Kevin Spacey Fowler is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He is udoubtedly one of the most talented actors of his generation.
Gatekeepers News reports that Spacey’s roles in theater, television, and film productions have won him considerable praise and countless awards.
Early Life
Spacey’s real name is Kevin Spacey Fowler, and he was born on July 26th, 1959 in South Orange, New Jersey. He was raised alongside two siblings by his mother, a secretary, and his father, who was a technical writer. When Kevin Spacey was four, the family moved to California. Speaking of his father, Kevin Spacey admitted he was physically abused, and that his dad was a Nazi-sympathizing racist.
In grades 10 and 11, Kevin Spacey attended military school. In his senior year, he moved to Chatsworth High School where he joined the school’s theater production of “The Sound of Music.” After graduating, he started using the name Spacey. He also moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School. While he studied there from 1979 to 1981, Kevin Spacey tried to break into the stand-up comedy scene.
Career
Spacey found early success in theater. After a small role in a Shakespeare play, he appeared in the Broadway production of “Ghosts” in 1982. Further roles came in “The Misanthrope and Hurlyburly.” By 1986, he had established himself in the New York theater world with roles in Broadway productions of “Sleuth” and “The Seagull.” His real breakthrough came later that year with a role in the critically acclaimed production of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”
After a brief foray into the television world with “Crime Stories,” Spacey turned his attention toward film. While he tried to gain a foothold in Hollywood, he continued to appear in a range of plays, including “Lost in Yonkers” in 1991. He won a Tony Award for his performance. He also appeared in TV series such as “L.A. Crime” and “The Murder of Mary Phagan.”
Kevin Spacey’s first big film role came when he appeared in “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” in 1989. His acting talents were soon recognized, and he established a reputation as an enthralling character actor in series like 1989’s “Wiseguy” and in films like 1992’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Critics began to take notice after he appeared in movies such as “The Ref” and “Swimming With Sharks,” and he eventually won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor with a role in 1995’s “The Usual Suspects.”
That year, he also made one of his most iconic film appearances in “Se7en” as a serial killer. The next year, he made an equally memorable appearance in “A Time to Kill” as an attorney. In 1998, he took a prominent voice acting role in the animated film “A Bug’s Life.” In 1999, Kevin Spacey established himself as one of Hollywood’s most talented stars with an incredible performance in “American Beauty,” winning an Academy Award for Best Actor and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Spacey continued to win Tony Awards for theater performances during this period and started the 2000s with roles in “Pay it Forward” and “K-Pax.” In 2006, he proved to be a perfect choice for the role of Lex Luthor in “Superman Returns.” He also appeared in 2008’s “21.”
Although he was intimately involved with theater over the next few years, the 2010s were all about “House of Cards” for Spacey. Starting in 2011, Spacey played Frank Underwood until 2018 when he was forced to leave the cast due to sexual assault allegations. During his time on the show, Spacey won countless awards and was nominated for many more. Starting in 2013, he also started working as a producer on the show, earning a peak salary of $20 million per year. In 2011, Spacey also took the role of the antagonist in the film “Horrible Bosses.” In 2018, he appeared in “Billionaire Boys Club.”
Other Ventures
In 1997, Spacey created his own production company called Trigger Street Productions. In 2016, Trigger Street Productions was acquired by Relativity Media. Kevin Spacey has also worked as a director for various films. Additionally, he hosted “Saturday Night Live” on more than one occasion. Spacey has appeared in video games, most notably “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.” In 2003, Kevin Spacey became the artistic director of the Old Vic Theater in London.
Personal Life
For many years Spacey mostly kept his private life under wraps. As he explained in a 1998 interview: “the less you know about me, the easier it is to convince you that I am that character on screen. It allows an audience to come into a movie theater and believe I am that person.”
In October 2017, fellow actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey had acted inappropriately to him when he was 14 years old. The allegation caused Spacey to release an apology. In his apology, he finally came out as a gay man. This confession was considered controversial because he “came out” in the same statement in which he apologized for making sexual advances towards a minor. In the eyes of many critics, his attempts to link his homosexuality with pedophilia were bizarre.
Net Worth
Spacey has a net worth of $100million, according to Marca.
