Life and career

2001-08: Career beginning

Schmidt was born in Wichita, Kansas, to Kathy and Kent Schmidt. His brothers, Kenneth Schmidt and Kevin Schmidt, are actors. He began his acting career at age five, appearing in a Chex TV commercial. When he was nine years old, he was one of two young actors who were hired to be Haley Joel Osment's stand-in and body double (they shared the same agent) in the Steven Spielberg film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He celebrated his birthday on the set, and Spielberg and the cast surprised him with a birthday cake decorated with Star Wars figures. When he was 10 years old, his family finally made the move from Kansas to California. Schmidt soon landed recurring roles on General Hospital, Titus, Raising Dad, Gilmore Girls and CSI: Miami.

He guest-starred on a variety of TV shows, including ER, MADtv, Frasier and Phil of the Future. Most recently, Kendall guest starred on Without a Trace and Ghost Whisperer. On the big screen, he has appeared in Minority Report and According to Spencer.

2009-13: Big Time Rush

In 2009, Schmidt was cast as the lead of the TV show Big Time Rush. Kendall portrays a character like himself with the name of Kendall Knight, the calm and relaxed member of Big Time Rush. He also was a member of boy band Big Time Rush. Nickelodeon signed Big Time Rush and the debut album, titled BTR, was released on October 11, 2010 and debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200. Later was certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 copies in the U.S. In November 2010, it was announced that a Christmas special of Big Time Rush would debut later that month, and that a Christmas EP would be released to coincide with the episode. On November 30, 2010, they released the Holiday EP Holiday Bundle, with two songs: "Beautiful Christmas" and the cover of "All I Want for Christmas is You", originally performed by Mariah Carey. On February 15, 2011, "Boyfriend" was released as the band's first official single to mainstream US radio and peaked at number seventy-two on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their most successful song to date.

Schmidt and the group announced they would be recording their second studio album, just after Nickelodeon renewed the series for a third season. Their second album, Elevate, was released on November 21, 2011 and debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling over 70,000 copies in its first week. Though for a lower peaking than their previous, the album sold more copies than the previous album. The first single, "Music Sounds Better with U", was released on November 1, 2011. He announced would be starring in their full-length 2012 film, Big Time Movie. In 2013 Nickelodeon renewed the Big Time Rush series for a 13-episode fourth season, production started on January 7. The third album, 24/Seven, was released on June 11, 2013 and many critics to draw comparisons between the band's third album and NSYNC's third album Celebrity. The band went on hiatus in March, 2014.

2014-present: Heffron Drive

In 2014, it was announced that Schmidt will be making solo music. He went on tour with his band, Heffron Drive. The tour was called the Heffron Drive Winter Tour. A 2015 tour that will take place around the world is being planned. Heffron Drive released their first single, "Parallel", on March 25, 2014, and their first album, Happy Mistakes, later that same year. The band made an acoustic version of the album, titled Happy Mistakes Unplugged. In 2015, Schmidt was featured on a Hilary Duff track called "Night Like This" from her new album Breathe In. Breathe Out..

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	According to Spencer	Chad	Uncredited
2012	Big Time Movie	Kendall Knight
2016	The Great Migration	Brando	Post-producing

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Raising Dad	Noah	"For Mature Audiences Only" (Season 1, Episode 4)
2001-02	Gilmore Girls	Peter	"Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy" (Season 2, Episode 5) "Application Anxiety" (Season 3, Episode 3)
2002	Frasier	Young Frasier	"Rooms with a View" (Season 10, Episode 8)
2004	ER	Damian	"Shifts Happen" (Season 10, Episode 4)
2004	Phil of the Future	Jake	"Get Ready to Go-Go" (Season 2, Episode 6)
2004	CSI: Miami	Dominic Abeyta	"Legal" (Season 3, Episode 6) "Hell Night" (Season 3, Episode 6)
2009	Ghost Whisperer	Jeff	"Slow Burn" (Season 4, Episode 14)
2009	Without a Trace	Shay Hanson	"True" (Season 7, Episode 23)
2009-13	Big Time Rush	Kendall Knight	"Main Role"/Lead Role
2011	Hand aufs Herz	Himself	"Season 1, Episode 210"
2012	How to Rock	Himself	"How to Rock: An Election" (Season 1, Episode 6)
2012	Marvin Marvin	Himself	"Big Time Marvin" (Season 1, Episode 19)
2015	The Penguins of Madagascar	Kendall the Beaver	"Tunnel of Love" (Season 3, Episode 29)
2016	School of Rock	Justin	"Should I Stay or Should I Go?" (Season 1, Episode 8)

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008-11	Poor Paul	Guitar John	Main role; Also production assistant

Discography

Main article: Heffron Drive § Discography

Promotional singles

List of singles

Song	Year	Album
"Blame It on the Mistletoe"	2014	Kendall Schmidt

Albums appearances

Title	Year	Other artist(s)	Album
"Night Like This"	2015	Hilary Duff	Breathe In. Breathe Out.

Writing credits

Title	Year	Artist(s)	Album	Notes
"Boneyard (Dick Tracy Theme)"	2004	The Blasters	4-11-44	Written
"Music Sounds Better with U"	2011	Big Time Rush	Elevate
"Cover Girl"
"Love Me, Love Me"
"Superstar"
"You're Not Alone"
"24/Seven"	2012		24/Seven
"Get Up"
"Crazy for U"
"We Are"
"Confetti Falling"
"Love Me Again"
"Just Getting Started"
"Untouchable"
"Happy Mistakes"	2014	Heffron Drive	Happy Mistakes	Writer, producer, executive producer
"Parallel"
"Division of the Heart"
"Had to Be Panama"
"Nicotine"
"Art of Moving On"
"Passing Time"
"Could You Be Home"
"That's What Makes You Mine"
"Everything Has Changed"
"3 2 1"		Shinee	I'm Your Boy	Writer

[ Source: Wikipedia ]