Born and raised in Jamestown, NY, Anderson studied at Williams College and received voice training at Juilliard before embarking on a stage career. He made his theatrical debut in a 1984 production of "On Shilo Hill" at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. Settling in L.A. in the mid-1980s, he began making guest appearances on TV shows including "Hill Street Blues" and "Cagney and Lacey". He landed a supporting role in the NBC TV-movie "Intimate Encounters" (1986) and also appeared in the two-part Disney telefilm "Student Exchange" (ABC, 1987). In 1989, Anderson landed the leading role of Richard Carpenter in the CBS biopic "The Karen Carpenter Story". He also had a strong lead as the grown-up Huck in "Back to Hannibal: The Return of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn" (The Disney Channel, 1990).
Anderson's presence on the big screen has been fairly limited. After making his debut as one of several youths chosen to fly on a space shuttle mission in "SpaceCamp" (1986), he had his first lead in the low-budget "Deadly Dreams" (1988). Other credits include the thriller "All-American Murder" (1992) and the lesbian-themed "The Midwife's Tale" (1996).