James Van Der Beek Is Alive

ORIGIN
James Van Der Beek is an American actor from Cheshire, Connecticut. He starred as “Dawson Leery” on Dawson’s Creek (1998-2003), and as a fictionalized version of himself on Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 (2012-13). Other notable shows include Mercy, Friends with Better Lives, CSI: Cyber, and Vampirina. Van Der Beek’s film credits include Varsity Blues (1999), Texas Rangers (2001), and The Rules of Attraction (2002). He was cast as a celebrity contestant on season 28 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Given name, James David Van Der Beek, he was born on March 8, 1977, in Cheshire, Connecticut. He has two older siblings, Jared and Juliana. His mom, Melinda, worked as a gymnastics teacher, and his dad, James, as a phone company executive. Growing up, Van Der Beek played football. He suffered a concussion at age 13 which sidelined him for a whole year. It was around this time that he began experimenting with acting. His first memorable role was that of “Danny Zuko” in a local production of Grease. Van Der Beek attended Cheshire Academy followed by Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He majored in English but dropped out to pursue acting.

CAREER
At age 15, Van Der Beek and his mom visited New York City in search of an agent and potential auditions. The following year he was cast as “Fergus” in an off-Broadway production of ‘Finding the Sun.’ The play was written and directed by Edward Albee. Van Der Beek made his big-screen debut in the comedy film Angus (1995). Other early film appearances include I Love You, I Love You Not (1996) with Claire Danes, and Varsity Blues (1999) with Jon Voight. The latter spent two consecutive weeks atop the box office and earned him an MTV Movie Award for best breakthrough male performance.

In 1997, Van Der Beek auditioned and won the lead role of “Dawson Leery” on the teen drama series Dawson’s Creek. The show was created by Kevin Williamson and the main cast includes Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson. Dawson’s Creek premiered on The WB on January 20, 1998. It ran for a total of 6 seasons, with the final episode airing on May 14, 2003. Van Der Beek picked up an MTV Movie Award for best cameo in a film for Scary Movie (2000). His next film role was as “Lincoln Rogers Dunnison” in Texas Rangers (2001). He portrayed a drug dealer named “Sean Bateman” opposite Shannyn Sossamon in The Rules of Attraction (2002).

In 2006, Van Der Beek starred as “Tom Russel” in the horror flick The Plague. His film credits include Formosa Betrayed (2009) with Wendy Crewson, Stolen (2009) with Josh Lucas, The Big Bang (2011) with Antonio Banderas, Labor Day (2013) with Josh Brolin, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) with Kevin Smith. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Power/Rangers (2015). Van Der Beek starred as “Will Stokes” on Friends with Better Lives (2014), as “Elijah Mundo” on CSI: Cyber (2015-16), as “Trent Zebrisky” on Carters Get Rich (2017), and as “Matt” on Pose (2018). He currently voices the character “Boris Hauntley” for the Disney Junior animated series Vampirina (2017-).

PERSONAL
James Van Der Beek’s height is 6ft and he’s of Dutch and German descent. His net worth is estimated at $8 million USD. Van Der Beek was married to actress ‘Heather McComb’ from 2003 to 2009. He wed his current wife ‘Kimberly Brook’ in August 2010. Kimberly is a business consultant. They have 5 children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel Leah, Emilia, and Gwendolyn.

James Van Der Beek Bio, Net Worth, Height