Brandon Cruz

Cruz was born in Bakersfield, California, U.S., to Mexican-American parents. When he was two months old, the family moved to Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, California.

Acting

At age seven, he auditioned for and won his breakthrough role as Eddie Corbett in the television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father, which aired from 1969 to 1972. Co-star Bill Bixby and Cruz spent considerable time together, especially when the show was on hiatus, prompting Cruz to tell American Profile magazine "Bill Bixby was like my second father."

Cruz continued as a child actor for several years following the cancellation of The Courtship of Eddie's Father with a number of guest appearances in television shows like Kung Fu, Gunsmoke, and The Incredible Hulk, which reunited him on-screen with Bixby. Cruz also played the role of Joey Turner in the 1976 movie The Bad News Bears.

Music

Cruz turned his attention to punk rock in the late 1970s, and in 1981 was performing with the hardcore punk band Dr. Know. The group released several records, and after a name change to KNOW, toured Europe in 2017. Cruz also was the lead vocalist with Dead Kennedys from 2001 until 2003. Cruz was interviewed in the documentary American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock, 1980-1986. Reflecting on life after being a child star, which has brought tragedy to so many others, Cruz told American Profile "Surfing and punk rock probably saved my life."

Editing

Cruz has worked behind-the-scenes in television and film, such as an assistant editor on the animated series South Park. He later worked for the United Paramount Network, the Discovery Channel and American Chopper.

In 1991, Cruz was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Young Artist Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award for his role as Eddie on The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

Cruz and nurse Elizabeth "Liz" Finkelstein were married in 1994. They divorced in 2018. They have a son, Lincoln Bixby Cruz (born 1995), and a daughter, actress Ruby Jean Cruz (born 2000). Cruz now works as a consultant to people suffering from addictions and is a practicing Buddhist. A book on his life is in the early stages.