| Brandon Cruz  AKA Brandon Edwin Williams
Born: 28-May-1962
Birthplace: Bakersfield, CA
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor, Musician Nationality: United States
Executive summary: The Courtship of Eddie's Father Brandon Cruz was the child actor who played Bill Bixby's son on the ABC sitcom The Courtship of Eddie's Father. He was six years old when the series began in 1969, and ten when it was cancelled. Courtship was based on a 1963 film, itself based on a long-forgotten novel. In publicity articles during the show's production, Bixby and Cruz were invariably portrayed as being almost as close as their father-and-son characters. Perhaps surprisingly, the publicity was true, and they remained friends until Bixby's 1993 death. In a 1978 episode of Bixby's subsequent series The Incredible Hulk, Cruz helped the Hulk save a pilotless 747 jetliner.
At 14, Cruz played the star pitcher for the other team in The Bad News Bears, and at 16 he had a small role in Henry Winkler's obnoxious comedy The One and Only. That was the end of Cruz' career as a child actor. By the early 1980s, Cruz had given up on acting and become a punk rocker, complete with a blue mohawk haircut. His long-time band, Dr. Know, has released several albums, and opened for Black Flag at numerous concerts. His 1997 solo album The Courtship of Eddie includes a punk take on the sitcom's theme, with Harry Nilsson, who wrote the song, playing the piano.
Cruz replaced Jello Biafra as lead singer for Dead Kennedys in 2001, and said he shared many of Biafra's outspoken political views, "or I wouldn't be out there." Still, Cruz was criticized for occasional on-stage comments that seemed out of sync with the band's history. Biafra sued the band, in part over promotional posters that still featured his likeness, and derisively called the Cruz-led DKs "the world's greediest karaoke band." Cruz was replaced in the band by Jeff Penalty in 2003, and the DKs released no recordings of its music during the Cruz era.
Cruz has also worked intermittantly in various behind the scenes positions with productions from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen straight-to-video movies to the boxing reality show The Ultimate Fighter. At South Park, Cruz worked on the sound board, and it was Dr Know playing in the episode "Clubhouse" when the oft-killed Kenny died in the mosh pit. His most recent CD is titled Father, Son and Holy Shit.
Wife: Elizabeth Finkelstein (actress, m. 26-Jun-1994, one son, one daughter)
Son: Lincoln Bixby Cruz (b. 1995)
Daughter: Ruby Jean Cruz (b. Apr-2000)
TELEVISION
The Courtship of Eddie's Father Eddie Corbett (1969-72)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
The Lords of Salem (10-Sep-2012)
American Hardcore (13-Sep-2006) · Himself
The Motorcycle Diaries (15-Jan-2004) · Miner
Safe (23-Jun-1995)
The One and Only (3-Feb-1978)
The Bad News Bears (16-Apr-1976) · Joey Turner
80 Steps to Jonah (1969)
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