.” Woodbury types are made from a 19th-century photo-mechanical process.
I sure enjoyed his movies as a kid. 🙂