John Malkovich
John Malkovich was born on 9 December 1953 in Christopher, Illinois.
Malkovich studied at Illinois State University, where he switched from environmental studies to drama. In 1976 he co-founded in Chicago the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, an experimental company.
John Malkovich has proclaimed his preference for theatre work and its relative faithfulness to a writer's intentions. A sign of John Malkovich's regard for theatre was his donation, in April 2005, of money from men's clothes he had designed to the Royal Court Theatre in London.
In 1983 John Malkovich made his New York acting debut in a Steppenwolf production of Sam Shepard's True West that transferred to American Playhouse.
Malkovich received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Places in the Heart (1984).
Other quality films followed including The Killing Fields (1984), The Glass Menagerie (1987), and Empire of the Sun (1987).
He had bought the rights to Accidental Tourist (1988) but let Wlliam Hurt play the lead. It didn't stop him from continuing with a variety of interesting roles including Dangerous Liaisons (1988), The Sheltering Sky (1990), Of Mice and Men (1992), and In the Line Of Fire (1993).
And on the list goes, as John Malkovich seems not only to have performed well, but often selected his roles well. Most interesting was the role he had, playing himself in Spike Jonze's stunning Being John Malkovich (1999).
John Malkovich made his film directorial debut with The Dancer Upstairs.
When he went on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, his choices were:
- When the Leaves Come Falling Down (Van Morrison)
- Rainy Day in Georgia performed by Brook Benton
- Once Upon a Time by Frank Sinatra
- Kentucky Avenue by Tom Waits
- Accordion theme from soundtrack of The Dancer Upstairs performed by Albert Iglesias
- Still DRE (Dr Dre)
- Highway 29 (Bruce Springsteen)
- Who knows where the time goes (Nina Simone), which was the record he would most want to take to the island
- Book: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- Luxury: a cappuccino maker.
Recent John Malkovich films include Colour Me Kubrick, Klimt, Eragon and Drunkboat.
Malkovich was 59th in Channel 4's list of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars.