Brian Peck

Brian Peck
Born	Brian Richard Peck (1960-07-29) July 29, 1960 (age 64) Huntington, Indiana, U.S.[2]
Occupations	Actor dialogue coach producer filmmaker
Known for	The Return of the Living Dead
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Criminal status	Released and registered as a sex offender (2005)
Convictions	Convicted on 2 counts:[1] a lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 26 years older oral copulation of a person under 16
Criminal penalty	16 months in prison
Details
Victims	Drake Bell
Date apprehended	August 19, 2003

Brian Richard Peck (born July 29, 1960) is an American convicted sex offender and former dialogue coach and actor. From the late 1990's to the mid-2000's, he worked on popular children's shows produced by Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, including The Amanda Show (1999–2002), Drake & Josh (2004–2007), and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005–2008). In 2004, Peck was convicted of sexually assaulting Drake Bell in 2001, when Bell was 15 years old.

As an actor, Peck is best known for his role as Scuz in The Return of the Living Dead^[3][4][5] as well as Pickle Boy on All That,^[6] the latter of which employed him as a dialogue coach.^[7] Peck also appeared on Boy Meets World,^[8] Good Burger, Growing Pains^[9] and The Amanda Show. He also directed comedy horror anthology film The Willies (1990).^[10] He was a body double for Kirk Cameron on Growing Pains.^[9][11]

After his release from prison, he was hired in 2005 to work on the Disney Channel teen sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. His crimes were overlooked in part due to character letters supporting him written by Richard and Beth Correll, directors of the show.^[12] He did voiceover work for three episodes but was later fired after Disney Channel executives learned of his conviction, and his voice lines and on-screen credits were replaced.^[1][13][14]

In 2012, Peck was a stand-in for Charlie Sheen on the FX sitcom Anger Management.^[15]

On August 19, 2003, Peck was arrested in California, charged with 11 counts of sexual misconduct.^[16][17] Among the charges were of a lewd act upon a child, sodomy of a person under 16, attempted sodomy of a person under 16, sexual penetration by a foreign object, four counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, sending harmful matter, and using a minor for sex acts.^[18] The abuse occurred in 2001 and the 15-year-old male victim's identity was concealed to protect their identity. Peck plead no contest to lewd or lascivious acts with a child 14 or 15 years of age and oral copulation with a minor under 16 years of age, referred to in the California Penal Code as 288(c)(1) and 288a(b)(2), later that year.^[19] He served 16 months in prison from 2004 to 2005 and must register as sex offender for the rest of his life.^[1][14]

After his arrest, many high profile professionals from the film and television industry wrote letters of support for Peck. Of over 40 individuals who voiced support and asked the judge for leniency on his behalf were James Marsden, Kimmy Robertson, Taran Killam, Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Rider Strong, Will Friedle, Ron Melendez (American Horror Story), Rich and Beth Correll, and Tom DeSanto.^{[20][21][22][23]} In 2024, the Corrells, Strong, Friedle, Kerns, and DeSanto apologized for their past support of Peck.^[24][25][26] In an episode of Pod Meets World, Friedle and Strong said they were mislead by Peck and told it was "one time" and that the victim was "almost 18." Kerns and DeSanto also said they had been mislead and that had they known all of the details, they would not have supported Peck.^{[citation needed]}

In 2024, more than twenty years after Peck's arrest and conviction, the Discovery Channel released Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a docuseries that addressed child sexual abuse in the entertainment industry. Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell appeared on Episode 5 and revealed that he had been sexually and psychologically abused by Peck, who worked with him on The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh.^[a] Bell was 15 years old at the time while Peck was in his early 40's. Peck's abuse of Bell had previously been discussed in the 2014 documentary An Open Secret, though Bell had not been identified at that point in time.^[28][29]

Peck studied theater at the University of Southern California.^[30] He is openly gay.^[13][31][32] He lives in Los Angeles, California, as of 2025, and has not worked in the entertainment industry since 2019.^[33]

Kyle Sullivan, who performed with Peck in the Nickelodeon show All That, has recounted that Peck has had correspondence with the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Sullivan, who visited Peck's residence at the age of 14, recalled observing a significant volume of written communication exchanged between Peck and Gacy. Sullivan asserts that Gacy, who pursued painting while on death row, purportedly sent Peck an autographed painting of a clown, which Peck reportedly displayed in his residence at the time.^[34]

• Brian Peck at IMDb