He was the kind of ’80s teen idol every girl had a crush on and every teenager wanted to be like — a face made for posters, magazine covers, and bedroom walls.
With his tousled dark hair, gentle smile, and understated charm, he made young audiences feel like their own high school dreams were playing out on screen.
But behind the polished photos and heartthrob image, a much more complicated story was quietly unfolding.
From ordinary beginnings to sudden fame
Before Hollywood came calling, he was just a regular kid born in 1962 in Westfield, New Jersey — one of four boys in a hardworking, middle-class family. His mother worked at a newspaper, and his father was in finance. There was nothing in his early life that hinted at the world of red carpets and movie premieres.
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