Owen Wilson Biography

Owen Wilson was born in Dallas Texas. His father Robert Andrew Wilson was an advertising executive and operator for PBS and his mother Laura Cunningham Wilson was a photographer. He has an older brother Andrew and younger brother Luke. Being a middle child meant that Owen always had to strive for attention. Probably this is the reason why he was so naughty in school. He attended the Lamplighter School and later the St. Mark’s School. When he was in the tenth grade Owen got expelled from school because he stole a teacher’s text book to complete his homework. He was caught and the expelled from school. He then finished his high schooling in New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.

He then enrolled into the University of Texas where he met Wes Anderson. Both shared a passion for acting and decided to write a script. The script was named Bottle Rocket. Wes gave it to a writer L.M. Kit Carlson who in turn gave it to a producer. The script after changing hands one more time landed in the hands of James L. Brooks, who gave them $5 million to make a feature film out of it. Soon Owen moved base to Hollywood and stayed with his brothers and Anderson. He worked with Anderson on two more films; Rushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums. Owen prefers to write rather than to act and wishes if he could do it more often, but finds it hard to make time because of his busy acting schedule.

After moving to Los Angeles, he soon found work. He was cast in The Cable Guy (1996) directed by Ben Stiller. Ben had seen him in Bottle Rocket (1996) and had loved his performance. The two have since then been good friends and have collaborated together in a total of nine movies. Owen landed small roles in a few big budget movies like Anaconda (1997) and Armageddon (1998). But that big break was still missing. Then came Shanghai Noon with Jackie Chan. Jackie had recently started making movies in Hollywood and his style of films were unique. Shanghai Noon belonged to the action comedy genre. Owen played a cowboy helping Imperial guard Jackie find the princess. The movie was a surprise hit and Owen got the break he was looking for.

Veteran actor Gene Hackman saw Owen’s performance in Shanghai and recommended him for the role of a soldier trapped behind the borders of the enemy in Behind Enemy Lines. Owen was playing a serious role after a very long time and he nailed it. The movie was a hit and Owen proved his mettle as a serious actor. But it was back to writing for Owen, he co-wrote the movie The Royal Tenenbaums. The movie was smash hit both critically and commercially. The movie also earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He followed it up with two more action comedies; I-Spy (2002) and Shanghai Knights (2003). Both the movies failed but did nothing to harm Owen’s career.

Owen liked doing bro-comedies which is two or more guys teaming up and opening a can of worms. This time he teamed up with Vince Vaughan for Wedding Crashers (2005). The movie was a huge hit grossing more than $200 million domestically. Owen’s career graph was rising slowly but surely. Then in 2006 came Night at the Museum. He played the miniature cowboy Jedadiah; who was one of the many creatures that came alive in the museum at night. Again this movie was a big hit. Though it was a complete Ben Stiller movie, Owen still had an important role to play.

Owen’s life so far had not seen great turmoil, but all that was about to change. In August 2007, Owen attempted to take his own life. Not much was known behind the reason of his suicide attempt. Many speculated it was his failed relationship with Kate Hudson. His lawyer gave a statement that the actor was undergoing treatment for depression. Many were shocked because he was known to be happy-go lucky person. Owen came out from this and made a public appearance for the premier of The Darjeeling Limited (2007). He has never publically spoken about the incident.

Putting the bad chapter in his life behind him Owen continued along his way. After starring in many movies a supporting actor it was now time to play solo. He played the main lead in Drillbit Taylor and Marley & Me. In Marley & Me, he starred opposite Jennifer Aniston. Drillbit Taylor was a moderate hit while Marley & Me was a big hit, staying at the number position for two weeks and grossing close to $240 million. Owen will next be seen in The Big Year with Steve Martin