Macaulay Culkin
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Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the early 1990s, he was among the most famous child actors in Hollywood.
Biography
Early life
Culkin was born in New York City, New York to Christopher 'Kit' Culkin and Patricia Brentup; his aunt is actress Bonnie Bedelia, and his siblings are Christian, Kieran, Rory, Shane, Dakota and Quinn Culkin. During his early years, the family lived in a small apartment; his mother was a telephone operator and his Irish American father worked as a sacristan at a local Catholic church. Culkin was raised a Catholic and attended a Catholic school (St. Josephs) before moving on to Professional Children's School (NYC).Culkin began acting at the age of 4, appearing in a stage production of Bach Babies at the New York Philharmonic. He continued appearing in roles on stage and television, and in film, throughout the 1980s.
Career
Culkin's rise to fame was kick-started, thanks to his lead role as Kevin in the blockbuster film Home Alone (1990). He reprised the role of Kevin in the 1992 sequel , which was also a success. Around this time, Culkin struck a friendship with pop legend Michael Jackson and starred in a Saturday morning cartoon, entitled Wish Kid Starring Macaulay Culkin.Despite the mega success of Home Alone and its sequel, and Culkin's outstanding star power, other films he acted in, such as The Good Son (which co-starred Elijah Wood) and My Girl only did reasonably well, while Getting Even with Dad and Richie Rich bombed at the box office, but provided Culkin with the bulk of his personal fortune.
After all three of the films released in 1994 that he starred in, turned out to be box-office disasters, Culkin suddenly dropped out of acting. Many people believed that it was because of his becoming too old to play 'childish' roles, as was the popular stereotype about him at the time. After a period of inactivity, Culkin returned to acting in 2000 with a starring role in the play Madame Melville. In the spring of 2003, he made a guest appearance on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. His role as Karen Walker's immature divorce lawyer won him favorable reviews.
Culkin headed back into motion pictures in 2003 with Party Monster, where he played fallen party promoter Michael Alig. His role in the film received much publicity thanks to the real-life Alig's drug addiction. Though not a huge hit, Party Monster developed a cult following, as well as showing that Culkin had grown into a mature actor outside his past success.
In 2004, Culkin starred in Saved!, alongside Jena Malone, Mandy Moore and Eva Amurri. In the film, he played a student who was a wheelchair-user in a conservative Christian high school. Though Saved! only had modest success at the box office, Culkin received many positive reviews for his role in the film.
Culkin also recently started a career in voice over, with his appearances on Seth Green's Robot Chicken. In 2006, he published an experimental, semi-autobiographical novel, Junior.
Private life
When Culkin was fourteen years old, his parents had a custody battle. His father had been Culkin's manager, and was widely known for being the stereotypically-aggressive 'showbiz parent'.Culkin married actress Rachel Miner on June 21, 1998. They were divorced on August 5, 2000. Culkin is currently dating actress Mila Kunis.
In 2005, Culkin was arrested in Oklahoma after police discovered marijuana and prescription Xanax pills inside his vehicle, during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 44. He received a suspended sentence.
Also in 2005, Culkin testified on behalf of Michael Jackson's defense during the pop singer's child molestation trial. On the stand, he denied that he had ever been molested by Jackson, and said that he felt that the charges against Jackson were outrageous. Some credit Culkin's testimony with Jackson's eventual acquittal.
Filmography
- 1989 -- Uncle Buck
- 1990 -- Home Alone
- 1990 -- Jacob's Ladder
- 1991 -- My Girl
- 1992 --
- 1993 -- The Good Son
- 1994 -- Richie Rich
- 1994 -- Getting Even with Dad
- 1994 -- The Pagemaster
- 2003 -- Party Monster
- 2004 -- Saved!
External links
- [] at TV.com
- [}}}] at NNDB
- [link] Culkin Online
- [link] Drug Bust at TheSmokingGun.com
- [link] BBC News report on drug charges
- [Oklahoma Court case file report]
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