Ben Affleck (born
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt;
[He is listed as "Benjamin G. Affleckbold"; born on August 15, 1972 in Alameda County according to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Searchable at www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461] August 15, 1972) is an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He became known in the mid 1990s after his involvement in the film
Mallrats (1995), and later played the lead role in
Chasing Amy in 1997. Affleck has since become an
Academy Award winner for his screenplay in
Good Will Hunting in 1997. He has established himself as a Hollywood leading man, having starred in several big budget films, such as
Armageddon (1998),
Pearl Harbor (2001),
Changing Lanes (2002),
The Sum of All Fears (2002) and
Daredevil (2003).
After a high profile relationship with actress
Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998, his relationship with actress/singer
Jennifer Lopez attracted worldwide media attention in which Affleck and Lopez were dubbed as "
Bennifer." Following their breakup in 2004, he began dating
Jennifer Garner. The two married in June 2005 and have two daughters, Violet, born December 2005 and Seraphina, born January 2009. Affleck has been actively involved in politics, along with a non-profit organization called the A-T Children's Project. Along with childhood friend
Matt Damon, he founded the production company
LivePlanet.
Early life
Affleck was born in
Berkeley, California, the son of Christopher Anne "Chris" (née Boldt),
[According to Harvard Reports of Christopher Anne Affleck, Middlesex County Land Records, and the birth record of Casey Affleck] a school district employee and teacher, and Timothy Byers Affleck, a drug counselor, social worker, janitor, auto mechanic, bartender, and former actor with the Theater Company of Boston.
Affleck's mother attended
Harvard University and currently teaches in Cambridge Public Schools. His younger brother is actor
Casey Affleck.
Affleck has Irish and Scottish ancestry.
His family moved to
Cambridge, Massachusetts when he was very young and his parents divorced in 1984. At the age of eight, Affleck met ten-year-old
Matt Damon, who lived two blocks away.
The two would later attend
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School together, although they were in different year groups.
Affleck attended
Occidental College in Los Angeles, as well as the
University of Vermont.
