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.
[John Cusack - Awards]
Biography
Early life
Cusack was born in
Evanston, Illinois, to an
Irish American Catholic family.
[John Cusack interview][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,
["Being John Cusack." guardian.co.uk. 1 July 2000.] owned a film production company
[John Cusack Biography (1966-). FilmReference.com.] and was a friend of activist
Philip Berrigan.
["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".
["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.
