Dick Cusack

Dick Cusack
Born	Richard John Cusack August 29, 1925(1925-08-29) New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	June 2, 2003(2003-06-02) (aged 77) Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, filmmaker
Years active	1970s–2003
Religion	Roman Catholic
Spouse	Nancy Cusack

Richard John "Dick" Cusack (August 29, 1925 – June 2, 2003) was an American film actor and filmmaker.

Life

Cusack was born in New York City to Irish-American Catholic parents.^{[citation needed]} He served with the U.S. Army in the Philippines in World War II. After the war Cusack attended College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and played on the school's 1947 championship basketball team.

Cusack and his wife Nancy had five children: Ann Cusack, Bill Cusack, Susie Cusack, Joan Cusack, and John Cusack all followed him into the acting profession.^[1]

He was a friend and college room-mate of peace activist Philip Berrigan.^[2][1]

Dick Cusack died on June 2, 2003 in Evanston, Illinois from pancreatic cancer.^[1]

Career

Until 1970 Cusack worked as a Clio Award winning advertising executive.

He then pursused a career as a film actor, beginning with minor roles. Most of his acting roles were playing authority figures, such as a United States Senate Chairman, minister/chaplain, and U.S. Secretary of State; he played a judge in the TV movie Overexposed, and in theatrical releases Things Change and Eight Men Out.

Cusack was a documentary filmmaker;^[3] his 1971 abortion documentary The Committee won an Emmy Award. He also owned a film production company^[4]

He was honored with an award from the Evanston Arts Council for preserving a school and converting it into the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, which houses the Piven Theatre Workshop where his famous acting children trained. Two weeks prior to his passing, he completed the final draft of a play to memorialize his former college roommate entitled, Backoff Barkman, which was produced posthumously in the Midwest.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Return to Me	Mr. Bennington
	High Fidelity	Minister
1999	The Jack Bull	Jury Foreman	Television
1996	Chain Reaction	Senate Chairman
	Evil Has a Face	Lester	Television
1995	While You Were Sleeping	Doctor Rubin
1993	The Fugitive	Attorney Walter Gutherie
1992	Overexposed	Judge	Television
1990	Crazy People	Mort
1989	The Package	Secretary of State
1988	Things Change	Judge
	Eight Men Out	Judge Friend
1984	The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck	Unknown	Television
1983	Class	Chaplain Baker
1980	My Bodyguard	Principal Roth

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Early Edition	Elderly Man	"The Wall: Part 2" (1 episode)
1994	Missing Persons	Champion	"If You Could Pick Your Own Parents..." (1 episode)
1987	Sable	Mahoney	"Watchdogs" (1 episode)

Awards

Year	Award	Result	Recipient(s)
2000	Commitment to Chicago Award	Won	Shared with: Nancy Cusack Ann Cusack Bill Cusack Joan Cusack John Cusack Susie Cusack

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Mark Caro (3 June 2003). "Obituary: Richard Cusack, 77 - Ad man, playwright who led acting clan". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030018_1_mr-cusack-nancy-cusack-richard-cusack. 
2. ^ Actor John Cusack on Hitler, politics and his movie 'Max', Beliefnet.com
3. ^ "Being John Cusack" The Guardian, 1 July 2000
4. ^ "Joan Cusack biography", Film Reference.com.

External links

• Dick Cusack at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Cusack, Dick
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 29, 1925
Place of birth	New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of death	June 2, 2003
Place of death	Evanston, Illinois, U.S.