Elijah Wood

Former child and teen actor Elijah Wood made his first pro appearance in a Paula Abdul video. From there the talented child star went on to a small role in “Back to the Future Part II.” We remember Elijah Wood in his child and teen roles and as a fan favorite on Teen Stars Online. His roles in that time span from the Paula Abdul video to playing Mikey in “Chain of Fools” (2000).

Elijah was born on January 28th, 1981 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Debbie (Krause) and Warren Wood. Notice a talent for performing at a young age his parents took him to an International Modeling and Talent Association convention in Los Angeles and the rest is history.

Wood appeared uncredited in the Abdul video in 1989 and landed a small role in “Back to the Future Part II” that same year. He landed his first major film role in the ‘Barry Levinson historical family drama “Avalon” (1990) and that same year played Sean in “Internal Affairs” and Luke in the TV movie “Child in the Night.”

Elijah then became an in-demand child actor, appearing in a string of major films such as “Paradise” (1991) and the following year “Radio Flyer” with Joseph Mazzello. In 1992 he appeared with Mel Gibson in “Forever Young” and played Dayo in the TV movie “Day-O.” The year 1993 saw Elijah playing Huck Finn in “The Adventures of Huck Finn” and as Mark opposite Macaulay Culkin in the psychological thriller “The Good Son.”

Wood took on the title role in the box-office disaster “North” but his performance received favorable reviews the same year he played Stu in “The War” and guest-starred on an episode of the series “Frasier” in the episode “Guess Who’s Coming to Breakfast.” In 1996 Elijah starred in a feature version of the old TV show, “Flipper” and played Mikey Carver in Ang Lee’s ensemble film “The Ice Storm” (1997).

Elijah went on to close out his child and teen roles in films such as the as well as parts in the popcorn flick “Deep Impact” (1998) and the horror flick “The Faculty” (1998). In 1999 Elijah appeared in three films that did not have a wide theatrical release, “The Bumblebee Flies Anyway” (1999) (released on satellite TV), “Black and White” (1999) (home video), and “Chain of Fools” (2000).

Moving out of his teens the roles did not dry up for Wood but only got better and he continues to pile up the credits most notably in the Lord of the Rings series starting with “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001).

Roger Ebert the famed film critic of Roger Ebert & the Movies once called Elijah Wood “The most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history.”

Elijah was nominated for or won several awards during these years such as the Young Star Awards, Young Hollywood Awards, and the Young Artist Awards with six nominations and winning Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture for Radio Flyer (1992). Nominated for Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Most Promising Actor for Paradise (1991) and many others.