Christian Juttner, a child actor in the 1970s who appeared in the films Return From Witch Mountain, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and The Swarm and on several TV shows, has died. He was 60.
Juttner died Nov. 29 of natural causes at his home in Yucca Valley, California, his daughter Aidan Juttner told The Hollywood Reporter.
Return From Witch Mountain, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and The Swarm appeared in theaters within five months of one another in 1978.
He portrayed Dazzler, one of the truants known as the Earthquake Gang, in the sequel Return From Witch Mountain, and in I Wanna Hold Your Hand, the feature directorial debut of Robert Zemeckis, he was the boy with a Beatles-style haircut who is determined to see the Fab Four perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.
And in the Irwin Allen-directed disaster film The Swarm, Juttner portrayed a kid who suffers from hallucinations of giant bees attacking him — his folks had just been killed by bees, after all.
Christian John Juttner was born in Pomona, California, on May 20, 1964. His father, John, was an entrepreneur who owned a beauty salon, an art gallery and, on the island of St. Croix, a commercial glass business.
His mom, Marlene, got him interested in acting, and he had his first onscreen credit on a 1972 episode of ABC’s Bewitched.
On the first season (1976-77) of The Bionic Woman, another ABC series, Juttner recurred as one of Jaime Sommers’ (Lindsay Wagner) students at the Ventura Air Force Base.
He also appeared on seven installments of The Magical World of Disney, a pair of ABC Afterschool Specials and installments of Emergency!, The Rookies, Ironside, Medical Center, Wonder Woman, Lou Grant and Alice.
He attended Birmingham High School in the San Fernando Valley, worked with his dad in St. Croix and after returning to Southern California, had his own glassworks business. He also dabbled in special effects makeup.
In addition to his mother and Aidan, survivors include his ex-wife, Ann; another daughter, Ryan; son Lucas; and sister Shelley.
