What The Original It Cast Looks Like Today
The 2017 film version of Stephen King's It made its mark as one of the biggest critical and commercial hits of the year, but it wasn't the first time the horror master's classic 1986 story made its way to the screen. The book's original adaptation, a 1990 TV miniseries, lacked a movie-sized budget and modern special effects, but still managed to give audiences plenty of scares.
The TV It had a strong cast going for it—comprised of some talented child actors paired with a star-studded list of veterans playing their adult counterparts. Let's take a look back at that original ensemble, find out what those actors look like today, and see what they've been up to in the 27 years since Pennywise last reared his terrifying head.
Richard Thomas (Bill Denbrough)
You may remember him better as "John-Boy" in the The Waltons, or from his role as a German World War I soldier in the 1979 television movie All Quiet on the Western Front, but for horror fans, Richard Thomas will always be remembered as the adult Bill Denbrough in the 1990 version of It.
After It, Thomas continued his prolific acting career with more TV series, television movies, and a few feature films. You might have spotted him in The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson, Wonder Boys, The Americans, or Just Cause. Thomas also has an active presence on the stage, and received a Tony Award nomination for his role in the 2017 Broadway revival of the classic play The Little Foxes.
Brandon Crane (Young Ben Hanscom)
In the 1990 miniseries, Brandon Crane played the young version of Ben Hanscom, who was frequently bullied by Henry Bowers and his gang because of his weight. Around the same time, Crane also had a recurring role on the classic drama-comedy series The Wonder Years as Kevin's close friend Doug Porter.
Following his appearance in It, Crane had a couple of television roles in 1991, including Backfield in Motion and Step by Step. According to his IMDb page, Crane has only appeared in two short films since, the most recent one arriving in 2004. These days, Crane makes his living as a stage actor, singer, and front-end website developer. During the summer of 2017, Crane reunited with some of his It co-stars for the filming of an upcoming documentary, Pennywise: The Story of 'IT.'
Emily Perkins (Young Beverly Marsh)
Young Beverly Marsh is forced to overcome a lot of difficult situations in her life—in addition to the threat posed by the evil inter-dimensional being terrorizing her small Maine town. Canadian actress Emily Perkins portrayed the young version of Beverly in the 1990 It miniseries, which was one of her first major roles. After It, Perkins would go on to appear in other television shows and movies like Mom P.I., The X-Files, In Cold Blood, the Ginger Snaps film franchise, and the Christy film franchise. More recently, you may have spotted her in the TV shows Da Vinci's Inquest, Supernatural, or Hiccups.
Annette O'Toole (Beverly Marsh)
Before she became the adult Beverly Marsh in It, Annette O'Toole started a long association with the Man of Steel with her appearance as Clark Kent's love interest Lana Lang in the 1983 film Superman III. Following her stint in It, O'Toole continued her acting career—and returned to the Superman universe in a very different role. From 2001 to 2011, O'Toole starred in the Smallville series as Clark Kent's adoptive mother, Martha. In addition, O'Toole has appeared in many other films and TV shows, including Nash Bridges, The Huntress, Halt and Catch Fire, and 11.22.63—in which she returned to the world of Stephen King when she played a boardinghouse owner.
Seth Green (Young Richie Tozier)
Long before he became a household name, Seth Green was the foul-mouthed wisecracking 12-year-old Richie Tozier in the 1990 It miniseries. In the prologue to the series, it's revealed that Richie was later cast in a Hollywood film—a future that would mirror Green's own. Following It, he rose to fame with roles in popular commercials, the Austin Powers film franchise, the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the heist movie The Italian Job, and many more.
Green is also known for his voiceover work in dozens of film and television shows; you may remember him best as the voice of Chris Griffin in the animated comedy series Family Guy. He also provides many of the voices on the Adult Swim sketch comedy stop-motion-animated series Robot Chicken—a show he also created, produces, writes, and directs for.
Harry Anderson (Richie Tozier)
For the 1990 It miniseries, the young Richie Tozier played by Seth Green came back as an adult in the form of actor/magician/comedian Harry Anderson. Anderson is likely better known for his long-running role as Judge Harry Stone in the NBC sitcom Night Court, which first aired in 1984. Following It, Anderson continued in his role on Night Court until the series ended in 1992, and then he went on to appear in other TV shows like Cheers and Hearts Afire—in which he reunited with his It co-star John Ritter for an episode.
From 1993 to 1997, Anderson starred as the title character in the CBS sitcom Dave's World, after which he has only had a few film and TV credits on his IMDb page. Anderson also owned a nightclub in New Orleans for several years, which he and his wife sold in 2006 when they moved to Asheville, North Carolina. These days, he's returned to his roots, performing stand-up and magic shows at venues around the country.
Adam Faraizl (Young Eddie Kaspbrak)
Twelve-year-old Eddie Kaspbrak was the most timid member of the Losers' Club, frequently jumping at his own shadow or complaining of ailments (like asthma) that his mother convinced him he suffered from. Playing Eddie in the 1990 miniseries was Adam Faraizl, who didn't stick with acting for long after It premiered. He made a handful of appearances in TV movies in 1991 and 1992, with a part in the direct-to-video Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two as his last credited role.
Later, Faraizl attended the University of Victoria in British Columbia, getting a degree in Pacific & Asian studies. He then returned to Texas (where he'd attended high school) and began a career in the culinary field—eventually becoming the beverage director for the Kenichi sushi restaurant in Austin, TX, specializing in everything related to the Japanese rice wine known as sake. Faraizl now lives in the Seattle, Washington area, where he's the bar manager at the Red Cedar & Sage restaurant.
Dennis Christopher (Eddie Kaspbrak)
Playing the adult version of Eddie Kaspbrak in the It miniseries was Dennis Christopher, who first rose to prominence in Hollywood with his starring role as Dave in the 1979 film Breaking Away, about a young man and his friends who decide to put together their own cycling team to take on some well-trained competition in the annual Little 500 bicycle race. Christopher went on to appear in many more films and television shows over the years, including Murder, She Wrote, Star Trek: Enterprise, Profiler, Deadwood, and The Lost Room.
In 2012, Christopher experienced a career resurgence when Quentin Tarantino cast him as a lawyer to a plantation owner played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his revisionist Western drama Django Unchained. Most recently, he appeared in several episodes of the Epix comedy series Graves.
Marlon Taylor (Young Mike Hanlon)
Like Ben Hanscom, Mike Hanlon is frequently targeted for bullying by Henry Bowers and the rest of his gang. With a strong interest in history, Mike helps the rest of the Losers' Club by providing information about the bloody history of Derry—which leads them to connect the dots between these incidents and the reappearance of the entity known as "It."
Playing a young Mike Hanlon was actor Marlon Taylor, who also appeared in a handful of other television roles as a child, including You Take the Kids and Sister, Sister. After 1994, Taylor took a hiatus from acting, but reappeared in 2009 when he co-starred in the rap drama Know Thy Enemy. Information about what he's been up to since then is scarce, but according to Taylor's Twitter account, he recently finished filming a part for an episode in season four of Syfy's post-apocalyptic TV series Z-Nation.
Tim Reid (Mike Hanlon)
Taking over for Mark Taylor as the adult Mike Hanlon in the 1990 It miniseries, Tim Reid played out the rest of Mike's tale for viewers, as he discovers that It has returned 27 years after their last encounter. He calls upon the rest of the Losers' Club to return to Derry in order to honor their blood oath and face the evil that threatens the town.
Like his younger Mike counterpart Marlon Taylor, Tim Reid also appeared on the sitcom Sister, Sister, where he played a long-running role as the father of Tamera Mowry's character. You may also recognize Reid from his other major television roles on shows like WKRP in Cincinnati, Simon & Simon, or Frank's Place. Following It, Reid continued to act in a number of films and television shows, including That '70s Show, The Cost of Heaven, and Treme. Most recently, Reid made a couple of appearances as Bishop Lionel Jeffries in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Greenleaf.
Ben Heller (Young Stanley Uris)
Being an actor isn't for everyone, and it certainly seems that was the case for Ben Heller, who played the 12-year-old version of Stanley Uris in 1990. Stan is the most logical (and skeptical) of the Losers' Club members, casting doubt on whether It even exists until he finally sees the undeniable proof. According to IMDb, Ben Heller's appearance in It was his first and only acting role.
Heller also seems to be a hard-to-track-down guy these days, so while we found a current photo of him (courtesy of his co-star Brandon Crane), we don't have any information on what he's been up to over the last 27 years. Hopefully Ben can help fill in the blanks for fans himself when he appears in the 2018 documentary about the making of the 1990 miniseries, Pennywise: The Story of 'IT.'
Richard Masur (Stanley Uris)
Although Stan was the one who initiated the blood oath between the Losers' Club members when they were children, when he learns from Mike that It has returned to terrorize Derry, his fear of facing the ancient evil again proves to be too much. After hanging up the phone with Mike, Stan tells his loving wife that he's going to take a bath—where she later finds him dead, his wrists slit and the word "It" scrawled in blood on the tile wall.
Because the adult Stanley's screen time was relatively short compared to the rest of the grown-up Losers' Club members, you might remember actor Richard Masur better from some of his other early roles in shows like Rhoda, East of Eden, and One Day at a Time, or for his part in the sci-fi/horror classic The Thing—which still gets Masur regular gigs at horror conventions today. After It, Masur continued his prolific film and TV career with dozens of roles in productions like Encino Man, Picket Fences, All My Children, The Good Wife, and Transparent. His most recent projects include his recurring part on the popular prison drama series Orange is the New Black, and roles in the upcoming films Before/During/After and Another Year Together.
Jarred Blancard (Young Henry Bowers)
Canadian actor Jarred Blancard played the teenaged bully Henry Bowers in the 1990 It miniseries—a character whose favorite pastimes include torturing the members of the Losers' Club and trying to look cool with his greased-up hair, leather jacket, and switchblade. The disturbed Bowers later falls under the influence of It, falsely confessing to the murders committed by the entity and being sent to live out his days at the Juniper Hill Asylum.
Jarred Blancard continued acting through the '90s, and appeared in films and television shows like The Yearling, The Boys Club, and Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. He took a hiatus from acting after his 1999 role in The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, and in a Youtube video from 2012, he explains how he struggled with addiction as a young adult, which later prompted him to become an addiction recovery counselor in his native Vancouver—a position that he still held as of 2014.
Michael Cole (Henry Bowers)
Even locked up in the Juniper Hill Asylum, an adult Henry Bowers (played by Michael Cole) wasn't safe from It. The entity appears to him in the form of his deceased friend Belch Huggins, who gives Henry his switchblade back and convinces him to kill the asylum orderly and escape back to Derry in order to face the Losers' Club once more.
Because of the white hair required for the role and the passage of time, you may not have recognized Cole as Bowers, but you probably will remember him for his starring role as Pete Cochran in the hit crime drama The Mod Squad. Like his younger Henry Bowers counterpart Jarred Blancard, Cole also struggled with addiction and was treated for his alcoholism in the '90s. Cole continued to act after It, returning to the small screen with a part in an episode of the TV series 7th Heaven. He came back to the big screen a few years later, with a role in the 2000 film The Apostate. Cole has had a handful of other appearances since then, with his most recent one in the 2008 television movie Grave Misconduct. That isn't the last we'll seen of him, though—he's also slated to show up in the 2018 documentary, Pennywise: The Story of 'IT.'
Tim Curry (Pennywise)
Renowned actor Tim Curry did much of the heavy lifting in the 1990 It miniseries with his role as Pennywise the Dancing Clown—the most common alter ego used by It as it terrorizes Derry, Maine. While there has been considerable buzz surrounding Bill Skarsgård's take on the character in the 2017 film adaptation, there's no question that the new movie might never have been made without Curry's terrifying approach to the role. His dramatic turn as Pennywise helped popularize the "evil clown" archetype, which undoubtedly spawned a new generation of coulrophobes after the miniseries aired on primetime television.
Following It, Curry continued his extremely prolific acting career with dozens of roles in films, television shows, and as a voice actor in animated series. Even after suffering a stroke in 2012 which left him wheelchair-bound, Curry has barely slowed down: his recent roles include providing the voice of Darth Sidious in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars from 2012 to 2014. In 2016, Curry returned to the world of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (he originated the part of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the '70s) when he appeared as the Criminologist in the Fox TV remake of the classic musical.
John Ritter (Ben Hanscom)
The adult (and no longer overweight) Ben Hanscom was played by actor and comedian John Ritter in the 1990 adaptation. At the end of the miniseries, Ben and Beverly (Annette O'Toole) end up together, and a prologue reveals that they got married and were expecting their first child.
The Three's Company star continued adding roles to his long acting résumé following the premiere of It. He starred in the TV series Hearts Afire, and also in the Problem Child film franchise. Additionally, Ritter voiced the main character in the Clifford the Big Red Dog children's animated series, which earned him four Daytime Emmy Award nominations. He also appeared in films like 1996's Sling Blade and 2003's Manhood. Unfortunately, on September 11th, 2003, Ritter experienced cardiac problems on the set of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, passing away later that day in the hospital. Ritter's final live-action film, Bad Santa, and a voice role in Clifford's Really Big Movie were both released after his death, and were both dedicated to his memory.
Jonathan Brandis (Young Bill Denbrough)
During the 1960s era of the It miniseries, Jonathan Brandis portrayed the young version of main protagonist Bill Denbrough, who's filled with grief and guilt after his little brother Georgie disappears while playing with a paper boat Bill made for him. Georgie was actually killed by Pennywise, a.k.a. It, which sets Bill and his friends in the Losers' Club on a mission to rid their town of this unspeakable evil.
Following It, Brandis continued his acting career and his climb to the top of the "teen heartthrob" list with appearances in films and television shows like The Neverending Story II, Sidekicks, Ladybugs, SeaQuest DSV, and Ride with the Devil. He hoped to halt a late '90s slump when he landed a role in the 2002 film Hart's War; unfortunately, many of his scenes ended up being cut for the theatrical release. Friends said he'd begun drinking heavily, and Brandis attempted suicide in November 2003. He was discovered and taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but sadly died of his injuries the next day.