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Biography - Born 02/12/1968
The dark-haired, handsome son of actor James Brolin, Josh Brolin broke into show business as the bench-pressing older brother of Sean Astin who gets dragged into an adventure leading to the discovery of a pirate ship in "Goonies" (1985). He then starred as a skate-boarding hood in "Thrashin'" (1986), but it would be 1994 before he was again on the big screen with "The Road Killers". Brolin thrived instead on the small screen, beginning with his first series, the short-lived "Private Eye" (NBC, 1987-88), in which he was the greasy-haired, leather-jacketed rock 'n' roller who helped out by hot-wiring cars and squealing on the younger generation. He also made his TV-movie debut that year as one of the detainees at a Boys Industrial School in "Prison for Children" (CBS) before playing a student athlete pushed too hard by his former track star father in TNT's drama about the tragic effects of steroids, "Finish Line" (1989), a project giving him the chance to star opposite his real-life father.
Brolin raised his profile higher as one of the stars of "The Young Riders" (ABC, 1989-92), a revisionist take on the Pony Express and Old West that lasted twice as long as that storied postal delivery system had in real time. During hiatus from the series, along with Anthony Zerbe, who played the grizzled old stationmaster Teaspoon Hunter, he founded the Reflections Festival at the GeVa Theatre in Rochester, New York in 1990 and maintained his affiliation through 1995, acting in and directing stage productions there. After hanging up his spurs as the young Jimmy 'Wild Bill' Hickock, Brolin returned again to series work as a cop torn between two women in the short-lived primetime serial "Winnetka Road" (NBC, 1994). He soon placed TV on the back burner to take advantage of feature opportunities presenting themselves. When he did return in the CBS adaptation of William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Picnic" (2000), his bloodless portrayal of Hal Carter paled next to William Holden's passionate turn in the 1956 feature.
Looking older and with a bit more muscle, Brolin enjoyed a memorable moment licking Patricia Arquette's armpit while playing the bisexual federal agent with a desire for a child in "Flirting with Disaster" (1996). After a small role as a wise-acre lab rat in "Mimic" (1997), he reteamed with Arquette as a law student who chops off his finger in the thriller "Night Watch" (1998), Ole Bornedal's disappointing remake of his 1995 Danish hit "Nattevagten". Brolin also acted alongside his father that year in James Brolin's straight-to-video political thriller "My Brother's War", set in Northern Ireland. Turning up as Claire Danes' druggie ex-boyfriend in "The Mod Squad" did nothing for his career, but he fared better as the self-centered preppie jerk in the semi-stylized modern noir "Best Laid Plans" (both 1999). He appeared in his biggest movie yet as Kevin Bacon's disapproving scientist rival in "The Hollow Man" (2000), Paul Verhoeven''s take on "The Invisible Man". That same year, Brolin made his Broadway debut in Sam Shepard's "True West", alternating the leading roles of the antagonistic siblings Lee and Austin with co-star Elias Koteas.
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