Jeremy Miller Biography

Jeremy James Miller (born October 21, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Ben Seaver on Growing Pains and its two reunion movies. He also voiced Linus van Pelt in Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! along with Chad Allen.

Career

Miller was cast in a few commercials, then a 1984 guest role in Punky Brewster before landing the role of Ben Seaver, the younger son on Growing Pains. Miller was supposed to be a part of the cast of the PBS show Ghostwriter. The creator wanted to make him a mentor to the younger Ghostwriter members, but the producers decided it wasn't a good idea for the show to have an older ghostwriter team member and Miller was not invited back after shooting the pilot. Since there was room for one more character in the show's budget he was replaced by Todd Alexander's character Rob. As an actor, probably his most recognizable trademark is the "Ben Seaver Scream," which can be heard and seen in any number of Growing Pains episodes and during the closing credits of the movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.

After Growing Pains, he appeared in the film Milk and Fashion, in commercials for McDonald's "Dollar Menunaires" promotion shot as a parody of the VH1 series Best Week Ever, and as the star of the 1990 Hanukah episode of Shalom Sesame (an Israeli version of Sesame Street). He has also been spotted in Boys and Girls Guide To Getting Down. He appeared in a special celebrity team-up episode of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?; he and his partner got through to the bonus round in the end (but failed to win the big prize). In the Family Guy episode "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven", he appears and tries to convince the other characters to buy him a case of Sudafed, but an animated version of his TV dad Alan Thicke appears, with his neck bobbling rapidly. He tells his son "Be-en! What have I told you about trading sexual favors for Sudafed?" He can be seen in four movies in 2009: Ditching Party, Never Have I Ever, The Fish and Tar Beach.

While promoting Start Fresh Recovery of Santa Ana, California in April 2014, Miller said he started drinking alcohol at age four. Miller states that he suffered from alcohol abuse for years, until he had an implant that released the drug Naltrexone into his system. In 2011, he became a spokesperson for Fresh Start Private Management Inc., the rehabilitation company that administered his treatment. Miller recorded radio ads with his own testimonial experience, which have aired on radio stations in the southern California market.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Punky Brewster	Jimmy	TV series?Season 1?Episode 8?Visit to the Doctor/Go to Sleep
1985	Deceptions	Mark Richards	TV movie
1985-92	Growing Pains	Ben Seaver	TV Series, 158 episodes Young Artist Award for Best Young Supporting Actor in a New Television Series Young Artist Award for Exceptional Performance by a Young Actor in a Television Comedy Series Nominated-Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series Nominated-Young Artist Award for Exceptional Performance by a Young Actor in a Long Running Series Comedy or Drama
1985	The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show	Linus Van Pelt (voice)	TV Series, Season 2
1986	Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!	Linus van Pelt (voice)	TV short
1987	Emanon	Jason Ballantine
1987	Shalom Sesame	Special Guest	TV series
1988	Snoopy!!! The Musical	Linus van Pelt (voice)	TV movie
1988	This Is America, Charlie Brown	Linus Van Pelt	TV mini-series?Season 1?Episode 2?The Birth of the Constitution
1990	The Willies	Brad
1992	Ghostwriter	Craig Mitchell	TV Series?Season 1?Episode 6-9
1993	Based on an Untrue Story	Jackie	TV movie
2000	Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders	Additional Voices (voice)	Direct to Video
2000	The Growing Pains Movie	Ben Seaver	TV movie
2004	Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers	Ben Seaver	TV movie
2006	Von's Room	Guest	TV Series
2007	Milk and Fashion	Jack
2009	Never Have I Ever	Glenn Brandis
2010	Ditching Party	Jim

Personal life

At about age 14, Miller received numerous letters from an older male stalker during the run of Growing Pains.

Miller attended the University of Southern California for one year. He is married to Joanie Miller and has three stepsons.