All That Star Christy Knowings Dead at 46

While attending a children's comedy camp, Bynes was scouted by All That's producers, bringing the then 10-year-old on as a new star in season three. It was "a dream come true" for the longtime fan of the show, with Bynes telling Paper Magazine, "It was unbelievable."

Bynes quickly became the star of All That, thanks to her hit sketch "Ask Ashley." By the age of 13, Bynes proved so popular she landed her own sketch comedy series, The Amanda Show, which helped launch the careers of Drake Bell and Josh Peck and ran for three high-rated seasons. 

Thanks to her TV work, Bynes became the go-to comedic actress of her generation, starring in movies like Big Fat Liar, She's the Man, What a Girl Wants, Hairspray and Sydney White. She also returned to TV, starring opposite Jennie Garth on The WB's What I Like About You.

In 2009, Bynes starred opposite Emma Stone in Easy A, with fans not yet knowing it would be her last film role. Bynes tweeted her retirement from acting at the age of 24 soon after the movie's release.

In 2019, Bynes checked into a mental health facility after a reported relapse. Since then, she continued to remain largely out of the spotlight, but has made rare public appearances.

While he was the last kid to be cast on the show for its inaugural season in 1994 (the same year he starred in D2: The Mighty Ducks), Thompson has gone on to become the most successful All That alum.

"I didn't really audition," Thompson told Complex. "I had a meeting with the producers in their office and kicked my feet up on their desk and was like, 'What can I do for you guys?" [Laughs.] But I guess they were impressed because they hired me."

After becoming one of All That's early breakout stars, Thompson landed his own Nickelodeon spinoff series (Kenan & Kel) and a feature film, Good Burger. But he admitted to EW that he struggled after his time at the network was over. 

"I mean leaving Nickelodeon was definitely an adjustment," he said. "Because then it was back to the real world of, ‘Now I'm an adult looking for a job,' as opposed to a kid that's getting introduced to all these people like, ‘Look how cute this little kid is, don't you want to put him on your show?'"

In 2003, Thompson returned to the sketch comedy world when he made his Saturday Night Live debut. After more than 20 seasons on the show, Thompson now holds the record for the longest-tenured cast member in the iconic show's history, winning his first Emmy in 2018 for the original song "Come Back Barack." 

There really is no Kenan without Kel, with the two original cast members becoming All That's earliest breakout stars. But Mitchell, then 15, almost bombed his audition as it was the same day as a big exam at school, with the information overload causing him to go blank in front of the producers. 

"So, I'm walking out and I knock over these power cords to some electronics in the room, and I played it off real funny," he told Complex in their expansive oral history of the show. They started cracking up."

Mitchell would go on to play some of the show's most beloved characters, including Coach Kreeton, The Repairman, Pizza Face, and of course, Ed from Good Burger, who became so popular it landed a feature film spinoff. Plus, Mitchell and Thompson were pulling double duty with All That and their spinoff series, Kenan & Kel. 

"The relationship between all of us was like summer camp. We'd get clique-y sometimes. There were times when we would get into arguments, but nothing too crazy," Mitchell said of the vibe on set. "But I enjoyed the job of it. Think about it: Universal Studios in Florida was our backyard. In between scenes, we would jump lines and ride rides."

After All That and Kenan & Kel ended, Mitchell consistently made TV appearances and popped up in Kanye West's music video for "All Falls Down." In 2015, he returned to Nickelodeon, starring in the network's hit sitcom Game Shakers. Six years later, Thompson and Mitchell teamed up once again for Good Burger 2.

Kenan & Kel

Thompson and Mitchell's instant connection on the set of All That lead to the franchise's first spinoff, Kenan & Kel, which ran from 1996 to 2000. They also starred in 1997's Good Burger, a big screen take on their iconic sketch from All That. 

"During the seasons of All That they used to see Kenan and I off-set, just kind of telling jokes and hanging out—that is basically what led to the Kenan & Kel show," Mitchell told EW, with Thompson adding that their own spinoff felt like a dream come true.

"It was unbelievable," he said. "We didn't feel that we could do any better. We hit the goal, I guess we can retire now."

Now a media mogul—which includs serving as the public chairman and creative consultant of Nickelodeon's other channel TeenNick—Cannon actually started off working behind-the-scenes on All That.

"I was the audience warm up and writer for the show,’ Cannon told Complex. “I was a comic doing stand-up in Los Angeles when I was around 16 years old. Someone from the show saw me doing stand-up and they asked to manage me. They'd send me to tapings of All That and have me perform a couple jokes. So, I was entertaining the audience while the cast was in the back changing."

He then started writing material for the show and went on to become a writer on Kenan & Kel, developing a close relationship with Thompson.

Two years later, he was asked to become a cast member, but he was "a little reluctant" because he had his own TV deal and record deal with Will Smith's company. Ultimately, Cannon joined the show because they were "family," and called Thompson his "big brother.” He also revealed he did homework with Destiny's Child when they were on the show and tried to flirt with TLC.

After two seasons on All That, Cannon went on to star in movies like Drumline and Love Don't Cost a Thing before launching his own show Wild 'N Out. While the improv comedy series was initially canceled in 2007, MTV revived it in 2013. He then went to host America's Got Talent and The Masked Singer.

The actor is dad to 12 kids, including twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey.

Britney Spears' little sister joining the cast in its eighth season was a pretty big deal, with the then 11-year-old serving as the new face of the revamped All That. During her run, her older sister served as a host and participated in sketches. 

And after two seasons, Spears scored her own Nickelodeon series, Zoey 101, playing the titular character in the popular sitcom that became one of the network's highest rated shows.

But the show came to an end after its fourth season shortly after Spears, then 16, announced her pregnancy. In 2019, Spears refuted the rumor that her pregnancy caused the show's cancellation. 

"Are you ready?" she captioned a video on Instagram that featured the show's theme song. "14 years later...still a jam. #itdidNOTendbecauseofpregnancy #contractwasfinished." She then added more information in the comments, telling one follower, "I went home to finish high school and was going to pursue movies."

In 2008, Spears earned her GED before welcoming her daughter Maddie Lynn in June of that year. While she and Casey Aldridge got engaged, they split in 2009 and briefly reconciled in 2010 before calling it quits for good. "We tried," Spears said in an interview with Glamour. "We really wanted to do it right. We loved each other. I will love him as Maddie's father until the day I die."

She married Jamie Watson in 2013 and gave birth to her second daughter Ivey Joan in 2018.

In 2023, Spears reprised her role for the movie Zoey 102.

Lori Beth Denberg

One of All That's original cast members, Denberg didn't really take her initial audition for the show, which she landed when she placed in first in a high school drama competition, seriously. 

"I just went on it like a total lark, not like it was some big deal. Just kind of a goof," Denberg, who was the show's oldest cast member at 18, said. "And that was my first audition for All That. I wasn't nervous 'cause I wasn't really taking it seriously." 

But her experience on the show ended up being a defining life experience for Denberg, who told The Huffington Post, "I know how much television meant to me as a kid—I was watching everything and studying it. So to know that I was on a show that brought something positive to other kids really means a lot. I get and give a lot of hugs." 

Denberg ended up becoming a featured player on Nickelodeon, fronting the Vital Information segment (All That's version of Weekend Update) and becoming a panelist on the popular game show Figure It Out. In 1998, she left the network, going on to star on The Steve Harvey Show for four seasons. 

Looking back on her experience, Denberg said she was "glad" she was slightly older than the average All That star. "Not all kid actors fare that well, and I could kind of see why," she explained. "I saw all different kinds of kids and parents and situations."

Since the end of Steve Harvey in 2002, Denberg has made brief but memorable appearances in projects such as Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Malcolm in the Middle, Hollywood Darlings, and an episode of Workaholics, in which she played herself. 

Denberg is also an ordained minister and has presided over 12 weddings. 

Having starred on the series for six years until 2000, Server was the longest running cast member of All That, playing memorable characters such as Ear Boy, Detective Dan and Bernie Kibbitz. 

Server was just 15 when he joined the show: "They wanted us to do some of our characters and then some impressions," he said. "And it was a lot of fun. Anytime you get to do those types of auditions, it's pretty cool because it's your stuff, you know, and when you're a kid, that's pretty rare."

In an interview with Bustle, Server admitted it was a pretty energetic environment, especially when the cast had to go to school on set. 

"Picture eight or seven at a time Class Clowns in one classroom. It was a mess," he said. "These poor tutors should be given awards...they were the real heroes back then, trying to get all these crazy, artistic kids to try and pay attention to sophomore French."

After making appearances on Drake & Josh and Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Server took a break from the acting world for several years. He made his return at the start of the '90s nostalgia craze, booking a recurring role on Amazon's Good Girls Revolt and making an appearance on Ariana Grande's Nickelodeon series Sam & Cat as well as other Nick shows. 

One of the last original cast members to join the show, Reyes revealed she stayed up all night with her mom to write a monologue to audition with during the nationwide search for All That. Reyes chose to leave her performing arts school, which she attended alongside Claire Danes, Alicia Keys and Britney Spears, to move to Orlando to star on the show in her freshman year.

When she first met her fellow stars, Reyes noted to Complex, "I thought it was awesome because none of us look like each other. We were like a total melting pot of diversity."

But in beginning of the show's run, Reyes admitted she felt All That "favored" the male stars.

"Once they saw that the girls had confidence and could set their tone and their mark,” she said, “they allowed us to have more roles.” Reyes became known for her characters Kiki the Island Girl and Baggin Saggin' Mary. 

"When my character Kiki came about, I was like, 'Well I see her talking fast and energetic,' and we figured out that Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island was going to be what I was going for," she explained of helping to create the character. 

After leaving the series ahead of season four, she did voicework for The Proud Family TV series and worked for Playboy Radio and PlayboyU online.

After being scouted at a theater competition, Bates auditioned dressed as Steve Urkel.

"My mom went all out and got me the full costume, with the big glasses, the suspenders," she told Complex. "A lot of the auditions were improvised, so you had to be quick on your feet. They would throw too many things at us. We had to be funny, we had to try not to laugh."

And since she was 14 when the show started, Bates admitted to having her annoying moments on set. 

"If there was tension, it was probably because we had been up all night. [Laughs.] We were doing takes over and over again, 'til late," she recalled. "As far as with each other, some of us were definitely that annoying little sister. I had my moments. We were just kids so we had times where we got on the other person's nerves, but it was never hate. The next day it would be good."

Bates left the show after two seasons, with Amanda Bynes joining the cast to replace her. But it was only after her exit that she realized how passionate their fans were, saying, "I started noticing how much the fans liked me then when I learned that the that fans were giving Amanda a hard time. I reached out to some of my fans saying, "It is what it is. At least give her a chance.'"

After leaving, Bates made appearances on Boston Public and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and returned for All That's 100th episode. She's also a rapper, releasing music under the name Alize Bates. 

After starring in The Mighty Ducks and the popular Nickelodeon sitcom Pete & Pete, Tamberelli was already pretty well-known when he joined the cast in season four, taking over the Vital Information duties from Denberg.

Danny was already friendly with the cast members because of his history on the network, telling Complex, "I'd known Kenan, Kel, Josh, and Alisa through doing all these events together, like 'Nick Takes Over Your School,' so it was pretty easy to get thrown in there. I was still the new kid so I got picked on a little bit, but in the nicest way."

During his two-season stint on All That, he also served as a panelist on Figure It Out.

"I think it's awesome!" Tamberelli told Page Six of the revival, adding he would be down to guest-star if asked. 

In addition to serving as the lead vocalist and bassist in his band Jounce, Tamberelli began a popular podcast, The Adventures of Danny & Mike, with his Pete & Pete costar Michael C. Maronna.

"I was doing stand-up at the time, which got me an audition," Iglesias told Complex of his audition to join All That in its sixth season to replace Thompson and Mitchell. "They saw that I did voices and characters in my set. At the time, I was 20. I was already the oldest in the cast." 

Admitting he was "really nervous" to join the cast, Iglesias admitted one of his costars wasn't very welcoming. 

"Some of the cast was cool, some not so cool,” he recalled. “Some were fun, some were just pains in the butt.”

Iglesias was only on All That for one season, with Nickelodeon deciding to revamp the show and bring in in whole new cast for season seven. He then competed on NBC's Last Comic Standing (but was disqualified for sneaking a phone in), before going on to make a major name for himself in the stand-up world. 

Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution ran for three seasons on Comedy Central, and Iglesias had a small role in Magic Mike XXL and has voiced characters in Coco, Ferninand and UglyDolls.

Johnson, famous for her impressions of Roseanne Barr and Ross Perot during her run on the show, was just 12 when All That premiered and wasn't even allowed to watch that other sketchy comedy show. 

"I know I wasn't allowed to watch SNL on too late,” Johnson recalled. “There was In Living Color and I would always sneak and try to record it and try to watch it.”

But when Bynes joined the cast in season three, Johnson was no longer the youngest one on set, telling Complex, "I thought Amanda was really annoying. She was to me what I was to everybody else: the baby, kind of wild and running around. When she came along, I could kind of see firsthand how everyone must've looked at me."

Though she left the show after season three, Johnson returned for the 100th episode as well as the 10th anniversary special. While residing in Las Vegas, Johnson hosted Uncensored Radio's Guilty Pleasures podcast.

Growing up as a fan of the show's original run, Foiles was one of the cast members brought in for the revamped All That in season seven, staying on the show until its cancellation in 2005. During her four-season run, she also made guest appearances on hit shows like Even Stevens and Malcolm in the Middle, playing Mallory, the female version of Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) on the latter.

After her time as a child star, Foiles took a break from the acting world to focus on her college writing courses, graphic design and video games. 

In 2016, Foiles announced on her YouTube channel that she had a daughter named Chloe, and had been keeping her pregnancy a secret. And she posted another video two years later to announce the birth of her second child, a son named Calvin, with husband Shawn Colvinger. 

Because she was on the show in its later season, Foiles was able to connect with many of the fans online. 

"There are a handful of Internet 'friends' I've known since my first season on All That," she told MMA Uncaged. "I've never met most of them, but I feel like I know them since we've chatted for so many years. It's so cool to have people like that who have cared about my life/success for so long. I hope I never disappoint them."

Before becoming an official cast member, Saul joined All That in 1998 as a recurring player. But he didn't actually get cast the first time he auditioned, choosing to do a male version of Bynes' iconic "Ask Ashley" segment. His second audition, he did an early version of Stuart, the character that would become his signature on the show. 

"I looked up to everyone on that show because they were all significantly older than me," he told Complex of joining the popular series. "Everyone gave me advice because they had been there for so long and wanted to see me have a good time."

In their last season, Saul and costar Tamberelli became writing partners, eventually receiving writing credit on the show. 

But Saul was balancing his work schedule with homework, saying, "My biggest regret is that I had to leave early from that meeting because I had an English test."

Saul exchanged sketch comedy for hospital scrubs when he took on the role of Dr. Steve Mostow for four seasons on Grey's Anatomy, playing the nerdy intern in seasons 4-8. He's also made appearances on hit shows such as Desperate Housewives, Bones, Parks and Recreation, Grace & Frankie and Parenthood, among others. Saul also runs a popular Etsy shop and plays in the the folk band, The Flashcards.

In 2012, Saul married high school sweetheart Ilana Berger. They share three kids together.

With the exit of several female stars, Knowings was brought onto All That in season four after starring on Rosie O'Donnell's Nickelodeon show And Now This, remaining on the show until its initial cancellation after season six. 

Some of her notable roles on All That included Winter Wonders, a parody of Figure It Out host Summer Sanders, and Penny Lane, a character she inherited from previous stars. But the one she had the most active involvement in the creation of was Brenda Stone. 

"The characters were all written by the writers of the show, but in terms of the voices and how they were embodied, that was up to us. All those kinds of characters were developed on my own, like Brenda Stone," she told Complex. "They didn't know I was gonna use a voice like that. They just gave me the script and I went with it. I didn't mean for it to come out like Fran Drescher, it just kind of did."

During her three seasons on the show, Knowings got to meet a lot of the celebrity guests, who were pretty big deals at the time. "One of the nicest boy bands was 98 Degrees. And the Spice Girls were really cool!" she said. "I liked it when they came and did a sketch with us."

While she mostly left the acting world behind in 2000 to focus on college, Knowings returned to make a small cameo in the show's 10th anniversary special.

She died on Aug. 12, 2026, at age 46 after suffering an asthma attack that left her with brain damage, per her family.

Jack De Sena

De Sena starred on All That's later seasons, from 2002 through 2005, after getting a start in the competitive improv organization ComedySportz.

Since All That's cancellation, De Sena has done voicework for a lot of popular animated TV series, including Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Batman and Netflix's The Dragon Prince. He's also made appearances on Veep, House of Lies and Sam & Cat, and starred on Nickelodeon's 100 Things To Do Before High School.

In 2016, De Sena launched his popular YouTube series Jack & Chris, a comedy with his friend Chris Smith that posts new sketches weekly. 

De Sena married Lisa Bierman in 2018. The pair share two kids.

One of the new cast members brought in for the show's revamped later years, Lyons starred in seasons seven and eight, popping up on That's So Raven and Law & Order: SVU during his tenure. 

After making an appearance on Wizards of Waverly Space and a small role in Elizabethtown, Lyons left acting behind at 16 to pursue a career in the food industry, which was fitting as his parents were both professional chefs. After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America in New York at just 18 years old and working in several restaurants, he moved back to Colorado, where he opened his own restaurant, Nosh. 

Lyons also competed on the fourth season of Food Network's The Next Food Network Star, making it to week six of the competition. In an interview with Food Network, he admitted, "My least favorite part was the after-challenge interviews and doing multiple takes and pickup shots. That truly removed the sense of 'reality' and put me back in the realm of scripted television."

He now works as a culinary consultant.

Giovonnie Samuels

Samuels joined All That in season seven, but it was her appearances on Disney Channel's That's So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody—playing Raven's cousin and Nia Moseby, respectively—that had more of an impact.

Aside from her work on Nickelodeon and Disney, Samuels also starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing, Freedom Writers and appeared in several episodes of FXX's You're The Worst. 

She and several Nickelodeon alums appeared 2024 docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

Brummet was one of the stars of the revamped All That, sticking with the show until its 2005 cancellation. During that time, she also made guest appearances on Bynes' show What I Like About You and Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh, as well as played a young Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. 

In 2012, Brummet retired from acting, going on to study fashion in college and pursue a music career.