Biography of John Cusack

John Paul Cusack was born on 28th of June, 1966 in Evanston, a northern district of Chicago. He comes from a liberal Catholic family with Irish American traits. He is the son of former actor-producer-filmmaker Richard Cusack and Nancy, a math teacher and a political activist. All his other siblings are also connected to acting. He attended the Evanston Township High School in Evanston and later on attended the Piven Theatre Workshop for a semester, when he was an NYU student. He dropped himself out of the NYU with the excuse of having "too much fire in his belly". He was famously known as a Teen Star something, he still hates on recall!

Film Career:

He made his professional debut in Hollywood as early as the age of 12, when he did some voice-overs and ad films. He made his film debut at the age of 17 in the romantic comedy 'Class' alongside Andrew McCarthy and Rob Lowe. Then on, he continued working as a Teen actor in several other feature films like Sixteen Candles(1984), The Sure Thing(1985), Better off Dead(1985), One Crazy Summer (1986), etc. But what gave him real fame was the venture 'Say Anything'. It released in 1989 and it won him the CFCA (Chicago Film Critic Association) award for the Most Promising Actor.

As a grown up, his first blockbuster film was 'The Grifters'' released in 1990. After it he worked in some serious movies like 'The Colors', 'Shadows and Fog', 'The Player', Roadside Prophet' and many more. He worked with many renowned producers, directors and co-actors. His dark comedy, 'Gross Point Blank' released in 1996 and saw a huge box-office success. John was the co-producer and screenplay writer for it. He also got a nomination for the Chlotrudis Award, for the Best Adapted Screenplay, for the same movie. In 1997, he received a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for 'favorite supporting actor'.

The films like 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil', 'This is My Father', 'The Thin Red Line', 'Cradle Will Rock' etc. got a lot of critical acclaim. This made him popular in both class and mass. His 1999 film 'Being John Malkovich', in which he played an obsessive puppeteer gave him two nominations, for the Independent Spirit and London Film Critics Circle Awards.

Some of his other famous films are: 'America's Sweethearts' and 'Serendipity' in 2001, 'Adaptation' in 2002, 'Runaway Jury' and 'Identity' in 2003, 'Must Love Dogs' in 2004, 'The Contract' in 2006 and the horror film '1408' in 2007. '1408' won him a nomination for the 'Saturn Award' for the Best Actor. In 2008, he came up with a political satire titled 'War Inc'. He has some 4-5 films in the pipeline, which will get produced in 2009-2010. These are - 'Shanghai', '2012', 'The Factory' and 'Hot Tub Time Machine'. In all, he has acted in more than 50 feature films of various flavors.

He started his own Production House, New Crime Productions, which has produced films like Gross Point Blank (1997), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) etc. as well as some stage shows and television mini-series.

Personal Life:

Unlike many celebrities, John Cusack is very protective and secretive about his personal life. He hardly makes public appearances and doesn't like attending celebrity parties. He is kind of a sincere guy who likes to think and act real. Like his mother, John is interested in political activities and never misses a single chance to make his thoughts about social issues public. He has been a frequent blogger to The Huffington Post, on which he regularly comments on ongoing political issues, such as the War in Iraq. He has also mentioned his disagreement for the Bush Administration saying that it is "depressing, corrupt, unlawful, and tragically absurd". He also appeared in a MoveOn.org advertisement claiming Bush and McClain as having the same governing policies, in June 2008. He supported U2 frontman Bono's DATA campaign, which concentrated on issues like AIDS, Trade, Africa and Debts.

He is fond of Rock Music and his favorite band is the punk rock band named 'The Clash'. He is also a huge fan of 'Fishbone', 'The Specials', 'Elvis Costello' and 'Bob Dylan'. When free, he likes to practice kickboxing with his stunt coordinator Benny Urquidez. He also likes Helicopter Snowboarding. He is a die-hard fan of Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. On Tropopkin's issue no.100, he was ranked 15 on the Top 25 Most Intriguing People's list. On VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars countdown, he featured no.22. Also, in 2007, he was chosen as 70th in the list of 100 sexiest Movie Stars in the world. For most of his career, he has been away from any serious allegations or controversies. This record is quite hard to maintain for a Hollywood celebrity! Though he has been linked to many of his co-stars, he is currently single and lives in Malibu, California.

Despite having such a huge fan following and being famous, he still prefers and maintains his privacy. Knowing the man, we can only say that being famous is only valid if you stay grounded!