Shawn Toovey AKA Brian Cooper in 'Dr Quinn' Is All Grown up and Married with Kid but Retired from Acting

Shawn Toovey, who once acted alongside Jane Seymour in "Dr. Quinn," took a step back from acting and is now doing fulfilling work at a children's museum. Here are some important details about him and his family.

Shawn Toovey was still a child when he joined the cast of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine woman." However, that did not stop him from delivering a stellar performance that was rewarded with at least five different young artists awards, including the Michael Landon Award in 1996.

The famous series, set in 1867, followed the daily life of a female doctor who migrated to Colorado Springs to set up a practice after getting attracted by familial duties and a desire for adventure.

As a female doctor in the 19th century, the stubborn yet compassionate Dr. Quinn had a lot to prove, and she fell in love in the process.

In fact, her romantic relationship with Joe Lando (Byron Sully) was one of the things fans looked forward to the most, followed by her adventures.

It was an extremely successful series, making the CBS show a staple in the '90s both locally and internationally. It was so popular that the episodes aired in over a hundred countries for six seasons, a clear sign that the cast of the show was beloved.

The show habitually tugged on many heartstrings, bringing together a perfect blend of laughter, anger, excitement, and in many cases, tears. The plot was great, but it would not have recorded the success it did without the expert delivery of the crew.

Brian Cooper, the role Toovey played on the show, reminded viewers of the value of childhood and why it should be jealously guarded.

Toovey had excellent acting talent, which helped him bring his character to life, and he had one person to thank for that — his mentor and TV mother, Jane Seymour. Still, despite all he learned from her, Toovey's acting career did not go beyond the "Dr. Quinn" franchise.

According to IMDb, he reprised his role as Brian for the 1999 and 2001 TV movie reunions, after which he retired from acting. What did he do with his life afterward? Let's find out.

HE NOW WORKS WITH CHILDREN

Toovey was a fabulous child actor, but he decided his best work would be done behind the screen when he got older. His love for kids made him pursue a career that put him in a position to help them in one way or the other.

As of 2016, the former actor was working as the director of Guest Experience at the Omaha children's museum. Today, Toovey is a founding member of the Children's Board of the Audrey Hepburn Hollywood for Children Foundation.

He also works closely with Camp Ronald McDonald, Meals on Wheels, and various child abuse prevention organizations. At some point in the past, he was involved in raising funds for pediatric brain cancer, and the action helped create more awareness about the disease.

HE HAS HIS OWN FAMILY

Toovey fell in love with a beautiful woman named Marianne, and he married her in May 2007. The two met in 2004 while working at the Haunted Mansion ride in Disney Land and have been together ever since.

They share a child named April, whom they very much adore. The boy, who looks just like his father, is one of the many things the two have in common aside from their love for the gospel.

Aside from his works with children, Toovey is a very active Christian, and so is his wife. As of 2019, the former actor played the drums on the worship team and was a member of the Prayer Watch ministry while his wife helped with the church's children and led a bible study for the women.

HE RELIVED HIS ACTING EXPERIENCE WITH FAMILY

Toovey's time as an actor was pretty much a thing of the past, which meant his family did not know anything about it until much later. Toovey once revealed that he joined his wife and kid to watch the series, "Dr. Quinn," which brought back memories of his time on the show.

He described the experience, which happened because of his wife's prompting, as an "interesting" one that reminded him of the ton of fun they had while filming the show.

HE STAYS IN TOUCH WITH HIS FORMER CO-STARS

Even though he took a step back from acting after the "Dr. Quinn" franchise ended, Toovey has remained in contact with some of his co-stars, including his mentor, Jane Seymour.

Posts on Instagram have pictured the two together on different occasions. There are precisely 12 posts on Toovey's Instagram page, and two capture him with Seymour both as a child and now as an adult.

In 2020, the cast of the CBS drama reunited via Zoom to discuss the life they lived while filming the western drama.

Those who participated include Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn), Joe Lando (Byron Sully), William Shockley (Hank Lawson), Chad Allen (Matthew Cooper), Shawn Toovey (Brian Cooper), Alley Mills (Majorie Quinn), and so on.

Their topics ranged from the free concerts they got from Johnny Cash, who guest-starred on the show as Kid Cole, and interesting moments involving Barbara Babcock, who played Dorothy Jennings, and the late Orson Bean (Loren Bray).

Of all the cast members, Seymour's acting career seems to be the longest. When she was first cast on the show, the actress was in a lot of debt, but the role helped her turn her life around.

Even now, the talented actress remains active on the Hollywood scene, having had a recurring role as Madelyn on Netflix's "The Kominsky Method" since 2019.

Like the child she mentored, Seymour also engages in philanthropical pursuits. She is a celebrity ambassador for Childhelp, a nonprofit dedicated to helping child abuse and neglect victims. The apple certainly did not fall very far from the tree in this case.