About the character:
Wesley Crusher is human, born in 2349 and the son of Beverly
and Jack R. Crusher, both working in Starfleet. But the father dies
when Wesley is very young and his body is brought home by Jean-Luc
Picard. Wesley remembers weakly his father, but in an older
age he gets to see him again: The father leaves his son a holographic
greating ("Family" (76)).
Wesley arrives USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D along with his mother,
who is the chief medical officer aboard. Wesley is appointed ensign
from the episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" (6), as he shows
technical ingenuity and watchfulness. In fact, he can do the same
things as a fully trained engineer. His biggest wish is to be accepted
in to the Starfleet Academy, which he studies to qualify for. Not
only to make his mother proud but also captain Jean-Luc Picard to
whom Wesley looks up to.
In first take Wesley does not succeed getting in to Starfleet
Academy, as seen in the episode "Coming of Age" (19), but he succeeds
in the episode "Samaritan Snare" (43). He is supposed to leae for
Starfleet Academy in "Ménage à Troi" (72), but an assignment prevents
the departure. As he is to wait another year captain Jean-Luc Picard
makes him an ensign with full rank and privileges. Wesley leaves
for Starfleet Academy in the episode "Final Mission" (83).
Wesley meets a strange man calling himself for The Traveler for
the first time in the episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" (6)
and he tells him that he is of a people of time travellers across
the dimensions of the universe (parallel universes). The next time
Wesley meets him is when Wesley needs help to get his mother back
from a time displacement in the episode "Remember Me" (79). The
third and last time, The Traveler turns up, is in the episode "Journey's
End" (172), where he is helping Wesley see his own life in a new
perspective and do what he wants instead of what others expects
and wants. Wesley decides to leave Starfleet.
Wesley Crusher's best friends is the android Data
and chief engineer Geordi La Forge.
But also security chief Worf he
gets along with.
About the actor:
Wil Wheaton has been a child star since he was 7 years old and has
appeared in movies and TV commercials. He has his breakthrough in
1984 with the movie "Stand by Me", but it is not untill the TV series
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" in the part as Wesley Crusher he
really is a star. The first name for the character Wesley Crusher
is actually Gene Roddenberry's
middle name and with a thought behind: With the creation of Wesley
Crusher Gene Roddenberry makes the character everything he always
wanted to be as a child.
Gradually the series scriptwriters have made Wesley Crusher so
intelligent, that he can solve tasks as a trained engineer and that
annoys many viewers. Wil Wheaton is tired of the polished facade
of Hollywood and is written out of the series after the first half
of season 4 in the episode "Final Mission" (83). At that time Wil
Wheaton is 18 years old.
Then he leaves for Kansas where he works for the computer company
New Tek, but leaves after only 13 months returning to Los Angeles.
He enters a school of acting and uses the next three years to study
intenstly.
After this he appeares in the short film "Boy's Night Out", written
and directed by the fellow student Yule Caise, in which he plays
a drag queen.
Wil Wheaton leaves for France to play a post modern Frankenstein
in the movie "Mr. Stitch" for the network Sci-Fi Channel. But what
he hoped would be an independent success distanced from his child
fame is instead a fiasco in the light of the production company
not believing in the movie as a good idea for cinemas and let it
be broadcasted on TV instead.
Wil Wheaton appeares in the movie "Flubber", which has Robin
Williams in the lead, but besides that nothing big successes has
come his way. But as Wil Wheaton says:
"...I realized that if I didn't get
out when I was eighteen, Trek would become my entire career, rather
than being just one chapter in it."
Afterwards, Wil Wheaton is written out of "Star Trek: The Next
Generation", he makes guest appearances in the series in the episodes
"The Game" (106), "The First Duty" (119), "Parallels" (163), and
"Journey's End" (172).
Wil Wheaton loves to play golf and in his spare time he directs
and produces low budget movies.
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1987: "Family
Ties" - tv series