theOscarSite Facts:
Birth Name:
  • Kevin Spacey Fowler
Birth Date:
  • 26 July 1959
Birthplace:
  • South Orange, NJ
Quotes:
  • "It's not that I want to create some bullshit mystique by maintaining a silence about my personal life, it is just that 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 theatre and believe I am that person." -- London Evening Standard, 1998
  • Discussing occasional misconceptions by women that he is gay: "For them it's a challenge. They want to be the one to turn me around. I let them."
Education:
  • Attended Northridge Military Academy; expelled
  • Graduated from Chatsworth High School (CA) (co-valedictorian with Mare Winningham)
  • Briefly attended Los Angeles Valley College
  • Studied at Julliard (on the advice of another Chatsworth High classmate, Val Kilmer); dropped out before graduation to pursue acting career
Family:
  • Father: Thomas Fowler, technical writer; d. 1992
  • Mother: Kathleen Fowler, personal secretary; d. 2003
  • Siblings: Randall Fowler & Jullie Ann Fowler (Spacey is the youngest).
Factoids:
  • Use of the name "Spacey," while rumored as a combination of Spencer Tracy's names, is actually his mother's maiden name
  • Auditioned for "The Gong Show" (1978), but was rejected
  • Made Broadway debut in Ghosts (1982)
  • Won Tony® Award for the role of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers (1991)
  • Named as Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theatre in London, England (2002)
Feature Film
Credits:
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2008)
    Telstar (2008)
    21 (2008)
    Fred Claus (2007)
    Superman Returns (2006)
    Edison (2005)
    Beyond the Sea (2004)
    The Life of David Gale (2003)
    The United States of Leland (2003)
    The Shipping News (2001)
    K-PAX (2001)
    Pay It Forward (2000)
    Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)
    The Big Kahuna (1999)
    American Beauty (1999)
    A Bug's Life (1998 - voice Hopper)
    Hurlyburly (1998)
    The Negotiator (1998)
  • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
    L.A. Confidential (1997)
    A Time to Kill (1996)
    Looking for Richard (1996)
    Se7en (1995)
    The Usual Suspects (1995)
    Outbreak (1995)
    Swimming with Sharks (1994)
    The Ref (1994)
    Iron Will (1994)
    Consenting Adults (1992)
    Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
    Henry & June (1990)
    A Show of Force (1990)
    Dad (1989)
    See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
    Working Girl (1988)
    Rocket Gibraltar (1988)
    Heartburn (1996)
Academy Awards®: