Jerry O'Connell

Jeremiah O\'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor, known for his roles as Quinn Mallory in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me (1986), Joe in Joe\'s Apartment (1996), Frank Cushman in Jerry Maguire (1996), Derek in Scream 2 (1997), Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack (2003), and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan. He starred as Pete Kaczmarek in the CBS TV series The Defenders until its cancellation in 2011. He also had a starring role in the comedy horror film Piranha 3D (2010).\n', ' \n', ' O\'Connell was born in Manhattan, the son of Linda, an art teacher, and Michael O\'Connell, an advertising agency art director. His maternal grandfather, Charles S. Witkowski, was mayor of Bayonne, New Jersey.[citation needed] He is of half Irish, one quarter Italian, and one quarter Polish ancestry. O\'Connell was raised in Manhattan with his younger brother, actor Charlie O\'Connell. As a teenager, he attended Manhattan\'s Professional Children\'s School. He attended New York University from 1991–95, majoring in film. While there, he studied screen writing and competed on the fencing team, serving a stint as captain of the sabre squad. He graduated in 1995.\n', '