Brat Pack actor starred in numerous 1980s film classics before reinventing himself on TV... can you guess who?
Share:
He's best known as a member of the iconic group of young 1980s stars known as the Brat Pack, but he looks unrecognizable compared to his heyday after being spotted on a rare outing in Los Angeles on Monday. With other actors in that group he played major roles in some of the best-remembered films of the decade — include two released in the same year.
![[He's Judd Nelson, who shot to fame in 1985's The Breakfast Club (pictured)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/22/00/94369397-14310873-image-m-12_1737505635045.jpg)
By the 1990s he was appearing in darker action films and thrillers, but he was increasingly a member of the supporting cast rather than a lead actor. But the decade was a time of reinvention for him, and he began starring in the main cast of a popular sitcom as the primary love interest of its star — another actress who became a sensation in the '80s.
![[Nelson, 65, was spotted Monday on a rare grocery outing in Los Angeles. He looked completely different from his heyday thanks to a bushy beard]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/22/01/94370013-14310873-Nelson_65_was_spotted_Monday_on_a_rare_grocery_outing_in_Los_Ang-m-2_1737508415759.jpg)
He has continued to work steadily throughout the 2000s and 2010s, primarily in low-budget independent and direct-to-video films, but also as an in-demand guest actor on popular television shows — even though he once had to fend off fake news of his death.
![[He starred in The Breakfast Club — written and directed by John Hughes — with a cast of other young stars soon to be labeled the Brat Pack, including Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/22/01/94372321-14310873-image-m-22_1737507665954.jpg)
Can you guess who this Brat Pack star is?. This actor is best known as a member of the Brat Pack and starred in several hit 1980s films, before becoming a sitcom star and an in-demand guest star on television. Can you guess who this unrecognizable star is?.
![[The hit film followed five troubled students who were all forced to attend a morning detention class, and Nelson starred as John Bender, the 'criminal' and bad boy of the group who reveals a troubled upbringing]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/22/01/94369415-14310873-The_hit_film_followed_five_troubled_students_who_were_all_forced-m-24_1737507875655.jpg)
He's Judd Nelson, who shot to fame as part of the ensemble cast of 1985's The Breakfast Club. Nelson, 65, was spotted out during a low-key outing to pick up groceries. He had augmented his rugged looks with a thick salt-and-pepper beard that made him nearly unrecognizable.
![[Nelson followed that up with another Brat Pack classic, St. Elmo's Fire, which was released in the same year. The Joel Schumacher–directed movie was also a success, grossing $37.8 million against a $10 million budget]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/22/00/94372317-14310873-image-m-16_1737506667727.jpg)
