Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey

(* 1959)

Biographical Sketch

Kevin Spacey Fowler, KBE (born South Orange, NJ, USA, July 26, 1959), is an American actor, film director, producer, singer and comedian. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s before obtaining supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s that culminated in his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995), and an Academy Award for Best Actor for midlife crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999).

His other starring roles have included the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), and the role of Lex Luthor in the superhero film Superman Returns (2006).

Spacey was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (Hon.Litt.D.) from the London South Bank University in November 2005. In June 2008, he was appointed as Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, succeeding Patrick Stewart in the post.

Since 2013, Spacey has played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards. For his role as Underwood, he has won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.

Major Awards and Honors

Titles of the British Empire

2010: Order of the British Empire – Honorary Commander
2016: Order of the British Empire – Honorary Knight Commander

Academy Awards (USA)

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”
1999: Best Actor – “American Beauty”

Golden Globe Awards
(Hollywood Foreign Press Association)

2014: Best Actor, Television Series Drama – “House of Cards”

Screen Actors Guild (USA)

1999: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture – “American Beauty”
2014: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series – “House of Cards”
2015: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series – “House of Cards”

National Board of Review (USA)

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”
1995: Best Cast – “The Usual Suspects”
1995: Best Supporting Actor – “Se7en”

Hollywood Walk of Fame

1999: Star plaque

Tony Awards (Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) (USA)

1991: Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play – “Lost in Yonkers”

Society of London Theatre

1999: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play – “The Iceman Cometh”
2015: Special Olivier Award
Shared with Sylvie Guillem.

BAFTA Awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)

1999: BAFTA Film Awards: Best Actor – “American Beauty”

London Film Critics Circle

1999: Actor of the Year – “American Beauty”

Empire Awards (Great Britain)

1998: Best Actor – “L.A. Confidential”

Evening Standard Awards (Great Britain)

2008: Special Award

Broadcast Film Critics Association
(USA / CANADA)

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”
– Split with Ed Harris (“Apollo 13”)

New York Film Critics Circle

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”
1995: Best Supporting Actor – “Se7en”
1995: Best Supporting Actor – “Outbreak”
1995: Best Supporting Actor – “Swimming With Sharks”

Boston Society of Film Critics

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”
1997: Best Supporting Actor – “L.A Confidential”

Chicago Film Critics Association

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”

Seattle International Film Festival

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”

Society of Texas Film Critics

1995: Best Supporting Actor – “The Usual Suspects”
1995: Best Supporting Actor – “Se7en”
1995: Best Supporting Actor – “Outbreak”
1997: Best Supporting Actor – “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”
1997: Best Supporting Actor – “L.A. Confidential”

MTV Movie Awards

1996: Best Villain – “Se7en”

Webby Awards

2013: Special Achievement Award – “House of Cards”

Goldene Kamera (Golden Camera) (Germany)

2013: Best International Actor – “House of Cards”

Russian Guild of Film Critics

2000: Best Foreign Actor – “American Beauty”

Filmography

Movies

Heartburn (1986)
– Role: Subway Thief (cameo)
Rocket Gibraltar (1988)
– Role: Dwayne Hanson
Working Girl (1988)
– Role: Bob Speck
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
– Role: Kirgo
Dad (1989)
– Role: Mario
A Show of Force (1990)
– Role: Frank Curtin
Henry & June (1990)
– Role: Richard Osborn
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
– Role: John Williamson
Consenting Adults (1992)
– Role: Eddy Otis
Iron Will (1994)
– Role: Harry Kingsley
The Ref (1994)
– Role: Lloyd Chasseur
Swimming with Sharks (1994)
– Role: Buddy Ackerman
– Also co-producer.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
– Role: Roger “Verbal” Kint
Outbreak (1995)
– Role: Major Casey Schuler
Se7en (1995)
– Role: John Doe
Looking for Richard (1996)
– Role: Himself / Duke of Buckingham
A Time to Kill (1996)
– Role: District Attorney Rufus Buckley
Albino Alligator (1997)
– Director.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
– Role: Detective Sergeant Jack Vincennes
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
– Role: James “Jim” Williams
The Negotiator (1998)
– Role: Lieutenant Chris Sabian
Hurlyburly (1998)
– Role: Mickey
A Bug’s Life (1998)
– Role: Hopper (voice)
American Beauty (1999)
– Role: Lester Burnham
The Big Kahuna (1999)
– Role: Larry Mann
– Also producer.
Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)
– Role: Michael Lynch
– Also producer.
Pay It Forward (2000)
– Role: Eugene Simonet
K-PAX (2001)
– Role: Prot / Robert Porter
The Shipping News (2001)
– Role: Quoyle
The United States of Leland (2003)
– Role: Albert T. Fitzgerald
– Also producer.
The Life of David Gale (2003)
– Role: David Gale
Beyond the Sea (2004)
– Role: Bobby Darin
– Also director, producer and writer.
Edison (2005)
– Role: Wallace
– Direct-to-video.
Superman Returns (2006)
– Role: Lex Luthor
Fred Claus (2007)
– Role: Clyde Northcut
21 (2008)
– Role: Mickey Rosa
Telstar (2008)
– Role: Major Banks
Shrink (2009)
– Role: Henry Carter
Moon (2009)
– Role: GERTY (voice)
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
– Role: Larry Hooper
Father of Invention (2010)
– Role: Robert Axle
Casino Jack (2010)
– Role: Jack Abramoff
The Social Network (2010)
– Executive producer.
Margin Call (2011)
– Role: Sam Rogers
Horrible Bosses (2011)
– Role: Dave Harken
Inseparable (2011)
– Role: Chuck
Envelope (2012)
– Role: Evgeniy Petrov
– Short film.
Captain Phillips (2013)
– Executive producer.
Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)
– Role: Dave Harken
Elvis & Nixon (2016)
– Role: Richard Nixon

Television

The Equalizer (1987)
– Role: Detective Sgt. Cole; episode Solo
Long Day’s Journey into Night (1987)
– Role: James ‘Jamie’ Tyrone Jr.; TV movie.
Crime Story (1987)
– Role: Senator Rourke; episode The Senator, the Movie Star, and the Mob
The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988)
– Role: Wes Brent; TV miniseries.
Wiseguy (1988)
– Role: Mel Profitt, 7 episodes
Unsub (1989)
– Role: Benton; episode Clean Slate
When You Remember Me (1990)
– Role: Wade; TV movie.
Fall from Grace (1990)
– Role: Jim Bakker; TV movie.
L.A. Law (1992)
– Role: Giles Keenan; episode Guess Who’s Coming Murder
TriBeCa (1993)
– Role: Chris Boden; episode Heros Exoletus
Doomsday Gun (1994)
– Role: Jim Price; TV movie.
Saturday Night Live (1997 & 2006)
– Role: Himself (host), 2 episodes.
Recount (2008)
– Role: Ron Klain; TV movie.
House of Cards (2013–present)
– Role: Francis “Frank” Underwood
The Colbert Report (2014)
– Role: Frank Underwood; episode 1,394

Notable Stage Appearances

Ghosts (Brooks Atkinson Theater, New York, 1982)
– Role: Oswald
Le Misanthrope (Seattle Repertory Theatre, 1983)
– Role: Philinte
The Seagull (Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., 1985)
– Role: Konstantin
Long Day’s Journey into the Night (Broadhurst Theatre, New York, 1986)
– Role: James “Jamie” Tyrone Jr.
Lost in Yonkers (Richard Rodgers Theatre, New York, 1991)
– Role: “Uncle” Louie
The Iceman Cometh (Brooks Atkinson Theater, New York, 1997)
– Role: Theodore “Hickey” Hickman
The Philadelphia Story (Old Vic Theatre, London, 2005)
– Role:C.K. Dexter Haven
Richard II (Old Vic Theatre, London, 2005)
– Role: Richard II
A Moon for the Misbegotten (Old Vic Theatre, London, 2006)
– Role: Jim Tyrone
Speed-the-Plow (Old Vic Theatre, London, 2008)
– Role: Charlie Fox
Inherit the Wind (Old Vic Theatre, London, 2009)
– Role: Henry Drummond
Richard III (Old Vic Theatre, London, 2011)
– Role: Richard III
Clarence Darrow (Old Vic Theatre, London, 2015)
– Role: Clarence Darrow

Links

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