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An actor whose
remarkable versatility has often been described as
chameleon-like, Kevin Spacey has made an art of
portraying a gallery of morally ambiguous characters
ranging from the mildly shady to the all-out
murderous. Spacey has won acclaim not only for his
film work but also for his television and stage
performances. |
An actor whose remarkable
versatility has often been described as chameleon-like,
Kevin Spacey has made an art of portraying a gallery of
morally ambiguous characters ranging from the mildly
shady to the all-out murderous. Spacey has won acclaim
not only for his film work but also for his television
and stage performances. His reputation as one of the
best-respected actors of his generation has been
verified by an Oscar, a Tony, and an award as Best Actor
of the Decade from England's Empire magazine in 1999.
The son of a technical procedure writer and a secretary,
Spacey was born in South Orange, NJ, on July 26, 1959.
His family moved a great deal thanks to his father's
job, eventually settling for a time in Los Angeles. It
was there that Spacey -- who had previously done a stint
at military school -- attended Chatsworth High School,
where he was very active in the theater. Some of his
high school contemporaries included Mare Winningham and
Val Kilmer; Spacey was Von Trapp to the former's Maria
in a production of The Sound of Music and was encouraged
to go to Juilliard by the latter. After an attempt at
standup comedy, Spacey did go to Juilliard, where he
continued to act with Kilmer, who was two years his
senior. His time at Juilliard was cut short after his
second year, when Spacey decided to quit school to begin
his career.
He made his theatrical debut in 1981 with Shakespeare in
the Park, performing alongside the likes of Kilmer,
Mandy Patinkin, and John Goodman. The actor continued to
be a fixture on the theater scene throughout the decade,
performing both on Broadway and in regional productions.
It was through the theater that he got his first big
break: While auditioning for a Tom Stoppard play, Spacey
was approached by director Mike Nichols, who cast him in
his production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly. The actor's
work in the play -- in which he eventually played all of
the male leads -- led Nichols to cast him as a subway
mugger in his 1986 Heartburn. Two years later, the
director and actor worked together again in Working
Girl, in which Spacey had a small but memorable role as
a sleazy businessman.
By this time, Spacey was starting to work steadily in
film, although he maintained his stage work, winning a
1990 Tony Award for his role in the Broadway production
of Lost in Yonkers. He also did a substantial amount of
television work, appearing on the series Wiseguy as
deranged criminal Mel Proffitt. Criminal or morally
questionable activities were to figure largely in
Spacey's subsequent portrayals: His first starring role
in a film was as the husband of a murdered woman in the
1992 Consenting Adults. The same year, he won acclaim
for his portrayal of a foul-mouthed, leech-like real
estate agent in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Spacey's next memorable film role was as yet another
foul-mouthed jerk in the 1994 Swimming With Sharks,
which he also co-produced. He was nominated for an
Independent Spirit Award for his portrayal of an abusive
studio executive, and he gained further recognition the
same year for his entirely different role in The Ref, in
which he played one half of a constantly arguing married
couple. However, it was with his performance in the
following year's The Usual Suspects that Spacey fully
stepped into the spotlight. As the enigmatic, garrulous
"Verbal" Kint, Spacey was one of the more celebrated
aspects of the critically lauded sleeper hit, winning a
Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work. If that
weren't enough, the actor won additional acclaim the
same year for his role as a serial killer in the stylish
and unrelentingly creepy thriller Seven.
Having secured a place on Hollywood's A-list, Spacey
went on to make his directorial debut the following year
with Albino Alligator. A New Orleans-based crime drama
starring Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway, and Gary Sinise, the
film won some positive reviews, though it made little
impact at the box office. In addition to directing,
Spacey kept busy with acting, appearing the same year in
A Time to Kill and Al Pacino's documentary Looking for
Richard.
The actor went on to star in Clint Eastwood's highly
anticipated 1997 adaptation of John Berendt's Midnight
in the Garden of Good and Evil and then had a sizable
role in the big-budget The Negotiator in 1998. The same
year, he also lent his voice to the computer-animated A
Bug's Life and starred in the screen adaptation of
Hurlyburly. While doing steady film work, Spacey also
continued to appear on the stage, winning raves for his
performance in an adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's The
Iceman Cometh, first on the London stage in 1998, and
then on Broadway the following year. Also in 1999,
Spacey won an Academy Award as Best Actor for American
Beauty, director Sam Mendes' dark comedy about a man
experiencing a mid-life crisis. Following up Beauty with
starring roles in The Big Kahuna and Ordinary Decent
Criminal, Spacey would later appear as a mental patient
who claims to be from a distant planet in K-PAX. K-Pax
proved to be a minor flop, as did the actors other
major film in 2001, Lasse Hallstroms adaptation of The
Shipping News. Although Spacey drew positive notices for
his portrayal of a man trying to start a new life in
Newfoundland, the film, which also starred Julianne
Moore, Cate Blanchett, and Judi Dench, quickly sank at
the box office and received only a lukewarm reception
from critics.
Spacey kept busy the following year, appearing in three
disparate projects that reflected his versatility.
Besides popping up as himself in the third Austin Powers
outing, Austin Powers in Goldmember, he played the title
character of The Life of David Gale, the story of a
University of Texas professor whose anti-capital
punishment stance assumes very personal meaning when he
is convicted of rape and murder and lands on death row.
Spacey also starred in The United States of Leland,
playing the father of a fifteen-year-old (Ryan Gosling)
who murders an autistic child.
Filmography
Actor
Superman Returns (2006)
Beyond the Sea (2004)
The United States of Leland (2004)
The Life of David Gale (2003)
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Ordinary Decent Criminal (2002)
K-Pax (2001)
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (2001)
The Shipping News (2001)
The Big Kahuna (2000)
Pay It Forward (2000)
American Beauty (1999)
A Bug's Life (1998)
Hurlyburly (1998)
The Negotiator (1998)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
Looking for Richard (1996)
A Time to Kill (1996)
Outbreak (1995)
Seven (1995)
Swimming With Sharks (1995)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Doomsday Gun (1994)
Iron Will (1994)
The Ref (1994)
Consenting Adults (1992)
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Henry & June (1990)
A Show of Force (1990)
Dad (1989)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
Rocket Gibraltar (1988)
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1987)
Heartburn (1986)
Director
Beyond the Sea (2004)
Albino Alligator (1996)
Producer
Beyond the Sea (2004)
The United States of Leland (2004)
The Big Kahuna (2000)
Swimming With Sharks (1995)
Screenwriter
Beyond the Sea (2004)
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