| 25th | Top Oklahoma City area citizens |
| Ryan Merriman | |
|---|---|
![]() Ryan Merriman, 2007 |
|
| Born | Ryan Earl Merriman April 10, 1983 Choctaw, Oklahoma United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse(s) | Micol Merriman (2004–present) |
Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his acting career as a child actor during the mid-1990s and has appeared in several feature films and television shows.
Contents |
Merriman was born in Choctaw, Oklahoma, the son of Earl and Nona Merriman.[1] He has a sister, Monika, and is married to Micol Duncan, from Meeker, Oklahoma. At a young age, he began acting in commercials, print work, vocal performances, and local theater (Stage Struck Studios) in Oklahoma.
Merriman's first major role was on the television series, The Mommies, which ran from 1993 to 1995. During the mid and late 1990s, he appeared in most episodes of The Pretender as a younger version of the title character. Merriman also starred in several made-for-television films, including Smart House, The Luck of the Irish, and as a young Meyer Lansky in Lansky. In 1999, he appeared in the feature film The Deep End of the Ocean, playing the lost son of Michelle Pfeiffer's character, and subsequently starred as the main character, a Jewish boy from the Bronx, in the film Just Looking, which received a limited theatrical release in 2000. In 2002, he played the Madeleine L'Engle character Adam Eddington in yet another Disney Channel original movie, A Ring of Endless Light. In the years following, Merriman again returned to television roles, and appeared in Dangerous Child, co-starring Delta Burke, the mini-series Taken (2003-2004), and a guest role on Smallville in 2004.
During Merriman's career, his roles also included the horror films Halloween: Resurrection (2002), The Ring Two (2005) and Final Destination 3 (2006). He is one of the stars of Home of the Giants, a high school drama co-starring Haley Joel Osment and Danielle Panabaker which has yet to be released. He appeared in the CBS mini-series Comanche Moon, in January 2008. He also played the lead role of Henry Dunn in the original pilot presentation for Harper's Island, but was replaced by Christopher Gorham when the pilot was ordered to series by CBS.
Dwight H. Little wanted Merriman to play Jin Kazama in his upcoming Tekken movie, but Merriman turned it down for an obvious reason, so the role went to John Foo.
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Everything That Rises | Nathan Clay | TV film Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series or Series - Leading Young Actor |
| 1999 | Night Ride Home | Justin | TV film |
| Lansky | Meyer Lansky | TV film | |
| The Deep End of the Ocean | Sam Karras, Ben Cappadora | Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor | |
| Smart House | Ben Cooper | TV film | |
| Just Looking | Lenny Levine | Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor | |
| 2000 | Rocket's Red Glare | Todd Baker | TV film |
| 2001 | The Luck of the Irish | Kyle Johnson | TV film |
| Dangerous Child | Jack Cambridge | TV film Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Special - Leading Young Actor |
|
| 2002 | Halloween: Resurrection | Myles Barton | |
| A Ring of Endless Light | Adam Eddington | TV film | |
| 2003 | Spin | Eddie Haley | |
| 2005 | The Colt | Jim Rabb | TV film |
| Rings | Jake | Short film | |
| The Ring Two | |||
| 2006 | Final Destination 3 | Kevin Fischer | lead role alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead |
| 2007 | Home of the Giants | Matt Morrison | |
| 2008 | Backwoods | Adam | |
| 2009 | Wild Cherry | Stanford | |
| The 5th Quarter | Jon Abbate | post-production | |
| Elevator Girl | Jonathan | in production, TV film | |
| Palominas | Tramp Weathers | pre-production | |
| 2010 | The Hard Ride | Steve Utter | pre-production |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993–1995 | The Mommies | Blake Kellogg | Twenty-nine episodes Nominated — Young Artist Award for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series (shared with Sam Gifaldi, Ashley Peldon, Shiloh Strong, and Joey Zimmerman) |
| 1995 | The Client | Jeff Dietrich | "The Way Things Were" |
| 1996–2000 | The Pretender | young Jarod / Gemini | Forty-nine episodes Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Young Actor (1997) Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Young Actor (1998, 1999) |
| 2001 | Touched by an Angel | Jason Harris | "Visions of thy Father" |
| 2002 | Taken | Sam Crawford | "Acid Tests" Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special - Supporting Young Actor |
| 2004 | Smallville | Jason Dante | "Velocity" |
| 2003–2004 | Veritas: The Quest | Nikko Zond | Thirteen episodes |
| 2008 | Comanche Moon | Jake Spoon | Three episodes |
|
|