Aug 24, 1973

Los Angeles, California, USA

Barret Oliver was an US child actor and currently works as a photographer. He is famous for such roles as the boy Bastian in the film adaptation of The NeverEnding Story and an android in D.A.R.Y.L. Barret's next appearance was in the Shelley Duvall production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in her Tall Tales and Legends series for TV. At the end of the year (1985) he returned to the realm of sci-fi in "Gramma", an episode of The New Twilight Zone based on a Stephen King story. Here Barret was on... ... (read more...) screen for the entire episode, and also did the voice-overs, but the low production values in NTZ prevented Barret's efforts from making much critical impression. In 1986, however, he moved on to his last feature-length role as a juvenile actor in Disney's lightweight comedy-crime-spoof Spot Marks the X. Here at last Barret was able to play the part of a normal, well-balanced, good-humored American youth, and he clearly revelled in the opportunity.

Henceforth Barret, his voice now changed, took on the roles of teenagers rather than children. In 1987 he returned to England to shoot The Secret Garden with a galaxy of British stars that included Sir Michael Hordern and Sir Derek Jacobi. The casting of an American in the role of Dickon Sowerby, an English rustic lad, is open to question, but Barret performed manfully, giving the part a wistful twist. Next, after completing an episode in the Hooperman television series, he was recalled in 1988 for a reprise of the Cocoon theme in Cocoon: The Return, but by this time his natural charm and confidence in front of a camera was less conspicuous, and he lacked the support of a Ron Howard. In 1989 he was asked by Paul Bartel to take on the role of Willie Saravian in Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. Here Barret broke new ground - he played a diseased teenager with sexual fantasies. This became his last role.

Oliver currently teaches in Los Angeles, and some of his photographic works have been put in galleries and exhibitions.