Trent Lehman

{{Infobox person

| name = Trent Lehman

| image = Nanny and the Professor Trent Lehman 1970.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Trent Lehman, circa 1970

| birth_name = Trenton Lawson Lehman

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1961|02|23}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1982|01|18|1961|02|23}}

| death_place = Pacoima, California, U.S.

| occupation = Actor

| years_active = 1969–1973

}}

Trenton Lawson "Trent" Lehman (February 23, 1961 – January 18, 1982) was an American child actor.

Early life and career

File:Nanny and the Professor cast 1970 No 1.jpg, David Doremus, Lehman, Kim Richards and Juliet Mills]] Lehman, who was raised in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Arleta, was best known for his role as impish middle child Bentley "Butch" Everett on the 70's sitcom Nanny and the Professor. Prior to landing his most famous role, he also played a young Christine Jorgensen in The Christine Jorgensen Story, and appeared in episodes of Gunsmoke and Emergency!.

Lehman's last credited role was in 1973. Twelve years old, he was having difficulty finding work, which led to bouts of depression. His mother moved their family to Colorado later in the decade, but Lehman decided to return to California, resettling in an apartment in North Hollywood.

Death

Days before Lehman died, he reconnected with Joseph Allen, a classmate of his from Vena Avenue Elementary School in Pacoima, California. Allen told police that Lehman had asked him for a gun as he had become despondent over breaking up with his girlfriend and a recent burglary of his apartment. Police had no knowledge of the burglary until after Lehman's death.

On January 18, 1982, Lehman died after he hanged himself on a chain link fence outside of Vena Avenue Elementary School.{{cite book |last=Brioux |first=Bill |title=Truth and Rumors: The Reality Behind TV's Most Famous Myths |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jouAn6aCMSEC&pg=PA22 |year=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-99247-7 |page=22 |chapter=Ward, I'm Worried About the Beaver: TV Rumors Involving Child Stars}} He had attended the school before being withdrawn to become an actor.{{cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1993/05/12/former-child-stars-get-a-helping-hand/ |title=Former Child Stars Get A Helping Hand |last1=Sandack |first1=Rick |date=May 12, 1993 |newspaper=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=August 26, 2015}}

Lehman's death, along with those of two other former child actors, Rusty Hamer and Tim Hovey, inspired Paul Petersen to found A Minor Consideration, an advocacy group for child stars.{{cite book |last=Kubey |first=Robert William |title=Creating Television: Conversations With the People Behind 50 Years Of American TV |url=https://archive.org/details/creatingtelevisi00kube |url-access=registration |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |location=Mahwah, NJ |date=May 20, 2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/creatingtelevisi00kube/page/n401 387] |isbn=978-1-1356-9428-9}}

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1969 \| Gunsmoke \| Chester \| 1 episode
1970 \| The Christine Jorgensen Story \| George at 7 \|
1970–1971 \| Nanny and the Professor \| Butch Everett \| 54 episodes
1972 \| Emergency! \| Andy \| 1 episode
1972–1973 \| The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie \| Butch Everett (Voice) \| 2 episodes

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1969

| Gunsmoke

| Chester

| 1 episode

1970

| The Christine Jorgensen Story

| George at 7