Friday, April 13, 2007

Owen Wilson


Profile
Name: Owen Wilson
Birth Name: Owen Cunningham Wilson
Height: 5' 11"
Sex: M
Nationality: American
Birth Date: November 18, 1968
Birth Place: Dallas, Texas, USA
Profession: actor
Education: St. Marks School of Texas, Dallas
Thomas Jefferson High School, Austin, Texas
New Mexico Military Institute, class of 1987
University of Texas at Austin (graduated in 1991; BA in English)
Relationship: Sheryl Crow (musician; born on February 11, 1962; met during filming of The Minus Man in 1999)
Father: Robert Wilson (advertising executive)
Mother: Laura Wilson (photographer)
Brother: Luke (actor; born on September 21, 1971) and Andrew Wilson (actor; born on August 22, 1964)
Claim to fame: as Roy O'Bannon in Shanghai Noon (2000)

Biography
Born and reared in Dallas, Owen Wilson grew up in Texas with his advertising executive father and photographer mother Laura. The troublemaker was despatched to the tough New Mexico Military Institute to learn some discipline. It was there he discovered his passion for writing - editing the college magazine - and then went to California's UCLA to study English. Along with his degree, Wilson's budding partnership with a like-minded creative classmate, aspiring filmmaker Wes Anderson resulted their first film together, a short about a bookstore heist called Bottle Rocket played at the Sundance Film Festival in 1993, attracting the attention of producer Polly Platt and writer/director James L. Brooks. With their support, short into a feature, Bottle Rocket (1996). Though it made little impression at the box office, it succeeded to earn ardent fans among cineastes. As an actor, Wilson had minor roles in The Cable Guy in 1996 and the following year in the B-movie Anaconda. He reteamed with Anderson on the sublime Rushmore, starring Bill Murray, which he co-wrote and executive produced.

Wilson worked steadily for the rest of the 1990s. Wilson managed to bring a reliably laid-back, humorous spark to the bombastic proceedings in Anaconda (1997), Armageddon (1998), and The Haunting (1999). On a more artistically successful front, Wilson's next script with Anderson resulted in the lauded coming-of-age film Rushmore (1998). With its singular cast of characters, distinctive combination of deadpan humor and true emotion, and superb performances by Jason Schwartzman as teen prodigy Max Fischer and Bill Murray as depressed millionaire Blume, Rushmore earned prizes from the critics and proved that Bottle Rocket was no fluke. As far as acting, Wilson's ability to suggest complexity beneath a breezy surface earned positive notice for his unsettling performance as a laconic, self-styled Good Samaritan serial killer in indie thriller The Minus Man (1999). Switching genres, he starred as Roy O'Bannen in the martial arts spoof Shanghai Noon with Jackie Chan. He starred with comic mate Ben Stiller in Meet The Parents and Zoolander, as well as The Royal Tenenbaums (for which he was Oscar-nominated as a co-writer), also starring brother Luke. Next up was the slick action caper Behind Enemy Lines with Gene Hackman, the buddy movie I Spy with Eddie Murphy and Shanghai Noon sequel Shanghai Knights He played Hutch in the modern remake of Seventies TV series Starsky & Hutch for an £8m paycheque to Stiller's Starsky and also stars in crime thriller The Big Bounce.

Filmography
Actor
2008 Outsourced
2008 The Darjeeling Limited
2007 Drillbit Taylor
2006 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
2006 Cars
2006 Night at the Museum
2006 You, Me and Dupree
2005 Wedding Crashers
2005 The Wendell Baker Story
2004 Meet the Fockers
2004 Around the World in 80 Days
2004 Starsky & Hutch
2004 The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
2003 The Big Bounce
2003 Shanghai Knights
2002 I Spy
2001 Behind Enemy Lines
2001 Zoolander
2001 King of the Hill: Luanne Virgin 2.0
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
2000 Shanghai Noon
2000 Meet The Parents
1999 The Minus Man
1999 Breakfast of Champions
1999 The Haunting
1998 Permanent Midnight
1998 Armageddon
1997 Anaconda
1996 Bottle Rocket
1996 The Cable Guy

Associate Producer
1997 As Good As It Gets

Executive Producer
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
1998 Rushmore

Producer
2006 You, Me and Dupree

Screenwriter
2005 The Wendell Baker Story
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
1998 Rushmore
1996 Bottle Rocket

Awards
Academy
2001 Best Original Screenplay Royal Tenenbaums

British Academy Awards
2001 Best Original Screenplay Royal Tenenbaums

Toronto Film Critics Association
2001 Best Screenplay [Runner-up] Royal Tenenbaums

Writers Guild of America
2001 Best Original Screenplay Royal Tenenbaums

Trivia
* Is of Irish Catholic ancestry.
* Was born on the same date and month as David Ortiz, Chloe Sevigny, and Christina Vidal were.
* Likes playing table tennis also doing water-sports like bodysurfing and swimming.
* Has a tattoo of a clover with the word 'luck' written under it.
* Keeps an Australian cattle dog called Garcia.
* Is a left-handed person and non-smoker.
* His favorite movies include "Scarface" (1983) and "Punch Drunk Love" (2002).
* Appeared in the music video of The Wiseguys' "Start the Commotion."
* Is considered as one of 'The Frat Pack' members together with Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, also his brother, Luke Wilson, and the first of it to be bestowed an Oscar nomination.
* Has a crooked nose which resulted from two accidents he had experienced, first in high school then in college yet it later has become his trademark instead.
* Is a huge fan of Willie Nelson and Winston Churchill.
* Played football during his hig school years as his two brothers did.
* Was only 2 courses shy of a degree when giving up his study at the University of Texas at Austin.
* Once worked at Blockbuster Video store before pursuing his acting career.
* Has undergone radio commercials for Heineken and Michelob Lite.
* Was the 1001st guest on "Rove Live", an Australian talk show, and was presented a Meat Tray for becoming so.
* Became the best man of his brother, Andrew, at his wedding.
* Won the category of Debut of the Year in 1996 and of Best Screenplay in 1999 at Lone Star Film & Television Awards, both sharing with Wes Anderson.
* Accidentally cut his chin while undergoing a scene in "The Haunting" (1999) in which his character attacks the portrait of Hugh Crane with a candlestick and so had to get some stitches on it.
* Earned a Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination for the category of Favorite Supporting Actor - Horror in 2000 through his role in "The Haunting" (1999).
* Scored two nominations at the 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in the categories of Favorite Supporting Actor - Comedy and Favorite Action Team (Internet Only) along with Jackie Chan.
* Along with his brother, Luke Wilson, initially joined the cast of "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) as the Malloy brothers, but decided to quit the project to film "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001).
* Has been the nominee of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical category at Satellite Awards for 2 consecutive years that were in 2001 and 2002.
* Was nominated for Best On-Screen category at MTV Movie Awards in 3 consecutive years of 2002-2004.
* Obtained Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen nomination together with Wes Anderson from Writers Guild of America in 2002 through "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001).
* Shared with Wes Anderson the BAFTA Award and OFCS Award nomination in the category of Best Screenplay - Original by 2002 for their work in "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001).
* Was considered for the role of Duff in "Stealing Harvard" (2002), but it finally went to Tom Green.
* Was nominated for a Razzie Award in 2003 along with Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro in the Worst Screen Couple category through "Showtime" (2002).
* Collected two nominations at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards for the categories of Choice Movie Chemistry sharing with Ben Stiller and Choice Movie Actor - Comedy through his role in "Starsky & Hutch" (2004).
* Has starred together with Ben Stiller in 8 movies up to 2004, including in "The Cable Guy" (1996), "Permanent Midnight" (1998), "Meet the Parents" (2000), and "Zoolander" (2001).
* Was unable to contribute his writing skills to compose the script for Wes Anderson's effort of "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004) due to his hectic acting schedule, but managed to star in the movie.
* Got nominated for Stoner of the Year by High Times Magazine in 2004.
* Brought home an MTV Movie Award in 2004 for winning the Best Kiss category which he shared with Carmen Electra and Amy Smart through "Starsky & Hutch" (2004).
* Was selected as Favorite On-Screen Match-Up together with Vince Vaughn at the 2006 People's Choice Awards for his role in "Wedding Crashers" (2005).
* Shared with Vince Vaughn the Best On-Screen Team honor at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards show held June 3rd for their portrayal in "Wedding Crashers" (2005).
* Ranked at No. 7 in the poll on Most Wanted Summer Hunks conducted by Entertainment Tonight TV in July 2005.
* Included in People magazine's "Hottest Bachelors" list in June 2006.

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