John Malkovich

Infobox actor

---

caption = John Malkovich, August 2005
birthname = John Gavin Malkovich
birthdate = birth date and age|1953|12|9|
birthplace = Christopher, Illinois, USA
occupation = Actor
yearsactive = 1984-present
spouse = Glenne Headly (1982-1988)
Tiana Davis (1989-present)
emmyawards = Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries/Movie
1986 "Death of a Salesman"
awards = NBR Award for Best Supporting Actor
1984 "Places in the Heart"
NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor
1999 "Being John Malkovich"

John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an Emmy Award-winning, two-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, producer and director.

Biography

Early life

Malkovich was born in Christopher, Illinois, and is of Croatian, German, and Scottish ancestry.cite web|url=http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/art.html|title=Croatian Art|work=Croationhistory.net|accessdate=1995-09-02] cite web|url=http://www.nicholaskralev.com/FT-malkovich.html|title=Seeing John Malkovich|work=Nicholaskralve.com|accessdate=2002-06-15] cite web|url=http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/31/102.html|title=Prisoners of War|work=The Moscow Times|accessdate=2006-03-31] He grew up in Benton, Illinois, in a large house on South Main Street. His father, Daniel Malkovich, was a state conservation director and publisher of "Outdoor Illinois", a conservation magazine. His mother, Joanne, owned the "Benton Evening News" (a local newspaper in Benton), as well as "Outdoor Illinois".cite web|url=http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019625/bio|title=John Malkovich|work=Yahoomovies|accessdate=2001-05-14] cite web|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,560488,00.html|title=A multitude of Malkovich|work=Filmguardian.co.uk|accessdate=2001-09-30] Because of his father's work, the Malkovich family is widely acknowledged as one of the founding families of the environmental movement in Illinois. He was an athlete in high school. He transferred to Illinois State University from Eastern Illinois University, where he only spent one semester with an interest in ecology, but he soon changed his major to Theatre.

Career

In 1976, Malkovich became a charter member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois. He moved to New York City, New York in 1983 and appeared in the play "True West". He appeared on Broadway with Dustin Hoffman in "Death of a Salesman" (1984). Malkovich won an Emmy Award for this role when the play became a television movie. One of his first forays into film was as an extra alongside Terry Kinney, George Wendt, Joan Allen, and Laurie Metcalf in Robert Altman's "A Wedding" (1978). He made his film debut in "Places in the Heart" (1984) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 1994, he was nominated for another Oscar in the same category for "In the Line of Fire" (1993). Though he played the title role in the Charlie Kaufman-penned "Being John Malkovich", he is playing a slight variation of himself, as indicated by the character's middle name of "Horatio". Malkovich has a cameo in the movie "Adaptation."—also written by Kaufman—appearing as himself during the filming of "Being John Malkovich". "The Dancer Upstairs", Malkovich's directorial debut, was released in 2002.

John Malkovich was considered to join the cast of "" after "William Petersen" aka "Gil Grissom" leaves in the next series.

Personal life

Malkovich was married to actress Glenne Headly, from 1982 to 1988. They divorced and Malkovich briefly dated Michelle Pfeiffer, his co-star in "Dangerous Liaisons". He later met his long-term partner Nicoletta Peyran on the set of The Sheltering Sky in 1989. They have two children; Amandine (born 1990) and Lowry (born 1992). He is fluent in French and for nearly 10 years, Malkovich lived and worked in the theatre in southern France. In an interview on The Late Show With David Letterman, Malkovich said he had just spent five weeks in the Summer of 2008 living in France. [September 5, 2008 Letterman show] Since 2003 he has also lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts.cite news | url=http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2005/09/12/seeking_john_malkovich/ | title=Seeking John Malkovich | accessdate=2008-03-26 | author=Kahn, Joseph P. | date=12 September 2005 | work=The Boston Globe]

Of the many people he has worked with, Malkovich is often associated with Gary Sinise, a fellow Steppenwolf Theatre Company alum. Joan Allen was a fellow drama student at Eastern Illinois University whom Malkovich brought into Steppenwolf. He met actor John Mahoney in a Chicago acting class years later, and advised him to join Steppenwolf.

On April 4, 2005, while speaking at Illinois State University, Malkovich was awarded a diploma in theatre. When attending the university as a student in the 1970s, he failed to take his last remaining graduation requirement, the U.S. Constitution test. This requirement was waived in order to award him the diploma.

Political views

Politically, Malkovich has described himself as a Libertarian. He is a supporter of the death penalty.cite web|url=http://www.lexingtonprosecutor.com/death_penalty_debate.htm|title=Death Penalty Debate|work=lexingtonprosecutor.com|accessdate=2000-06-16] When the serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed in 1994, Malkovich organized a champagne party for himself and his friends. Actor William Hootkins, who worked with Malkovich in BBC television's "Rocket to the Moon", stated, "In fact, he's so right-wing you have to wonder if he's kidding."cite web|url=http://allstarz.hollywood.com/~malkovich/suntel.html|title="Right for the part PROFILE: JOHN MALKOVICH"|work=AllStarzHollywood.com|accessdate=2003-01-06] In the United Kingdom in 2002 at the Cambridge Union Society, when asked whom he would most like to "fight to the death," he replied that he would "rather just shoot" journalist Robert Fisk and British MP George Galloway.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1967317.stm|title=MP stunned at actor's outburst|work=News.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=2002-05-04] Fisk reacted with outrage.cite web|url=http://www.counterpunch.org/fisk0513.html|title=Why Does Malkovich Want to Kill Me?|work=counterpunch.org|accessdate=2002-05-13] When interviewed by "The Observer", Malkovich elaborated on his comments: "I hate somebody who is supposed to be a Middle Eastern expert who thinks Jesus was born in Jerusalem. I hate what I consider his vile anti-semitism. This being said, I apologize to both Fisk and Galloway; they seem like good men but if they make such a heinous mistake again, I will not hesitate to murder them brutally by way of the gallows". Malkovich then added: "I'm a Christopher Hitchens fan myself, but no one has thinner skins than journalists, in my experience, and I come from a family of them... They can dish it out but they can't take it. But the reason I don't like the topic, why I don't really say anything about a whiner like Fisk, is it gives them more oxygen."cite web|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1816049,00.html|title=Life and taxes|work=Guardian.co.uk|accessdate=2006-09-07]

Filmography

Directing

*"The Dancer Upstairs" (2002)

Producing

*"The Accidental Tourist" (1988) (executive producer)
*"Ghost World" (2001) (producer)
*"The Dancer Upstairs" (2002) (producer)
*"The Libertine" (2004) (producer)
*"Kill the Poor" (2006) (producer)
*"Art School Confidential" (2006) (producer)
*"Juno" (2007) (producer)

References

[New movie! "Burn After Reading" [http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Story?id=5736669 "The Many Faces of John Malkovich"] , "ABCNews.com", 2008-09 10. Retrieved on 2008-09-10.]

External links

*imdb|518
*tvtome person|91108
* [http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles77.htm Fisk:Why does John Malkovich want to kill me?]
* [http://allstarz.hollywood.com/~malkovich/suntel.html Profile: John Malkovich]
* [http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1816049,00.html Life and taxes]
* [http://www.finchandpartners.com/ Finch and Partners] (John's Management in the UK)
* [http://unclekimono.com/ John's official clothing design web site]
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1739 Photographs of John Malkovich]

Persondata
NAME= Malkovich, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Malkovich, John Gavin
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Academy Award-nominated American actor, producer and director
DATE OF BIRTH=December 9, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH=Christopher, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=