Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1984" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 36.
The costume he wore in the Annie Lennox video, "Walking On Broken Glass" was borrowed from the set of Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Education: Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#70). [1995]
Is of Croatian heritage.
Parents ran and owned local newspaper in Benton Il, his hometown.
Briefly dated Michelle Pfeiffer.
Children with Peyran, daughter Amandine (b. 1990) and son Lorwy (b. 1992).
His first film experience was a job as an extra in Robert Altman's 1978 feature A Wedding (1978).
Has developed a great passion for Portugal, where he has filmed some movies recently. He also keeps a house here, as he co-owns a disco in the North of Portugal.
Legend has it that he was told by the head of the Theatre Department at Illinois State University that he would not have a career as an actor. Even though he did not graduate from ISU (he never took the constitution test) the Theatre Department still claims him as an alumni. On April 4, 2005 he returned to visit the Theatre Department where he was presented with an official diploma for his bachelor's degree in theatre.
When he was 16, he decided to get his excessive weight under control and lost 70 pounds by eating nothing but Jell-O for two months.
Is a big fan of Tom Waits and (oddly enough) rap artist Dr. Dre.
In 1976, he quit college in order to work at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater.
His favorite films include: The Battle of Algiers, The 400 Blows, Citizen Kane, The Conformist, This is Spinal Tap, High Noon and It's a Wonderful Life.
Won a Village Voice Obie for his performance in True West in 1984
Won a second Village Voice Obie this time for Direction for Balm in Gilead in 1985
Attended college with Joan Allen who was occasionally a scene partner of Malkovich's in their acting classes. Later attended another acting class years with John Mahoney. He encouraged both actors to join the Steppenwolf Theater Company, which they did.
John Malkovich Detailed Biography
John Malkovich won the National Society of Film Critics Awards for best supporting actor for his first two motion pictures - Robert Benton's Places In The Heart (his feature film debut which also earned him his first Academy Award nomination) and Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields. He also earned Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his work in Wolfgang Peterson's In The Line of Fire, opposite Clint Eastwood.
Malkovich's film credits cover a wide variety of roles in some of the most noted and eclectic features in the last 15 years. They include: Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, Peter Yates' Eleni, Paul Newman's The Glass Menagerie, and Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons, opposite Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman. Also The Accidental Tourist, with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky, Queens Logic, The Object of Beauty, Jennifer Eight, Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog and Of Mice and Men, directed by and co-starring Gary Sinise.
More recently he starred as a fantasy version of himself in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich, with John Cusack and Cameron Diaz, and in Luc Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, as well as in Manoel de Oliveira's The Convent, Michelangelo Antonioni's Beyond The Clouds, Volker Schlondorff's The Ogre and Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady.
Upcoming films include Borgia, Johnny English and Ripley's Game.
Knockaround Guys reunites Malkovich with writer-directors Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who wrote Rounders, the 1998 feature in which he starred opposite Matt Damon and Edward Norton.
Born in Christopher, Illinois, Malkovich co-founded Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre with his friend, actor Gary Sinise. Between 1976 and 1982, he acted in, directed or designed the sets for more than 50 Steppenwolf productions. He then made his New York stage debut in Steppenwolf's legendary production of Sam Shepard's True West and went on to star in a Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, with Dustin Hoffman, receiving an Emmy award for his performance in a subsequent telefilm adaptation.
