Table of Contents
Introduction
Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbery in St. Elmo’s Fire, Nick Peretti in New Jack City, Billy Beretti in Empire, Jack Richmond in Suddenly Susan, and Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime in The Transformers: The Movie and Transformers: Animated.
Judd Nelson’s Age
Each of the five adolescents in “The Breakfast Club” represents a common high school stereotype: a princess, a criminal, an athlete, and a brain. Only 25 years old at the time, the 62-year-old actor who played John Bender in the 1985 movie. Judd Nelson thinks that the universal appeal of the teenage story in “The Breakfast Club” is the key to the film’s popularity.
Judd Nelson Height, Weight & Measurement
Judd Nelson height is 1.78 metres and 5 feet 10 inches in feet. Judd Nelson weighs 174 pounds (in pounds) and 79 kilogrammes (in kg). He wears 11-size shoes (US). His dark brown hair is complemented by his black eyes. Nelson travelled to New York to pursue acting with Stella Adler after quitting college. Judd Nelson is most known for playing John Bender in The Breakfast Club and Alec Newbary in St. Elmo’s Fire. In addition to his appearances as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbury in St. Elmo’s Fire, Joe Hunt in Billionaire Boys Club, Nick Peretti in New Jack City, Billy Beretti in Empire, and Jack Richmond in the television series Suddenly Susan, he is well known for these other roles as well.
| Hair Color | Light Brown |
| Eye Color | Hazel |
| Height (in Feet) | 5′ 10″ |
| Height (in Meters) | 1.78 m |
| Weight (in Pounds) | 174 lbs |
| Weight (in Kilogram) | 79 kg |
| Shoe Size | 11 (US) |
| Net Worth | $8 Million |
Judd Nelson Wiki/Biography
Judd Asher Nelson was born on November 28, 1959, in the U.S. Nelson had a quiet childhood along with his two sisters. After finishing high school, he enrolled in college in Pennsylvania. It was after dropping out of college that he decided to pursue a career as an actor. Nelson took acting classes with the one and only Stella Adler in New York City. The young actor-wanna-be got his first big role in the iconic teen movie “The Breakfast Club.” Today, we help you celebrate the birthday of a teen idol from the 1980s.
Movie actor Judd Asher Nelson was born in Portland, Maine, on November 28, 1959. Nelson is the son of Merle Nelson, a court mediator, and Leonard Nelson, a corporate lawyer. Nelson grew up in a lovely home with his parents and his two sisters, Julie and Eve. The actor attended St. Paul’s School and Waynflete School. After graduating from high school, Nelson attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Two years later, he quit college to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Nelson moved to New York City and began taking acting classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory.
Nelson started acting professionally in the 1980s. He got his first serious role in 1984, in the teen comedy movie “Making the Grade.” In 1985, he got a role in the film “Fandango.” That same year, Nelson got two roles in two different movies that would change the course of his career and would bring him to stardom. Nelson was cast to play John Bender in the teen coming-of-age film “The Breakfast Club” and was also cast in the film “St. Elmo’s Fire,” along with several fellow actors from “The Breakfast Club.” That was when Nelson and a group of teen actors — Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, and Demi Moore — received the name of Brat Pack. This group of actors was well-known in the 1980s for acting in coming-of-age teen movies.
Nelson worked in a bunch of successful movies in the 1980s, such as “Billionaire Boys Club,” “The Transformers: The Movie,” and “Blue City.” Nelson has also appeared in T.V. series such as “The Outer Limits” in 2000, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” in 2006, “CSI: NY” in 2007, “Las Vegas” in 2007, “Eleventh Hour” in 2008, among others. He authored four books in 2013 which he released on Kindle titled “The Power of Speech,” “Nine of Diamonds,” “The Gig,” and “Water Music.” Nelson also starred in the Lifetime film “Girl in the Basement” in 2021.
Judd Nelson’s net worth is estimated at around $8 million as of 2022.
Born in a generation where heroes were credited with fame, Judd Nelson altered the belief with his antihero and bad guy image. Nelson secured the love of the audience for playing the character of a baddie or villain in the films. Raised in a privileged Jewish family, Nelson originally did not intend to take up acting as a profession. He instead had enrolled at the prestigious Haverford College to attain a degree in philosophy. However, destiny had other plans in store for him.
He was bit by the acting bug when he accompanied his friend who was auditioning for a role. Though Nelson got his first break with the film, ‘Making the Grade’, he gained the star status in the subsequent ventures, ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’. For the next two decades, he appeared in films of varying genres such as comedy, drama, thriller, psychological suspense movies and so on. He is best noted for his antihero flicks, his intense stare and dark smouldering looks adding a sense of credibility to his characters. Other than films, he has been featured in numerous television series. Lately, he has even authored books. To know more about his life and works, read through the following lines.
Judd Nelson was the only son of the three children born to Merle and Leonard Nelson. While his mother served as the court mediator and former member of the Maine state legislature, his father worked as a corporate lawyer. Academically proficient, he attended the St Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. Later on, he enrolled at the Waynflete School in Portland, Maine. Completing his studies, he gained admission at the Haverford College in Pennsylvania but left after sophomore year. Eventually, he moved to Manhattan in 1980 to take up an acting course with Stella Adler Conservatory.
| Name | Judd Nelson |
| Date Of Birth | 28 November 1959 |
| Birth Name | Judd Asher Nelson |
| Birth Place | Portland, Maine, USA |
| Nickname | Judd |
| Occupation | Actor, Producer, Screenwriter |
| Zodiac Sign | Sagittarius |
| Nationality | American |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Race/Ethnicity | White (Ashkenazi Jewish) |
Judd Nelson’s Ethnicity
Nelson was born in Portland, Maine, the son of Merle (née Royte), a court mediator and former member of the Maine House of Representatives, and Leonard Nelson, a corporate lawyer. His family is Jewish. His father was the first Jewish president of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has two sisters, Eve and Julie.
Judd Nelson Career
In 1984, he made his debut as an actor in the film, ‘Making the Grade’. For the movie, he played the role of street-smart Eddie Keaton. The following year marked as an ice-breaker for this budding actor, who was cast in John Hughes’s movie, ‘The Breakfast Club’. In the movie, he portrayed the role of a tough teenager. The movie was a major hit and gave him a star status.
The same year, he was seen in a couple of other movies as well including ‘Fandango’ and Joel Schumacher’s ‘St Elmo’s Fire’. The latter movie cemented his position as a talented actor, for his perfect portrayal of the character of a political aide. In 1986, he indulged in varied kind of works. He gave a voiceover for the character of Rodimus Prime in ‘The Transformers: The Movie’, acted along with co-star Ally Sheedy in ‘Blue City’, served as a narrator for Bill Couturie’s war documentary ‘Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam’, and starred in the ABC Afterschool Special ‘Shattered If Your Kid’s On Drugs’.
Same year, he made his television debut with ‘Moonlighting’. He appeared as a police officer opposite Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Williams in the Camille episode.
Year 1987 witnessed the release of the hit miniseries, ‘Billionaires Boys Club’ a courtroom thriller based on actual events. His perfect portrayal of the character in the same earned him Golden Globe Award nomination He wrapped up the decade on a strong note with impressive performances in William Lustig thriller, ‘Relentless’, Adam Rifkin’s road drama, ‘Never on Tuesday’ and Tommy Chong’s ‘Far Out Man’
The year 1990 saw him play a full-fledged role in the World War II drama ‘Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes’. The film was based on the horrifying incidents that took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their after effects. From 1991 to 1993, he appeared in a couple of movies, such as ‘The Dark Backward’, ‘New Jack City’, ‘Primary Motive’ and ‘Entangled’. While the former two were based on the genre of comedy, the latter were thriller flicks. Additionally, he also appeared in a single episode of the popular HBO TV series ‘Tales from the Crypt’.
In 1994, he starred in four movies of varying genres. While the first was a comedy ‘Airheads’, the subsequent film was a psychological thriller ‘Flinch’. He then was cast in the thriller ‘Blindfold: Acts of Obsession’. From mere acting, he extended his artistic endeavours and served as the writer, producer and actor in the thriller, ‘Every Breath’ In 1996, he was cast in a significant role in the NBC television sitcom; ‘Suddenly Susan’. The series was a major hit and lasted for four seasons.
Following this, he starred in the commercially unsuccessful film, ‘Steel’ and the urban gangster thriller, ‘Light It Up’. He ended the decade with a biopic on the life of Alan Freed, entitled, ‘Mr Rock & Roll: The Alan Freed Story’. In 2000, he starred in the psychological thriller, ‘Cabin by the Lake’. Additionally, he also made an appearance in the TV series, ‘The Outer Limit’. Following year, he revamped his role for the sequel, ‘Return to Cabin by the Lake’. He starred in numerous television series during the decade including, ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’, ‘CSI: NY’, ‘Las Vegas’, ‘Eleventh Hour’, ‘Psych’ and recurring role in the series, ‘Two and a Half Men’. He was also seen reprising his role of John Bender in an episode of ‘Family Guy’.
In 2009, he reprised his role of Rodimus Prime in the film ‘Transformers Animated’. Furthermore, he appeared in the movie, ‘The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day’. In 2012, he played the role of Headmaster Nash in the live-action feature film ‘Bad Kids Go to Hell’. The same year, he co-wrote and starred in the film, ‘The Spin Room: Super Tuesday’. He gave a voice-over for the films, ‘Ben 10, 000’ and ‘Ben 10 Omniverse’ Other than films, he ventured into the arena of books and came up with four releases with Kindle in 2013 titled ‘The Power of Speech’, ‘Nine of Diamonds’, ‘The Gig’ and ‘Water Music’.
Judd Nelson Family
Nelson was born in Portland, Maine. His mother, Merle (née Royte), was a court mediator and former member of the Maine state legislature. His father, Leonard Nelson, was a corporate lawyer. His family is Jewish, and his father was the first Jewish president of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has two sisters, Eve and Julie. He went to school at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, and Waynflete School in Portland, Maine, and studied at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, leaving during his sophomore year. He subsequently moved to Manhattan to study acting with Stella Adler.
| Spouse Name | Unmarried |
| Children Name | No |
| Father Name | Leonard Nelson |
| Mother Name | Merle Nelson |
| Siblings Name | Eve Nelson (Younger Sister), Julie Nelson (Younger Sister) |
Judd Nelson’s Wife
There are sources that suggest Sheryl Berkoff is the wife of Judd Nelson. His wife and he have been married since 1991. According to several stories, he had a lot of affairs before he married Sheryl. He had a relationship with Sheila Lussier from 2003 to 2005. In 1995, he dated Shannen Doherty. More information on Judd Nelson’s wife is not available to us. Judd Nelson’s children’s identities and other details are unknown.
He appeared in the Lifetime film Girl in the Basement in 2021, and he played a poetry instructor in the movie Iceland Is Best in 2020. Alongside Sheryl Lee, Nelson appeared in the play Love Letters in 2019. In 1991, he performed in the same play. Since he likes to keep his personal life a secret, there is not much information available about where he is now.
Judd Nelson’s Net worth
Judd Nelson is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter with an estimated net worth of 8 million dollars. His pay, however, remains unknown. American actor, screenwriter, and producer Judd Nelson rose to fame as a member of the “Brat Pack,” a group of Gen X performers. Nelson has worked in theatre and literature in addition to film and television. He played Konstantin in a Los Angeles Theatre Center production of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” in 1988. He wrote four books in 2013, “Nine of Diamonds,” “The Power of Speech,” “Water Music,” and “The Gig,” all of which were published on Kindle.
FAQs about Judd Nelson
What is Judd Nelson doing now?
He is still acting; his last role was in the movie “Girl in the Basement.”
Is Judd Nelson related to Ricky Nelson?
No, they aren’t related.
What did Judd Nelson do after “The Breakfast Club?”
He continued having a successful acting career
Conclusion
Judd Nelson, an American actor, producer, and screenwriter, was born to Leonard and Merle Nelson in Portland, Maine, on November 28, 1959. Judd Asher Nelson is his birth name, and he is a Sagittarius. From a Jewish family, he is. Nelson travelled to New York to pursue acting with Stella Adler after quitting college. Midway through the 1980s, Judd Nelson made his acting debut as the lead in Making the Grade. In The Transformers: The Movie from 1986, Nelson provides the voice of Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime.
Judd Nelson’s net worth is estimated to be around $8 million as of 2022.
He played a police officer in the Moonlighting (1986) episode “Camille” opposite Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, which was one of his major TV performances in the 1980s. A John Hughes movie began his career, but Suddenly Susan made him famous for playing Jack Richmond. Nelson has made television appearances in the twenty-first century, including The Outer Limits in 2000.
