Kevin Spacey biography, news, young photos, age, awards 2025

Kevin Spacey biography

Kevin Spacey is an American stage and screen actor best known for his Oscar-winning performances in "American Beauty" and "The Usual Suspects," plus memorable roles in "Pay It Forward," "The Life of David Gale," "K-PAX," and the hit series "House of Cards." Net worth: $49 million.

Early years

Kevin Spacey Fowler was born on July 26, 1959, in New Jersey to Kathleen (a secretary) and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler (a technical writer). He had two siblings: Randy (who later became a limousine driver and part-time Rod Stewart impersonator) and Julie. When Kevin turned 4, his family moved to Southern California.

Little Kevin Spacey (on the left) with his mom, brother, and sister

According to Kevin's older brother, their childhood was hell. Their father embraced Nazi ideology, joined the local American Nazi party, and even grew a Hitler-style mustache to resemble his idol. He beat his children and repeatedly raped his older son, while his wife remained silent out of fear. Julie, unable to endure the abuse, ran away from home as soon as she turned 18.

Kevin Spacey's father (on the left) was a Nazi disciple

Books became Kevin's escape, and school offered temporary refuge from the hell at home. At Chatsworth High School, where Kevin graduated in 1977, he was one of the top two students. Kevin discovered his passion for acting at school when he was cast as Captain Georg von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" and delivered a brilliant performance. Around this time, he also became obsessed with Sherlock Holmes books and dreamed of one day playing the great detective. Determined to become an actor, Kevin adopted his middle name "Spacey" – one of his grandmothers' maiden names – as his stage name.

Kevin Spacey decided to become an actor at high school

After graduating high school, Spacey worked as a comedian before enrolling in 1979 at New York's prestigious Juilliard School, where he studied drama until 1981 while honing his skills doing stand-up. However, he couldn't afford to finish – one semester's tuition cost as much as a good car. Kevin took a job selling shoes to make ends meet, but after work he kept chasing his comedy dreams, haunting studio doors.

Theater

Kevin made his big stage debut in 1981 as a "spear holder" – a tiny role in the "Henry VI" production at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

The first big-stage role of young Kevin Spacey

One year later, he stepped onto Broadway for the first time, playing Oswald in "Ghosts."

Afterward, Kevin was busy playing in Moliere's "The Misanthrope" (Philinte), Chekhov's "The Seagull" (Treplyov), and David Rabe's "Hurlyburly" (Artie). In 1990, Kevin won a Tony Award (theater's equivalent of an Oscar) for his performance in Neil Simon's Broadway play "Lost in Yonkers." Even after becoming a Hollywood star, Kevin never forgot his stage roots. Spacey earned rave reviews for his role in "The Iceman Cometh," which he performed in London in 1998 and then on Broadway a year later.

Kevin was appointed Artistic Director of London's Old Vic Theater in 2004, holding the position until 2015.

Movie career

Before his big break, Kevin landed a pickpocket role in the hit TV series "Crime Story," followed by another "thief" role in "Heartburn" starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. Early in his career, Kevin appeared in TV series like "L.A. Law," "The Equalizer," "Smart Guy," and "The Murder of Mary Phagan."

Kevin Spacey also played a charismatic antihero, arms dealer Mel Profitt, in the hit series "Wiseguy." Kevin appeared in nine episodes.

In 1988, the drama "Working Girl" starring Melanie Griffith hit theaters. Spacey played unpleasant salesman Bob Speck – a supporting character alongside Joan Cusack and Alec Baldwin, though audiences remembered him.

After numerous successful projects ("See No Evil, Hear No Evil," "Dad," "Henry & June" with Uma Thurman, "Glengarry Glen Ross" with Al Pacino), Kevin Spacey finally landed the role that earned him his first Oscar. He won for Bryan Singer's crime thriller "The Usual Suspects" (1995) and his character "Verbal" – a disabled small-time con man. The plot was so twisted it was hard to identify the main character, but audiences agreed that Spacey became the "glue" holding the whole story together with its famously unexpected ending.

«The Usual Suspects». Lineup scene

That same year, David Fincher's thriller "Seven" was released, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Once again, Spacey played an antihero – serial killer John Doe, who sees himself as God's instrument of justice. He methodically kills people he believes are guilty of one of the seven deadly sins, with each murder carefully planned and executed with sadistic pleasure.

After these two serious (but brilliant) roles, Kevin appeared in "A Time to Kill" (1996) and "L.A. Confidential" (1997). In 1998, Spacey starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson in "The Negotiator" and earned a record salary of $4.6 million. His character, Lieutenant Sabian – a negotiator – serves as the main character's adversary. By then, Kevin Spacey's mere presence guaranteed a film's success and promised strong critical reviews.

«The Negotiator»: Kevin Spacey as Chris Sabian

At the millennium, Spacey delivered perhaps his greatest performance, securing his place in cinema history. "American Beauty" (1999) by Sam Mendes won 5 Oscars out of 8 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor – Kevin won for his role as Lester, a 42-year-old advertising executive experiencing a midlife crisis.

His high-school daughter (Tory Burch) hates him, his relationship with his wife (Annette Bening) had burned out long ago, and his new neighbor across the road is a conservative homophobe, peeking in people's windows with a video camera. A basketball game where Lester watched Angela (his daughter's friend (Mena Suvari)) dance became the turning point of his life – Lester becomes infatuated with Angela and starts having sexual fantasies about her. Trying to change his boring life, he finds out many new things about himself.

«American Beaty». The dinner scene

In 2000, "Pay It Forward" was released – a romantic drama telling about a goodwill movement 'pay it forward', launched by a schoolboy. After the release, Kevin Spacey, who had rarely spoken to journalists about his personal life before, told them he decided to make this idea a reality. He then started The Kevin Spacey Foundation, which, along with his Trigger Street Productions studio, was looking for young and talented actors and directors, bestowing them with grants to implement their ideas.

The are two «Oscars» among Kevin Space's awards

The actor also tried himself in a science-fiction movie «K-PAX», appearing in the role of Prot, a K-PAX planet alien. His compelling story made psychiatrist Dr. Powell (Jeff Bridges) question his own competence.

« Now if you'll excuse me, I have a beam of light to catch.»

Each of Kevin Spacey's roles is so natural that viewers could even believe his lips trembling or a flutter of his eyelashes. No one who watched «The Life of David Gale» (2003) could help but believe its main character, a death penalty opponent who sacrificed his life to defend his beliefs.

«The Life of David Gale». Kevin Spacey's monologue

One of Spacey's final roles was in the «Billionaire Boys Club» drama. It was filmed in 2015-2016 when Spacey was still "innocent" in the public eye. Nevertheless, postproduction took a long time, and the movie only came out in August 2018. The creators refused to cut out the scenes with Spacey, and due to the public impact, the film was only shown at eight movie theaters in the USA. On its opening day in America, «Billionaire Boys Club» earned just $126 against its $15 million budget.

Kevin Spacey and harassment

58-year-old Kevin Spacey came out as gay. His coming-out came amid deeply troubling allegations: actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making sexual advances toward him in 1986 when Spacey was drunk. At that time Rapp was only 14 years old. On Twitter, Kevin acknowledged he doesn't remember the 30-year-old incident but said he feels deeply sorry. «I truly respect Anthony as an actor. My sincere apologies». He then decided to address long-standing speculation about his sexuality. "I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man."

Following Rapp's allegations, production on "House of Cards" season 6 was suspended, the show's creators announced. Spacey was fired from his starring role, stripped of his Emmy Award, and scrubbed from "This Is Us" (where a character had previously celebrated landing a role in a Spacey film).

Spacey's harassment victims: Rapp, Cavazos, and Montana

Within days, two more accusers came forward. The first was Roberto Cavazos, Spacey's colleague at London's Old Vic theatre. On Facebook, he detailed "a couple of unpleasant encounters" where Spacey allegedly tried to lure him on a "champagne picnic" under the pretense of discussing work. The second accuser was Tony Montana, a Hollywood bartender. He encountered an intoxicated Spacey at a bar, where the actor allegedly grabbed his crotch. According to Montana, he had to physically resist Spacey's advances.

Following the scandal, Spacey vanished from social media and public events. His Kevin Spacey Foundation was shuttered. "House of Cards" continued production without him. Weeks later, the actor entered a 45-day treatment program.

Kevin Spacey in the «Billionaire Boys Club»

Kevin Spacey now

Following the 2017 harassment scandal, Kevin Spacey's film career essentially ended. He's no longer offered roles, faces ongoing lawsuits, and new allegations surface regularly.

In late 2019, Spacey posted his annual holiday message on YouTube. Speaking as Frank Underwood, his character from "House of Cards," he urged Americans to be kinder.

Kevin Spacey's New Year Video Message

Kevin Spacey: latest news and articles

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Patricia Allen

Yeaaah, the movie Seven is really cool, it`s already old but even now I would rewatch it with a pleasure

2021-04-30 21:01:50
Richard Reese

I can`t remember famous movies with Spacey, maybe I just didn`t like it

2021-04-28 15:06:05
Nancy Jackson

What about the movie Moon?? And anyway he played very good even secondary roles.

2021-04-07 19:29:18
David Dunn

You didn`t mention a lot of movies, he is a good actors and played in a many movies more.

2021-04-03 17:13:32
Blake Seth Anderson

The great actor but in my opinion he has some roles which looks alike to each other in a many movies with him

2021-02-23 18:18:49

Photos: Kevin Spacey