Haley Joel Osment
About
Biography
Biography
Haley Joel Osment began his career at age five with a featured appearance in a TV commercial for Pizza Hut. With his blond hair, expressive blue eyes and moon face, this juvenile player soon landed his first screen role as Forest Junior in the Oscar-winning "Forrest Gump" (1994). Osment segued to TV series, playing the adorable grandson of a gruff Edward Asner in the short-lived ABC sitcom "Thunder Alley" (1994-95) followed by a two-year stint as Jeff Foxworthy's son in "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" (ABC, 1995-96; NBC, 1996-97). The busy young actor continued to land guest roles including a recurring stint as Candice Bergen's son Avery Brown on the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown" in it final season and memorable turns as a boy genius on "The Pretender" in 1998 and a cancer-stricken boy determined to sue God on a moving episode of "Ally McBeal" in 1999. Additionally, Osment appeared in TV-movies more than holding his own acting alongside such veterans as Tom Selleck ("Last Stand at Saber River," TNT 1997), Christopher Lloyd ("The Ransom of Red Chief," ABC, 1998) and Maureen O'Hara ("Cab to Canada," CBS 1998). Osment proved he was more than a cute sitcom actor in "Bogus" (1996), playing a newly orphaned boy who communicates with the titular imaginary character (Gerard Depardieu). He kept it real and believable, proving an effective scene partner for both Depardieu and Whoopi Goldberg (as his new guardian). Osment went on to deliver a sterling turn as a troubled youngster who seemingly possesses psychic abilities in the thriller "The Sixth Sense" (1999). Critics and audiences praised the youngster's performance, and he was rewarded with an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1983
First professional job in a Pizza Hut TV commercial
1994
Played Edward Asner's grandson on the ABC sitcom "Thunder Alley"
1994
Made feature film debut as the title character's (Tom Hanks) son in "Forrest Gump"
1995
Was regular on the short-lived series "The Jeff Foxworthy Show"; first aired on ABC and then NBC for one season
1996
Co-starred with Whoopi Goldberg and Gerard Depardieu in "Bogus"
1997
Played Murphy's son Avery on the final season of the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown"
1997
Voiced Chip in the direct-to-video release "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas"
1999
Breakthrough role, playing a child who is able to see dead people in the blockbuster, "The Sixth Sense"; directed by M. Night Shyamalan and co-starred Bruce Willis; received a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination
2000
Cast alongside Oscar-winners Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt in "Pay It Forward"
2001
Co-starred with Jude Law in Steven Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence"
2001
Starred with Willem Dafoe in the WWII drama "Edges of the Lord"
2002
Lent his voice to the Disney animated sequel "Jungle Book 2"
2002
Lent his voice to Disney's live-action film, "The Country Bears"
2003
Co-starred with Robert Duvall and Michael Caine in the film, "Secondhand Lions"
2008
Made Broadway theatre debut in a revival of David Mamet's "American Buffalo"
Family
