Sean Astin

Sean Astin is an actor, director, and producer who portrayed Mikey in The Goonies.

Life and career
Born on February 25, 1971 in Santa Monica, California as Sean Patrick Duke, Astin studied and graduated with a degree in history and English at UCLA. His first acting role was in a made-for-telvision movie alongside his mother; his first role was with The Goonies.

Starring in other films such as Encino Man, Toy Soliders, and White Water Summer, his next big role was as the titular Rudy in Rudy. Astin was later cast as Samwise Gamgee for Peter Jackson's adaptions of the Lord of the Rings novels. More recently he portrayed Bob Newby in Stranger Things.

Astin has also served as a voice actor for a number of animated movies and TV shows, like Special Agent Oso, Balto III: Wings of Change, bthe Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and Bunnicula. He also narrated Meerkat Manor, and did voice acting for video games like Kingdom Hearts, Minecraft: Story Mode, and multiple Lord of the Rings video games.

Trivia

 * In honor of his maternal grandfather, who was a military veteran, Astin has donated money and volunteered for the USO and other veterans' support organizations. As thanks, Sean Astin has had a military "challenge coin" minted in his honor, which contained the insignia of his grandfather's unit and the two masks of tragedy and comedy, signifying drama.