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Kevin Spacey Fowler, better known by his stage name Kevin Spacey, is an American actor of screen and stage, film director, producer, screenwriter and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s before obtaining supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s that culminated in his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995), and an Academy Award for Best Actor for midlife crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999).

His other starring roles have included the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001)

In Broadway theatre, Spacey won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. Since 2013, Spacey has played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards. His work in House of Cards earned him Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor.

As enigmatic as he is talented, Kevin Spacey for years kept the details of his private life closely guarded. As he explained in a 1998 interview with the London Evening Standard, "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". In October 2017, he ended many years of media speculation about his personal life by confirming that he had had sexual relations with both men and women but now identified as gay.

There are, however, certain biographical facts to be had - for starters, Kevin Spacey Fowler was the youngest of three children born to Kathleen Ann (Knutson) and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, in South Orange, New Jersey. His ancestry includes Swedish (from his maternal grandfather) and English. His middle name, "Spacey," which he uses as his stage name, is from his paternal grandmother. His mother was a personal secretary, his father a technical writer whose irregular job prospects led the family all over the country. The family eventually settled in southern California, where young Kevin developed into quite a little hellion - after he set his sister's tree house on fire, he was shipped off to the Northridge Military Academy, only to be thrown out a few months later for pinging a classmate on the head with a tire. Spacey then found his way to Chatsworth High School in the San Fernando Valley, where he managed to channel his dramatic tendencies into a successful amateur acting career. In his senior year, he played "Captain von Trapp" opposite classmate Mare Winningham's "Maria" in "The Sound of Music" (the pair later graduated as co-valedictorians). Spacey claims that his interest in acting - and his nearly encyclopedic accumulation of film knowledge - began at an early age, when he would sneak downstairs to watch the late late show on TV. Later, in high school, he and his friends cut class to catch revival films at the NuArt Theater. The adolescent Spacey worked up celebrity impersonations (James Stewart and Johnny Carson were two of his favorites) to try out on the amateur comedy club circuit.

He briefly attended Los Angeles Valley College, then left (on the advice of another Chatsworth classmate, Val Kilmer) to join the drama program at Juilliard. After two years of training he was anxious to work, so he quit Juilliard sans diploma and signed up with the New York Shakespeare Festival. His first professional stage appearance was as a messenger in the 1981 production of "Henry VI".

Festival head Joseph Papp ushered the young actor out into the "real world" of theater, and the next year Spacey made his Broadway debut in Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts". He quickly proved himself as an energetic and versatile performer (at one point, he rotated through all the parts in David Rabe's "Hurlyburly"). In 1986, he had the chance to work with his idol and future mentor, Jack Lemmon, on a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night". While his interest soon turned to film, Spacey would remain active in the theater community - in 1991, he won a Tony Award for his turn as "Uncle Louie" in Neil Simon's Broadway hit "Lost in Yonkers" and, in 1999, he returned to the boards for a revival of O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh".

Spacey's film career began modestly, with a small part as a subway thief in Heartburn (1986). Deemed more of a "character actor" than a "leading man", he stayed on the periphery in his next few films, but attracted attention for his turn as beady-eyed villain "Mel Profitt" on the TV series Wiseguy (1987). Profitt was the first in a long line of dark, manipulative characters that would eventually make Kevin Spacey a household name: he went on to play a sinister office manager in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), a sadistic Hollywood exec in Swimming with Sharks (1994), and, most famously, creepy, smooth-talking eyewitness Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects (1995).

The "Suspects" role earned Spacey an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and catapulted him into the limelight. That same year, he turned in another complex, eerie performance in David Fincher's thriller Se7en (1995) (Spacey refused billing on the film, fearing that it might compromise the ending if audiences were waiting for him to appear). By now, the scripts were pouring in. After appearing in Al Pacino's Looking for Richard (1996), Spacey made his own directorial debut with Albino Alligator (1996), a low-key but well received hostage drama. He then jumped back into acting, winning critical accolades for his turns as flashy detective Jack Vincennes in L.A. Confidential (1997) and genteel, closeted murder suspect Jim Williams in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997). In October 1999, just four days after the dark suburban comedy American Beauty (1999) opened in US theaters, Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Little did organizers know that his role in Beauty would turn out to be his biggest success yet - as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged corporate cog on the brink of psychological meltdown, he tapped into a funny, savage character that captured audiences' imaginations and earned him a Best Actor Oscar.

No longer relegated to offbeat supporting parts, Spacey seems poised to redefine himself as a Hollywood headliner. He says he's finished exploring the dark side - but, given his attraction to complex characters, that mischievous twinkle will never be too far from his eyes.

In February 2003 Spacey made a major move back to the theatre. He was appointed Artistic Director of the new company set up to save the famous Old Vic theatre, The Old Vic Theatre Company. Although he did not undertake to stop appearing in movies altogether, he undertook to remain in this leading post for ten years, and to act in as well as to direct plays during that time. His first production, of which he was the director, was the September 2004 British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos (made into a film, Cloaca (2003)). Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut in the title role in Richard II in 2005. In 2006 he got movie director Robert Altman to direct for the stage the little-known Arthur Miller play Resurrection Blues, but that was a dismal failure. However Spacey remained optimistic, and insisted that a few mistakes are part of the learning process. He starred thereafter with great success in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best, and in 2007 that show transferred to Broadway. In February 2008 Spacey put on a revival of the David Mamet 1988 play Speed-the-Plow in which he took one of the three roles, the others being taken by Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly.

In 2013, Spacey took on the lead role in an original Netflix series, House of Cards (2013). Based upon a British show of the same name, House of Cards is an American political drama. The show's first season received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination to include Outstanding lead actor in a drama series. In 2017, he played a memorable role as a villain in the action thriller Baby Driver (2017).

Zach Braff was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, to Anne Hutchinson (Maynard), a clinical psychologist, and Harold Irwin Braff, a trial attorney. His father is from Russia and Austria, while Zach's mother is from a family with deep roots in New England. Zach attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, and also graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in film. Zach is known for playing Dr. John 'J.D.' Dorian on the television series Scrubs (2001), for writing, directing, and starring in the films Garden State (2004) and Wish I Was Here (2014), and for starring in the movies Chicken Little (2005), The Last Kiss (2006), and The Ex (1996).

He just completed directing the New Line/ Warner Bros. feature "Going In Style" starring Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.

Andrew Shue was born on 20 February 1967 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Rainmaker (1997), Melrose Place (1992) and Gracie (2007). He was previously married to Amy Robach and Jennifer Hageney.

Lauryn Hill, a native of South Orange, New Jersey, first came to attention with the multi-talented Fugees. Their first album, "Blunted On Reality", went virtually unnoticed by the public; their real breakthrough came with the sophomore album, "The Score", which featured "Killing Me Softly". That album stills remains the worldwide top-selling rap album of all time (17 million units shipped). She earned two Grammys (Best Rap Album and Best R&B Performance by a duo or group) in 1996 and gave birth to Zion (alleged father is Bob Marley's son) before releasing her self-written and self-produced solo album, "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill", which topped Billboard charts the moment it came out.

As flamboyant as any character in his movies, Joel Silver can be credited along with Jerry Bruckheimer as practically reinventing the action film genre in the 1980s. Born in New Jersey, he attended the New York University Film School. After college, he worked at Lawrence Gordon Pictures, earning his first onscreen credit as associate producer of The Warriors (1979). He eventually became president of the motion picture division of Gordon Pictures. Together with Gordon, Silver produced 48 Hrs. (1982) and Streets of Fire (1984). In 1983 he formed Silver Pictures and initially set up shop at Universal Pictures to produce Brewster's Millions (1985) before going to Fox and continued producing hit action films such as Commando (1985), the "Lethal Weapon" franchise, the first two films of the "Die Hard" franchise and the three films of "Matrix" franchise of action films. He had then subsequently joined Warner Bros. in 1987 after leaving Fox. Despite these successes, he has hit some rough spots and has been banned from working on several studio lots. He was unable to produce the "48 Hrs" sequel Another 48 Hrs. (1990), the third "Die Hard" film, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and the fourth "Matrix" installment The Matrix Resurrections (2021) because of past run-ins with studio executives. Because of his habit of wearing sport shirts and talking loudly and quickly, he has been parodied in several films, even spoofing himself in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) by playing the frustrated cartoon director in the film's opening sequence. In order to perform in that role, he had to use an alias to get onto the Walt Disney lot, and his onscreen credit was not revealed to Disney executives until the very last minute. He had worked in television, setting up his own television branch with his first project Parker Kane (1990), a project that would eventually never made to series, and then worked at HBO for many years, until he found a home at Warner Bros. Television in 1998, where he had developed two UPN shows The Strip (1999) and Freedom (2000) before finding commercial success with the hit Veronica Mars (2004). In 1999, Silver Pictures had teamed up with film director/producer Robert Zemeckis to set up Dark Castle Entertainment to produce genre and horror films with the first film under Dark Castle being House on Haunted Hill (1999). Joel Silver pioneered the practice of shooting action movies in Australia with the "Matrix" films, and has been credited with either inventing or reinventing the careers of Eddie Murphy, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Steven Seagal. He was mentioned in Halle Berry's Academy Award acceptance speech. Other credits include non-action pictures, ranging from Xanadu (1980), Weird Science (1985) and Fred Claus (2007) to HBO's long-running TV series, Tales from the Crypt (1989). He had resigned from his founding production company in 2019.

After leaving his band "The Young And The Useless", Adam Horovitz joined Mike D and Adam Yauch in the Beastie Boys, opening for Madonna on her famous "Like a Virgin" tour.

Adam has also appeared in films such as Lost Angels (1989) with Donald Sutherland and Roadside Prophets (1992) with John Doe. He is the son of actor/director/producer/writer Israel Horovitz and Doris O'Keefe, an artist/painter. His brother is actor Matthew Horovitz and his sister is film producer Rachael Horovitz.

Adam was involved in releasing experimental music with Amery Smith as a member of the "BS2000" project.

After graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Ben got his start in television production on such shows as Comedy Central's Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, NBC's Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and CBS' Late Show with David Letterman where, as Stupid Pet Trick Coordinator, Ben contributed a segment to the show's 1998 Emmy win (Dalmatian riding a tricycle via satellite from the Nagano Winter Olympics).

A long time sketch comedy performer and improvisor, Ben has studied with such accomplished performers as Upright Citizens Brigade founding members Amy Poehler and Matt Besser, Kids in the Hall founding member Kevin McDonald, and Patty Guggenheim, Roy Jenkins, and Lisa Schurga of The Groundlings, where he advanced to the level of Writing Lab.

In 2015, Ben created the web series Bad Shorts, which was nominated for a Writers Guild Award and featured as part of iO West's Annual Los Angeles Scripted Comedy Festival.

Ben has also written comedy for the likes of Martin Short, Robin Williams, Laraine Newman, Andrea Martin, Patton Oswalt, Marc Maron, Paul F. Tompkins and many more.

Max Weinberg is the drummer of E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's major band. His snare drum from the "Born In The USA" tour, "The Big Beat", is on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC. Max started up his own record label and production company in 1990 called Hard Ticket Entertainment. He produced the albums by Killer Joe on this label. He recently released an album called "Let There Be Drums", a 3-CD collection of Max's favorite drum tracks from the 50s to the 70s. Max is the band leader for The Max Weinberg 7, on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993). He took a 5-month break from late night to tour with Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band. Max now resides in Middletown, New Jersey with his two kids and wife Becky.

Craig Kingsbury was born on 10 October 1912 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Jaws (1975), E! True Hollywood Story (1996) and Jaws: The 25th Anniversary Documentary (2015). He died on 30 August 2002 in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, USA.

Molly Kazan was born on 16 December 1906 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for Drama 61-67 (1961), New York Television Theatre (1965) and Pie in the Sky (1935). She was married to Elia Kazan. She died on 14 December 1963 in Kips Bay, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

Jay Binder was born on 11 March 1951 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was a casting director and writer, known for Dreamgirls (2006), Hairspray (2007) and Nine (2009). He died on 15 April 2022 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

Stacey Kent was born on 27 March 1968 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress, known for Prime (2005), Richard III (1995) and Scene Stealers (2004). She has been married to Jim Tomlinson since 9 August 1991.

Rosamund Carr (nee Halsey) was born in South Orange, New Jersey in 1912. She married the explorer & film maker Kenneth Carr in 1942. They went to Belgian Congo in 1949 and after their divorce Rosamund settled in Mugongo, Rwanda to run a Plantation, growing flowers. In 1967 she first met Dian Fossey who became her close friend & confidant. In 1994 she was evacuated from Mugongo by Belgian Marines but returned a few days after the Genocide ended. She set up the Imbabazi Orphanage on the 17th December 1994. Since 1997, for security reasons, both Rosamund and the Imbabazi Orphanage relocated to Gisyeni. At the age of 92, she still looks after the day to day running of the Imbabazi Orphanage which looks after over 100 children. In December 2005 She returned to her home at Mugongo and the children of the Orphanage have also moved to a new building there. A documentary about her, "A Mother's Love: Rosamond Carr & a Lifetime in Rwanda" made by Standfast Productions Ltd., Directed by Eamonn Gearon and Photographed by Noel Donnellon is currently in production as of June 2005.

Drew Rosenhaus was born on 29 October 1966 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for Jerry Maguire (1996), Any Given Sunday (1999) and Arli$$ (1996). He has been married to Lisa Thomson since 30 November 2013.

David Fairfield was born on 11 July 1951 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was an editor and producer, known for Will Rogers: Look Back in Laughter (1987), Super Night of Rock 'n' Roll (1984) and Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter (1990). He died on 21 March 2011 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Joseph Nye was born on 19 January 1937 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He is married to Molly Harding. They have three children.

Bigelow Sayre was born on 5 June 1908 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Union Station (1950), Fireside Theatre (1949) and Schlitz Playhouse (1951). He died on 14 September 1975 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.

Peter Kaplan was born on 10 February 1954 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He died on 29 November 2013 in New York City, New York, USA.

Henry van Ameringen was born on 19 October 1930 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. Henry was a producer, known for Love Is Strange (2014), Cubby (2019) and 8: The Mormon Proposition (2010). Henry was married to T. Eric Galloway. Henry died on 9 September 2020 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

William Koshowany was born on 19 July 1961 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He is known for The Rock (1996), Deep Rising (1998) and Con Air (1997).

Tony Smith was born on 23 September 1912 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was married to Jane Lawrence. He died on 26 December 1980 in New York City, New York, USA.

Margaret Pemberton was born on 30 October 1881 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. She was a costume designer, known for What Price Hollywood? (1932) and Westward Passage (1932). She was married to Brock Pemberton. She died in February 1969 in Oakland, New Jersey, USA.

Jeff Van Note was born on 7 February 1946 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA.

In addition to being an actress, Dori Levitt is a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Her career began at the age of six, when she started competing in gymnastics while also performing with the Garden State Ballet Children's Ensemble. Ms. Levitt has studied with some of the best teachers in the country, and has an extensive dance background that spans ballet, modern, jazz, tap, African, Samba and bellydance. She is also a nationally ranked Elite gymnast. It is this combination of gymnastics and dance that makes her an exciting performer and unique choreographer. Dori's performance credits include New Jersey Ballet's "the Nutcracker," and productions for Garden State Ballet, Marymount Manhattan College, City College and the Oona Haarenen dance Company. She has performed her choreography at festivals and clubs on the East Coast, and has begun to perform and teach in Los Angeles. Ms. Levitt can also be seen in national television commercials, music videos and feature films.

Joseph Kraft was born on 4 September 1924 in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was married to Polly Winton. He died on 10 January 1986 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.