John Cusack

Infobox actor


imagesize =
caption =John Cusack, May 2006
birthdate = birth date and age|1966|6|28
birthplace = Evanston, Illinois, United States
deathdate =
birthname = John Paul Cusack
homepage =

John Paul Cusack (born June 28, 1966) is an American film actor and screenwriter. He won the 1990 Most Promising Actor CFCA Award for "Say Anything...", the 1998 Favorite Supporting Actor Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Con Air", and the 2000 Commitment to Chicago Award. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000131/awards John Cusack - Awards ] ]

Biography

Early life

Cusack was born in Evanston, Illinois, to an Irish American Catholic family. [ [http://www.iofilm.co.uk/feats/interviews/j/john_cusack.shtml John Cusack interview ] ] [ [http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aamaxinta.htm John Cusack Interview-Max Movie ] ] His father, Dick Cusack (1925—2003), and siblings Ann, Joan, Bill, and Susie have also been actors; his father was also a documentary filmmaker, [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,338266,00.html "Being John Cusack."] guardian.co.uk. 1 July 2000.] owned a film production company [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/28/John-Cusack.html "John Cusack Biography (1966-)"] . FilmReference.com.] and was a friend of activist Philip Berrigan. [ [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/120/story_12015_1.html "Actor John Cusack on Hitler, politics and his movie 'Max'."] Beliefnet.com.] Cusack's mother, Nancy, is a former mathematics teacher and political activist. Cusack spent a year at New York University before dropping out, saying that he had "too much fire in his belly". [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1126190 "Actor John Cusack."] NPR.org.]

Career

Cusack gained fame in the mid-1980s after appearing in teen movies such as "Better Off Dead", "The Sure Thing", "One Crazy Summer", and "Sixteen Candles". Cusack made a cameo in the 1988 music video for "Trip At The Brain" by Suicidal Tendencies. His biggest success in that genre is arguably his starring role as Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's "Say Anything". His roles broadened in the late 1980s and early 1990s with more serious-minded fare such as the political satire "True Colors" and the film noir thriller "The Grifters".

Cusack became a proven box office success with his roles in the dark comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank" and the Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster "Con Air". In the years hence, his range of films has diversified, appearing in roles such as an obsessive puppeteer in "Being John Malkovich", a lovelorn record store owner in "High Fidelity", and a Jewish art dealer mentoring a young Adolf Hitler in "Max". He starred in the horror film "1408", based on Stephen King's short story of the same name. He next appeared as a widowed father in the Iraq War-themed drama "Grace is Gone" and as assassin Brand Hauser in the dark political satire, "War, Inc.", along with Hilary Duff and sister Joan Cusack.

Sister Joan Cusack and his close friend Jeremy Piven have appeared in many of his films. The siblings appeared as two geeks in "Sixteen Candles": John as one of Farmer Ted's posse, and Joan as the geek with the neck brace. They also appeared together in "High Fidelity", "Grosse Pointe Blank", "Cradle Will Rock", "Martian Child" and "Say Anything". Piven and Cusack played opposite one another in "One Crazy Summer", "Serendipity", and "Grosse Pointe Blank". Cusack also had a brief cameo, seen from behind but speaking a line of dialogue, in "Broadcast News", in which Joan also appeared. Piven also had roles in "Say Anything", "The Grifters" and "Runaway Jury". [ [http://imdb.com/title/tt0091680/fullcredits#cast One Crazy Summer (1986) - Full cast and crew ] ]

Personal and political life

Cusack is fiercely protective of his private life; he has said that "celebrity is the worst thing that can happen to an actor."Fact|date=September 2008 Since May 2005, he has been an occasional contributing at "The Huffington Post", including an interview with Naomi Klein. He has written extensively on his opposition to the war in Iraq and his disdain for the Bush administration, calling their worldview "depressing, corrupt, unlawful, and tragically absurd". [ [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-cusack/ "John Cusack - Politics on The Huffington Post"] .] He also appeared in a June 2008 Moveon.org ad, where he makes the claim that George W. Bush and John McCain have the same governing priorities. [ [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/john-cusack-stars-in-move_n_106556.html "John Cusack Stars In MoveOn's New McCain Ad."] "Associated Press". 11 June 2008.]

Cusack has an allegiance to both the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox, for which, he says, he's "in trouble there for that.""Inside the Actors Studio", December 3, 2007] He has led the crowd in a performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field.

In 2008, police arrested a woman suspected of stalking Cusack. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/01/people.cusack.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch "Woman arrested on suspicion of stalking Cusack."] "CNN". 1 April 2008.] On October 10, 2008, the woman pleaded no contest and received five years probation, mandatory psychiatric counseling, and was ordered to avoid Cusack, his home and business for the next 10 years. [ [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PEOPLE_CUSACK?SITE=WYCHE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT "Accused John Cusack stalker accepts plea deal."] "Associated Press". October 10, 2008.]

Filmography

References

External links

*imdb name|0000131|John Cusack
* [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=61::72I Article about Cusack] at Allmovie"
* [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1402 John Cusack Interview]
* [http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/john_cusack The Onion A.V. Club interview]
*tv.com person|35424|John Cusack