{{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{short description|American actor, musician, drug and alcohol recovery specialist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Brandon Cruz | image = Courtship of Eddie's Father Brandon Cruz 1969.jpg | image_size = 190px | alt = | caption = Brandon Cruz, circa 1969. | birth_name = Brandon Edwin Williams | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|5|28}} | birth_place = Bakersfield, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Elizabeth "Liz" Finkelstein<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tvbanter.net/2021/10/keeping-up-with-brandon-cruz-from-child.html | title=Keeping up with Brandon Cruz: From child star to punk rocker }}</ref> (div. 2018)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-star-brandon-cruz-says-bill-bixby-deserves-more-recognition-in-hollywood|title='The Courtship of Eddie's Father' star Brandon Cruz says Bill Bixby deserves more recognition in Hollywood|website=Fox News |date=January 28, 2019}}</ref> | children = 2, including Ruby Cruz | known_for = ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' | occupation = Actor, singer, editor, consultant}}
'''Brandon Cruz''' (born '''Brandon Edwin Williams''' on May 28, 1962) is an American musician, actor, editor and consultant. He is best known as a child actor for his role as Eddie Corbett, son of widower Tom Corbett (played by Bill Bixby), on the television series ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father''. Cruz is also a punk rock musician, having sung for bands such as Dr. Know and the reunited version of the Dead Kennedys.
==Early life== Cruz was born in Bakersfield, California, U.S., to Mexican-American parents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Ed |date=2019-06-26 |title=Brandon Cruz Fights to Keep His Friend Bill Bixby's Memory Alive |url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/bill-bixby-brandon-cruz/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=Closer Weekly |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lustig |first=David |date=1992-01-02 |title=Shedding Old Roles : Brandon Cruz, who acted in 'The Courtship of Eddie's Father,' now turns his energy toward skateboarding and punk music. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-02-vl-7537-story.html |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> When he was two months old, the family moved to Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, California.<ref name="Gross 2019">{{cite web | last=Gross | first=Ed | title='Courtship of Eddie's Father' At 50: Bill Bixby and Others Look Back | website=Closer Weekly | date=September 18, 2019 | url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-bill-bixby-and-brandon-cruz-remember/ | access-date=June 6, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Barbara |date=1993-02-11 |title=VENTURA : Ex-Child Actor Gets Probation and Fine |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-11-me-1364-story.html |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Brandon Cruz Know Interview |url=https://www.paradigmzine.com/brandon-cruz-know-interview |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Paradigm Zine |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Courtship of Eddies Father 1969.JPG|thumb|190px|right|Cruz (center) with ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' co-stars Bill Bixby and Miyoshi Umeki]]
==Career== ===Acting=== At age seven, he auditioned for and won his breakthrough role as Eddie Corbett in the television series ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'', which aired from 1969 to 1972. Co-star Bill Bixby and Cruz spent considerable time together, especially when the show was on hiatus, prompting Cruz to tell ''American Profile'' magazine "Bill Bixby was like my second father."<ref name=americanprofile>{{cite magazine| magazine= American Profile| title= Celebrity Q&A| date= December 27, 2011| publisher= Publishing Group of America| page=}}</ref>
Cruz continued as a child actor for several years following the cancellation of ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' with a number of guest appearances in television shows like ''Kung Fu'', ''Gunsmoke'', and ''The Incredible Hulk''—which reunited him on-screen with Bixby. Cruz also played the role of Joey Turner in the 1976 movie ''The Bad News Bears''.<ref name= sitcombio>{{cite web|url=http://www.sitcomsonline.com/brandoncruz.html|title=Brandon Cruz biography |publisher= | website= SitcomsOnline.com|year=2005|access-date=January 16, 2012}}</ref>
===Music=== Cruz turned his attention to punk rock in the late 1970s, and in 1981 was performing with the hardcore punk band Dr. Know. The group released several records, and after a name change to KNOW, toured Europe in 2017. Cruz also was the lead vocalist with Dead Kennedys from 2001 until 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flixster.com/celebrity/brandon-cruz/|title=Brandon Cruz Biography| publisher= | website= Flixster.com|year=2010|access-date=January 16, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120129092953/http://www.flixster.com/celebrity/brandon-cruz/|archive-date=January 29, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Cruz was interviewed in the documentary ''American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock, 1980–1986''. Reflecting on life after being a child star, which has brought tragedy to so many others, Cruz told ''American Profile'' "Surfing and punk rock probably saved my life."<ref name=americanprofile />
===Editing=== Cruz has worked behind-the-scenes in television and film, such as an assistant editor on the animated series ''South Park''.<ref name=sitcombio /><ref name= TVG-now>{{cite web| url= https://www.tvguide.com/magazine/issues/000605/magftr1.asp | url-status= dead |title= Where Are They Now?| work= TV Guide| publisher= | date= January 15, 2002| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20020115060258/https://www.tvguide.com/magazine/issues/000605/magftr1.asp| archivedate= January 15, 2002| access-date= May 24, 2023}}</ref> He later worked for the United Paramount Network, the Discovery Channel and ''American Chopper''.<ref name= Where>{{cite web| url= https://www.sitcomsonline.com/eddiesfatherwhere.html |title= Biographies/Where are they now? |publisher= | website= SitcomsOnline.com | date= 2004| access-date= May 24, 2023}}</ref>
==Honors and awards== In 1991, Cruz was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Young Artist Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award for his role as Eddie on ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father''.<ref name="Young Artist Awards 13">{{cite web| url= http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms13.htm|title=13th Annual Youth in Film Awards| access-date=March 31, 2011|work=YoungArtistAwards.org}}</ref>
==Personal life== Cruz and nurse Elizabeth "Liz" Finkelstein<ref name= TVG-now /><ref name= Where /> were married in 1994. They divorced in 2018. They have a son, Lincoln Bixby Cruz (born 1995), and a daughter, actress Ruby Jean Cruz (born 2000).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tvbanter.net/2021/10/keeping-up-with-brandon-cruz-from-child.html | title=Keeping up with Brandon Cruz: From child star to punk rocker }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Joanne |title=Keeping up with Brandon Cruz: From child star to punk rocker |url=http://www.tvbanter.net/2021/10/keeping-up-with-brandon-cruz-from-child.html |access-date=September 13, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Cruz now works as a consultant to people suffering from addictions and is a practicing Buddhist. A book on his life is in the early stages.
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1969 | ''80 Steps to Jonah'' | Little Joe |- | 1969–1972 | ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' | Eddie Corbett | 73 episodes |- | 1970 | ''But I Don't Want to Get Married!'' | Bernard | Television movie |- | 1972 | ''Gunsmoke'' | Jimmy Morgan | Episode: "The Drummer" |- | 1972 | ''Kung Fu'' | Peter Gideon | Season 1, Episode 1: "King of the Mountain" |- | 1973 | ''Medical Center'' | Mooch | Episode: "Night Cry" |- | 1973 | ''The Going Up of David Lev'' | David | Television movie |- | 1973 | ''Love, American Style'' | Ernie | Segment "Love and the Unsteady Steady" |- | 1974 | ''Family Theatre: Married Is Better'' | | Television movie |- | 1974 | ''Police Story'' | Victor Rollins | Episode: "Cop in the Middle" |- | 1974 | ''Doc Elliot'' | Robert Wells | Episode: "A Time to Grow" |- | 1976 | ''The Bad News Bears'' | Joey Turner | |- | 1976 | ''Jeremiah of Jacob's Neck'' | Clay Rankin | Television movie |- | 1976 | ''ABC Afterschool Special'' | Benny Singleton | Episode: "Mighty Moose and the Quarterback Kid" |- | 1978 | ''The One and Only'' | Sherman | |- | 1978 | ''The Incredible Hulk'' | Kevin | Episode: "747" |- | 1995 | ''Safe'' | Steve | |- | 1997 | ''Jesus Rides Shotgun'' | Chintz | |- | 1998 | ''Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction'' | | Episode: "The Card Game" |- | 2004 | ''Eddie's Father'' | Slice | |- | 2012 | ''The Lords of Salem'' | Ted Delta | |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0190261}}
{{Dead Kennedys}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Brandon Erwin}} Category:1962 births Category:20th-century American singers Category:21st-century American singers Category:American male child actors Category:American male singers Category:American people of Mexican descent Category:American punk rock singers Category:Dead Kennedys members Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Living people Category:Male actors from Bakersfield, California Category:Musicians from Oxnard, California Category:Singers from California