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Merriman was born in Choctaw, Oklahoma to Earl and Nona Merriman; he has a sister, Monika. His father's family is originally from Germany, while his mother is of English and
Scottish descent. At a young age, he began acting in commercials, print work, vocal performances and local theater in Oklahoma.
This good-looking, dark-haired boy began modeling at age six and
landed his first television acting role a few years later when he was cast as a regular on the NBC sitcom "The Mommies" (1993-1995). From this sitcom role he showed his versatility when he
landed a recurring role as the young genius Jarod Russell on the popular NBC series "The Pretender" (1997-2000).
He was featured in a few TV dramas such as "Everything That
Rises" (TNT, 1998) and "Night Ride Home" (CBS, 1999) before portraying young Meyer Lansky in 1999's "Lansky", an HBO movie about the life of the famed gangster. In the same year,
Merriman took on his first feature acting role, playing a young boy who surprises parents Michelle Pfeiffer and Treat Williams nine years after he was kidnapped in the emotional drama "The Deep End
of the Ocean".
He starred as the main character, a Jewish boy from the Bronx, in the film "Just Looking" (2000) although the release was quite limited. He also worked with Michelle
Pfeiffer in "Halloween: The Homecoming" (2002) and in the 2005 feature "The Ring Two".
Merriman appeared in his first major leading television role in the ABC series, Veritas,
playing 17 year-old rebel 'Nikko Zond;' and appeared in an episode of the miniseries Taken, produced by Steven Spielberg. Other movies include "Taken" (2002), "Spin" (2003), and
"Final Destination 3" (2006).
Merriman married on June 25, 2004, to Micol and has three dogs. His hobbies include in-line skating, four-wheel and dirt bikes, team sports, water sports,
horseback riding, martial arts, tournament-level paint ball, skiing, and snowboarding.
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