Malkovich, John (1953-…), is an American actor known for his intense performances playing both sympathetic characters and villains. Malkovich first gained recognition on the stage. He won an Obie Award for his performance in Sam Shepard’s True West off Broadway in 1982.
John Gavin Malkovich was born in Christopher, Illinois, on Dec. 9, 1953. He began acting while attending Illinois State University. In 1976, Malkovich and several former classmates from Illinois State founded the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. The Steppenwolf became one of the major regional theaters in the United States. The company included such future star actors as Joan Allen, Gary Sinise, Laurie Metcalf, and Glenne Headly, who was married to Malkovich from 1982 to 1990. Malkovich has returned to the Steppenwolf periodically as an actor or director. He appeared with Dustin Hoffman in a stage revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in 1984.
Malkovich made his motion-picture acting debut in Places in the Heart (1984). He received his first Academy Award nomination for his performance in the film. His other films include Eleni (1985); Empire of the Sun (1987); Dangerous Liaisons (1988); The Sheltering Sky (1990); In the Line of Fire (1993); Mulholland Falls, Mary Reilly, and The Portrait of a Lady (all 1996); Con Air (1997); Ripley’s Game (2002); The Libertine (2004); The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Color Me Kubrick (both 2005); Art School Confidential, Klimt, and Eragon (all 2006); Beowulf (2007); Burn After Reading, Changeling, Disgrace, and Mutant Chronicles (all 2008); Drunkboat (2010); Jonah Hex (2010); Secretariat (2010); Red (2010) and its sequel, Red 2 (2013);Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011); Warm Bodies (2013); and Cesar Chavez (2014). Malkovich played himself in the fantasy film Being John Malkovich (1999). Malkovich made his debut as a film director with the thriller The Dancer Upstairs (2003). In 2014, he starred in the TV series “Crossbones,” in which he portrayed the British pirate Blackbeard.
