Kevin Spacey Biography

Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959 in South Orange, New Jersey), better known as Kevin Spacey, is an American actor of Welsh descent. He has won two Oscars for his film acting, including Best Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects in 1995, and Best Actor for American Beauty in 1999.
Sacey attended Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California, which was reknowned for its drama department. In Grade 12 he starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Von Trapp, opposite Mare Winningham as Maria.
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Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a messenger in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, part 1 in 1981. The following year he made his first Broadway appearance in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts. Although his interest soon turned to film, Spacey remains actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers.

Spacey announced in February 2003 that he was moving to London, England to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Spacey will direct the new Old Vic Theatre Company, which stages shows eight months out of the year, starting in 2004. Spacey has agreed to star in two shows a season, in addition to directorial duties. In the 2004/05 season, Spacey directed a performance of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, and performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry. During the 2005/06 season, he is currently performing in the title role of Richard II (directed by Trevor Nunn). He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by London South Bank University in November 2005.

Movie roles

An early role as the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt in the TV series Wiseguy earned him an avid fan following. The actor quickly developed a reputation as a character actor and co-star in demand, while taking on roles in forgettable fare like See No Evil, Hear No Evil before upgrading to better characters like one-half of the bickering Connecticut couple in The Ref and the put-upon office manager of the all-star ensemble film Glengarry Glen Ross. He delivered a tour de force performance in 1994's dark Hollywood satire Swimming with Sharks, as the ultimate boss from showbiz hell. Spacey is best known for playing dark, quirky characters such as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects, an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill, and a serial killer who murders people he thinks guilty of the seven deadly sins in Se7en. He won the Best Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects. He then won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as a suburban father who falls in lust with a teenage cheerleader in American Beauty. In the last few years, however, he has taken on lighter, more sympathetic roles, such as a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward, a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax, and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea. It's notable that these films have been considerably less critically and financially successful than Spacey's darker films.

Spacey provided his own vocals on the Beyond the Sea soundtrack, and they have won him wide acclaim. Beyond The Sea was a lifelong dream project for the actor who took on writing, directing, and starring duties in this quasi-biography cum musical about Darin's life, career, and relationship with actress Sandra Dee.

Spacey has recently completed filming the role of villain Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer directed Superman Returns.

Personal life

In the run-up to the 1999 Academy Awards, Spacey gave an interview to Lesley Stahl for 60 Minutes on CBS in which he categorically denied he was gay. Soon after winning the Oscar for American Beauty, the tabloid The Star printed a collection of photos of Spacey with a young model/waiter, showing the duo meeting at a mall, walking off, then driving to a Los Angeles park, where they hugged and fondled. Spacey did not dispute the authenticity of the photos or press charges, and The Star claimed it retained, but didn't publish, the most graphic photos.

Spacey made international headlines in August of 2004 while living in London. He reported to local police that he had been mugged in a park at approximately 4 a.m. by a young man. Several hours later, he recanted and apologized to the police. The police accepted Spacey's new version of events and did not press charges.

KEVIN SPACEY PICTURES

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KEVIN SPACEY BIOGRAPHY