Biography

Nicholas Brendon

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Overview

Born
April 12, 1971 · Los Angeles, California, USA
Died
March 20, 2026 · Greencastle, Indiana, USA (atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease)
Birth name
Nicholas Brendon Schultz
Nickname
- Nicky
Height
5′ 11″ (1.80 m)

Mini bio

Nicholas Brendon was born three minutes after his identical twin brother, actor Kelly Donovan on April 12, 1971 in Los Angeles, California. He attended Chatsworth High School, where he struggled with stuttering but was also a starter on the baseball team. He had dreams of playing for the L.A. Dodgers, but had to pursue other options when he hurt his arm about a year after graduating high school.

He got his big break as an actor when he landed the role of Xander Harris on the hugely successful TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). The series ran from 1997 until 2003, garnering a huge cult following as well as a large fanbase for Brendon. Brendon and brother Kelly appeared together in the episode "The Replacement", in which Xander has to cope with having a seemingly sinister double. His first major role in a feature film came with the Charles Busch satire Psycho Beach Party (2000). Brendon has also starred in the ABC Family Channel original movie Celeste in the City (2004). Brendon is a spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation of America, appearing in a print campaign for the organization.
- IMDb mini biography by: Azure_Girl

Family

Spouses
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Trivia

Got into acting as a way to overcome his stuttering problem.
Served as the honorary chairperson of the Stuttering Foundation of America's Stuttering Awareness Week in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Enjoys baseball, camping, and spending quality time with family and friends. An early aspiration to play professional baseball was cut short after an arm injury in his teen years.
He was Marley Shelton's high school prom date. He bought her 100 roses, wore a tux and drove a black convertible Mustang. Marley said that he "totally did it right".
During the off-season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) Nicholas often grew a goatee, while brother, Kelly, stays clean-shaven. This often led to fans mistaking Kelly for Nicholas.

Quotes

I want people to say, 'Nicholas Brendon, he's supposedly the nicest guy in the world.' I want to do good work, but more than that, I want to stay a good human being. That's more important than any character I play.
[on why "Buffy" never won Emmy Awards:] "It's because it's called Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). I mean, we've even joked about how we should do an episode where Sarah [Michelle Gellar] is a doctor, I'm a lawyer ... get every angle they vote for just to give them a big one of those [raises his middle finger]."
[on preparing to finish the BtVS series:] It sucks, because with how this year ended, and with what's gonna happen next year, it's gonna go out on top. We're having a lot of fun doing it. This last year was my most fun year doing the show. But that's life in showbiz, and I'll just do something else. [May 2, 2002]
[on Joss Whedon's decision to end "BtVS" because of handling too many projects:] Joss always wanted to be attached to it, and as his schedule's becoming thinner, it's harder for him to be a part of the show. It was his baby, so if he can't be a part of it like he wants to, then it's just not gonna run. It's gonna be really sad for me after 144 episodes. It was my first job. I went through a lot of changes personally in that time, so it's gonna be a teary goodbye. [May 2, 2002]
We had better music at Sunnydale's prom than at my real-life prom. And at my prom, I didn't really have a date, which is sort of what happens to Xander. At my real prom, I kind of ducked out the hotel ballroom and watched a Dodger game until 3 a.m. because it went about 22 innings. And my friends were saying, 'Oh no! Where'd Nick go?' I think I was trying to get people to worry about me. That whole teenage angst thing. [New York Times, May 9, 1999]