Rider Strong (Actor)

Actor/director/writer Rider Strong poses during the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo: Scott Gries / Getty Images)

This engaging young performer has literally matured from a pre-teen to a young adult before a TV audience. Rider Strong started his career as Gavroche in the San Francisco production of the hit musical "Les Miserables" in 1988. Within three years, he had landed his first small screen roles in the TV-movie "The Long Road Home" (NBC) and as a guest shot on the sitcom "Going Places". He soon found steady work on TV, appearing on such family fare as "Empty Nest", "Evening Shade" and "Home Improvement". Strong won his first regular series role as Julie Andrews' son on the short-lived sitcom "Julie" (ABC, 1992) before segueing to the big screen as Amy Irving's son in the thriller "Benefit of the Doubt" (1993). He eventually found fame as Shawn, the best friend and sidekick to Ben Savage, on the ABC sitcom "Boy Meets World" (ABC, 1993-2000). The same year he landed his second series, Strong and his family founded Redwood Shire Productions to develop projects for the young actor and his older brother Shiloh.