Born into a theatrical family, he made a much-acclaimed Broadway debut at the age of nine in "The Member of the Wedding." He was the first child actor to win the Donaldson Award and went on to repeat his role in the film version directed by Fred Zinnemann in 1952. As the blonde, blue-eyed Joey who idolizes the strange gunman (Alan Ladd) in L'homme des vallées perdues (1953), he stole the picture and was rewarded with an Oscar nomination the following year. He starred in his own television series Jamie (1953) during 1953-54 and made his mark as a screen adolescent during the 1960s, playing younger brothers in L'ange de la violence (1962) and Le plus sauvage d'entre tous (1963) starring Paul Newman. However, he managed to keep his career building up to his adult status. While en route to visit his wife at a hospital where she had recently undergone surgery, he was killed in a vehicle accident as the camper van he was driving struck a parked truck. He was only thirty years old.
