Kevin Spacey Biography

He was born Kevin Fowler, the youngest of the three Fowler kids. He has an elder sister named Julie and brother, Randy. His father, Thomas, was a technical writer and mother Kathleen, was a secretary. His father had to move around a lot so the family moved along with him. Kevin was a very naughty child; he once burned down his sister’s tree house. His parents then decided to send him to Northridge Military Academy, a military school, hoping it would straighten him out. But they were wrong, he got expelled from that school too when he hit a student with a tyre. He was then put in Chatsworth High School. This turned out be a blessing in disguise as Kevin excelled in this school. He took up acting on the advice of a guidance counselor. Chatsworth was a breeding ground for many future actors.

Kevin also had a dream of becoming a stand-up comic. He would go to comedy clubs and watch great stand-ups Robin Williams and Jay Leno perform on stage. He too would perform on amateur nights. He finished high school as the valedictorian and briefly joined college. He then left college to join the Julliard College of Drama where he studied for two grueling years. After entering the ‘real world’ Kevin struggled hard. He did a lot of plays, but the money situation was tight. He would hide from his landlady and even collected and sold tin cans to make extra money. He then started visiting the public library and read up on many successful actors, here he learnt that they too didn’t attain success overnight but had to wait years.

Kevin had already made his big screen debut in Heartburn as the subway thief and also did a few bit roles in other movies .But Kevin’s big break came in the form of a TV Series. He played the villainous Mel Profitt in the mob drama Wiseguy. He then was still working small roles in a lot of movies. It is at one of these movies that something happened that changed his life. He was playing a small role in a movie starring Jack Lemmon. In the neighboring studio Eddie Murphy was filming Harlem Nights (1989). His trailer was parked next to Lemmon’s trailer. While Eddie’s trailer was surrounded by people and the door was shut, Lemmon’s trailer door was open and he was sitting inside solving the daily news puzzle; Lemmon looked up and smiled at Kevin. That’s when Kevin decided that he did not want to become a great star but instead become a great actor.

His wish was granted when he got a lead role in Fall From Grace (1991), he played a naughty evangelist. Finally he had managed to land a leading role. Next came Darrow (1991), though the movie was only released in the UK, his performance won him rave reviews. It was pretty clear that Kevin was a great actor his next few movies were proof of that. But the true acknowledgment of this fact came when he won an Oscar for his supporting role in The Usual Suspects. He played Robert Kint who gives the police the information about Gabriel Byrne’s gang.

Kevin was now hot property; the award had got him a lot of attention. The media had now started to pry in his personal life, but he wasn’t letting them in. The media even started speculating whether he was gay, but he didn’t respond for a long time. It was now time to yield the megaphone. He decided to direct Albino Alligators starring Matt Dillon and Gary Sinise. The movie did not do well commercially, but was critically appreciated.

It seemed that one Oscar was not enough for this actor so he got himself another one. This time he won it for Best Actor for American Beauty. He played Lester Burnham a middle-aged guy who chucks it all to become his old self. America loved him and the awards poured in. There was no stopping him, the hits came one after the other. Pay It Forward (2000), The Shipping News (2001) and K-PAX (2001) were all big hits. His next directorial venture was an ambitious one in Beyond the Sea, he played singer Bobby Darin. This was his dream project; he even co-wrote and co-produced the movie. But unfortunately for him the film did not do too well. Many criticized that he was too old to play the role but he didn’t care.

His next big movie was Superman Returns; he played the role of Lex Luthor, Superman’s arch nemesis. This movie also was a hit. Though Kevin has reduced the number of films he does, mainly to concentrate on his work in the theatre Old Vic, he still continues to do good work. His next expected arrivals are Bagman (In Production), Father of Invention (In Production) and Margin Call (In Production).