Willem Dafoe - Biography

Last Editor: rhathome				Willem Dafoe Biography -   Name : Willem Dafoe Date of birth : 22 July 1955 Place of birth : Appleton, Wisconsin, USA Birth name : William Dafoe Jr. Height : 5' 9½

Willem Dafoe Trivia -

He has a son, Jack, born in 1982, with Elizabeth LeCompte. His high school nickname, Willem, stuck with him. Says he feels like he's missed out on more conventional roles because he's perceived as an eccentric actor in dark little films, kind of the boy-next-door type - if you lived next door to a mausoleum. He attended Einstein Junior High School in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he was known as "Billy." He did practically all of his own stunts on the glider in Spider-Man (2002). So when you see the Green Goblin moving around on it, when it's not CG, then it's Willem pretty much the whole time. Co-owns a restaurant with fellow Platoon (1986) star, John C. McGinley. Is a vegetarian. He was delirious for 24 hours after coming down with yellow fever on the set of Platoon (1986). Attended Appleton East High School in Appleton, Wisconsin. Quite possibly has the most on-screen deaths of any mainstream actor. He death scenes include Platoon (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), eXistenZ (1999), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Spider-Man (2002), and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), among others. The only actor to ever be nominated for an Oscar for playing a vampire, for his role as Max Schrek in Shadow of the Vampire (2000). Often portrays soldiers or eccentric characters. John Malkovich, Nicolas Cage, and Dafoe were all approached to play the Green Goblin in Spider-Man (2002). Dafoe and Malkovich starred in Shadow of the Vampire (2000) together, while Cage produced the film. Dafoe ended up getting the Spider-Man role. Practices Yoga regularly. Was under consideration for Dennis Hopper's role in Blue Velvet (1986). While doing a blocking run-through on Wild at Heart (1990) (for the scene in which Dafoe's character threatens to rape Laura Dern's character), Dafoe playfully sang his lines. Director David Lynch loved this, and wanted Dafoe to actually sing his lines in the scene, when they shot it. The idea did not actually go through, however. Shares a birthday with actor David Spade Brother, Donald Dafoe, is an accomplished transplant surgeon.

Willem Dafoe Detailed Biography -

Willem Dafoe is an internationally acclaimed actor on the stage and screen, and continues to bring life to a surprising array of characters. . Dafoe starred in Columbia Pictures' action-adventure blockbuster Spider-Man as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, rival to the web-spinning hero (Tobey Maguire). He most recently received kudos for his portrayal of John Carpenter opposite Greg Kinnear's Bob Crane in director Paul Schrader's Auto-Focus. The Sony Pictures Classics' release detailed the true-life sexual exploits of the Hogan's Heroes star and its tragic outcome. He also contributed his voice to the animated family film Finding Nemo. Dafoe was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award, and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his transformational performance as Max Shreck in Shadow of the Vampire. Dafoe's portrayal also received critical acclaim at the Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and Boston film festivals. Dafoe's upcoming films include The Clearing opposite Robert Redford and Helen Mirren, Paul McGuigan's The Reckoning with Paul Bettany and Tim Hunter's Control co-starring Matt Dillon. He has also completed work on Roger Spottiswoode's White on White, and will have a cameo in Martin Scorsese's Aviator. Other recent projects include and Yurek Bogayevicz's The Edges of the Lord opposite Haley Joel Osment, a WWII drama seen through the eyes of a Jewish boy hiding with a family of Catholic peasant farmers, the romantic drama Pavilion of Women, Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory opposite Edward Furlong, American Psycho and Boondock Saints. Over the years, Dafoe has worked with some of the most highly regarded directors of this generation. He portrayed 'Caravaggio' the thumb-less thief in Anthony Minghella's Academy Award-winning drama The English Patient. He received his first Best Supporting Actor nomination in Oliver Stone's Oscar winner for Best Picture Platoon, played the starring role in Martin Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ, gave a memorable performance as low life 'Bobby Peru' in David Lynch's Wild at Heart, portrayed a civil rights activist in Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning, and starred in Wim Wender's multicultural Far Away, So Close. Other feature credits include David Cronenberg's Existenz, novelist Paul Auster's directorial debut Lulu On the Bridge, Abel Ferrara's New Rose Hotel, Jan De Bont's Speed 2: Cruise Control, Brian Gilbert's Tom & Viv, Phillip Noyce's Clear and Present Danger, Paul Schrader's Affliction and Light Sleeper, Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A., Robert M. Young's Triumph of the Spirit, Roger Donaldson's White Sands, Uli Edel's Body of Evidence and Christopher Crowe's Off Limits. On stage, Dafoe starred Off Broadway with Frances McDormand in To You, The Birdie and with Steve Buscemi in North Atlantic for the Wooster Group. Dafoe has been a member of the groundbreaking theater company for more than twenty years, helping to define a theatrical language that incorporates influences as diverse as vaudeville and Noh theater.