"The Neverending Story" film series: What happened to the stars?

For many children it was not only the favorite book, but also one of the favorite films of the 80s and 90s – “The Neverending Story” by author Michael Ende. On April 6, 1984, the first of three film versions of the children’s book was released in German cinemas. We reveal how the career of the three American actors who Bastian Balthasar Bux embodied in the fantasy trilogy has been in recent years. More on this in the video.

As a child, Barret Oliver played in several 80s cult series, including “The Incredible Hulk”, “Knight Rider” or “An Angel on Earth”. His role as Bastian Bux was his worldwide breakthrough, after which he starred in the science fiction films “DARYL – the extraordinary” and the “Cocoon” films, but he turned his back on Hollywood a few years later. What he is doing now and what he looks like today, we reveal in the video.

Jonathan Brandis (1976-2003) started his career as a child actor in commercials. After numerous smaller TV roles in series such as “Full House” and “Who’s the Boss Here?” In 1990 he made his breakthrough as Bastian Bux in “The Neverending Story II – In Search of Fantasies”. He then starred in the Stephen Kings film adaptation of “Es”, and in 1992 alongside cult actor Chuck Norris (80) in the film “Sidekicks”.

Unfortunately, the big cinema career does not come, television appearances follow again. He experienced a career highlight in the sci-fi series “SeaQuest DSV” (1993-1996) produced by Steven Spielberg.

Then Brandis disappears completely, one filmic flop follows the next. In 2003, at the age of 27, a friend found Brandis lifeless in his apartment in Los Angeles: he had hanged himself after struggling with depression for several years. He is still taken to the hospital, but only his death has been determined.

What the actor Jason James Richter (40), who played Bastian in the third part of the film series, last made headlines with, we tell you here.