A fan favorite on one of the longest-running TV sensations of the 1990s, Brian Austin Green grew up, literally, in front of America as the less-than-cool but still in-the-in-crowd musician wannabe, David Silver, on Fox's saga of adolescent crisis, "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990-2000). It was on this iconic show that Green's Silver attempted to both launch a rap music career, as well as almost deflower longtime love interest Donna Martin, played by real life boss Aaron Spelling's daughter, Tori Spelling.
Born July 15, 1973 in Van Nuys, CA to parents Joyce and George Green, the youngster entered showbiz early, first garnering notice in 1986 when he played Donna Mills' son, Brian Cunningham, for three years on the CBS primetime soap "Knots Landing" (1979-93). A year later, Green won another primetime soap role as the youngest of the rich clique on "Beverly Hills, 90210," David Silver. The rest is history. Dolls, posters, adoring fans sobbing at mall appearances – the hit show became an industry in and of itself.
Like many of his fellow "90210" cast members, Green was ripe for TV movies and was cast in several of them – first, as a high school rapist who is nevertheless beloved by his classmates in "She Fought Alone" (NBC, 1995), followed by "A Friend's Betrayal" (NBC, 1996), in which he portrayed an 18-year old having an affair with his mother's friend (Sharon Lawrence).
When time allowed, Green also appeared in a handful of feature films, including "Kid" (1990) and "An American Summer" (1991). Like his character David Silver, Green also began performing rap on TV talk shows after hanging around the rap scene for several years. In 1996, SONY released One Stop Carnival, his first rap album. Rather than accept TV-movie offers during the next "90210" hiatus, Green elected to spend it promoting his album. However, critics and buyers were less than kind, leaving it an unfortunate "Vanilla Ice-esque" flop best forgotten.
After riding the "90210" train all the way to the end, after ten years, the show wrapped in 2000, but before doing so, gave long-time fans the David and Donna wedding they had always wanted. Free from his teen idol baggage, Green changed his billing to Brian A. Green and began working steadily in telepics, TV guest shots, and a string of undistinguished films before returning to series television in the Showtime drama "Resurrection Blvd" (2000-02). Green joined the series in its second season as Luke Bonner.
Finally, after years of little critical acclaim, Green landed his next series television role of Chris, the skirt-chasing sidekick to Freddie Prinze, Jr., on the latter's ABC sitcom "Freddie" (2005- ). Critics and viewers lauded his comedic timing as even more polished than that of the lead – a skill Green had not really demonstrated in past roles. The show was a ratings hit and Green was one of the few original "90210" cast members – Jennie Garth and Luke Perry notwithstanding – to make a successful return to series television. Secure with his "Freddie" success, Green and fellow "90210" graduate Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders) made a cameo appearance together in the stylish Tony Scott biopic "Domino" (2005), based on the life of model-turned-bounty hunter Domino Harvey.