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Actor, director. Born December 9, 1953, in Christopher (some sources say Benton), Illinois. A notoriously temperamental child, Malkovich was raised in a small town, where his violent tantrums and erratic behavior often forced his family to lock him out of the house. At the age of 16, he lost an excess of 60 pounds by eating nothing but Jell-O for two months. While attending Eastern Illinois University, Malkovich was introduced to acting by a fellow classmate. Upon his graduation, in 1976, he joined Chicago’s fledgling Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where he appeared in and directed a number of shows. As a founding member of the now-famous repertory troupe, Malkovich contributed to more than 50 Steppenwolf productions over the next six years. In 1981, Malkovich directed his first stage production The Rear Column. The following year, he moved to New York, where he starred in an off-Broadway production of True West—a role which he reprised in a 1983 TV adaptation for PBS’ American Playhouse. In 1984, Malkovich appeared in the Broadway revival of Death of A Salesman (with Dustin Hoffman), made his film debut in The Killing Fields, and earned an Oscar nod for his brilliant portrayal of a blind man in Places in the Heart. In 1985, Malkovich won an Emmy Award for reprising the role of Biff Loman in the CBS adaptation of Death of a Salesman. He offered notable performances in Steven Spielberg’s sprawling epic Empire of the Sun and in the offbeat comedy Making Mr. Right (both 1987). As part of an A-list ensemble that included Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, Uma Thurman, and Keanu Reeves, Malkovich gave a definitive performance as the unscrupulous aristocrat Vicomte de Valmont in the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons. Malkovich starred with longtime friend and fellow founding member of the Steppenwolf Theater Gary Sinise in the 1992 remake of Of Mice and Men. In his role as Lennie, he delivered a critically acclaimed performance opposite Sinise’s equally impressive portrayal of George. Malkovich also lent his voice to a number of features—he narrated the film Alive and provided a voice for the animated We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (both 1993). Malkovich played a profligate womanizer in the 1996 film adaptation of the Henry James classic The Portrait of a Lady; the following year, he won the scene-stealing role of Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom in the action thriller Con Air. Assuming yet another menacing role, Malkovich took a turn as the eccentric Russian club owner, Teddy KGB, in the 1998 film Rounders, which starred Matt Damon. Considered a distinguished actor who excels at playing sinister and dastardly characters, Malkovich has worked with equal ease on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theatre, as well as in film and television. In 1999, he portrayed a fictionalized version of himself in the oddly entertaining Being John Malkovich, which costarred John Cusack and Cameron Diaz. Recently, his characters have ranged from King Charles VII in Luc Besson’s The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc to Herman Mankiewicz in the HBO film RKO 281 (both 1999), which also starred Liev Schreiber. In 2000, Malkovich took on the demanding role of film director F.W. Murnau in Shadow of the Vampire, a work which detailed Murnau’s creation of the classic thriller Nosferatu. In 2003, he received strong reviews for his directorial debut, The Dancer Upstairs. Next up, Malkovich will star in and produce Art School Confidential, a comedy about a cop working undercover as an art student who accidentally earns critical acclaim for his work. The actor is also set to star in the comedy Color Me Kubrick, based on a true story of a man who posed as the reclusive director in order to gain access to London's high society. In 1982, Malkovich married fellow Steppenwolf player Glenne Headly. The couple worked together in the films Eleni (1985) and Making Mr. Right (1987) before divorcing in 1988. Currently, Malkovich is dating director Nicoletta Peyran with whom he has two children. |
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