Kevin Spacey

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 actor’s other major film in 2001, Lasse Hallstrom’s 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

Superman Returns (2006) .... Lex Luthor
Edison (2005) .... Levon Wallace
Beyond the Sea (2004) .... Bobby Darin
The Life of David Gale (2003) .... David Gale
The United States of Leland (2003) .... Albert T. Fitzgerald
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002 Kevin Spacey as Dr. Evil The Shipping News (2001) .... Quoyle
K-PAX (2001) .... Prot
Pay It Forward (2000) .... Eugene Simonet
Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000) .... Michael Lynch
The Big Kahuna (1999) .... Larry Mann
American Beauty (1999) .... Lester Burnham
A Bug's Life (1998) (voice) .... Hopper
Hurlyburly (1998) .... Mickey
The Negotiator (1998) .... Lt. Chris Sabian
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) .... James 'Jim' Williams
L.A. Confidential (1997) .... Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes
A Time to Kill (1996) .... D.A. Rufus Buckley
Se7en (1995) .... John Doe
Outbreak (1995) .... Maj. Casey Schuler
The Usual Suspects (1995) .... Roger 'Verbal' Kint
Swimming with Sharks (1994) .... Buddy Ackerman
The Ref (1994) .... Lloyd Chasseur
Iron Will (1994) .... Harry Kingsley
Consenting Adults (1992) .... Eddy Otis
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) .... John Williamson
When You Remember Me (1990) (TV) .... Wade
Henry & June (1990) .... Richard Osborn
A Show of Force (1990) .... Frank Curtin
Dad (1989) .... Mario
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) .... Kirgo
Working Girl (1988) .... Bob Speck
Rocket Gibraltar (1988) .... Dwayne Hanson
"Wiseguy" .... Mel Profitt (8 episodes, 1988)
Heartburn (1986) .... Subway Thief