John C Reilly Biography
Summary
"John Christopher Reilly" (born May 24, 1965) is an Academy Award- and Grammy Award-nominated American actor. Debuting in "Casualties of War" in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty film productions, including three separate films in 2002, each of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. His most recent film is the animated Shane Acker action/fantasy 9, produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and due for release September 9, 2009.
Early life
Reilly, the fifth of six children, was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois to an Irish American father and a Lithuanian mother. He was raised as a Catholic and graduated from Brother Rice High School. He knew actor Richard Jenkins when Reilly was 4. Jenkins was working for Reilly's father in the linen business. They realized this on the set of "Step Brothers" while discussing growing up in Chicago.
Film career
Reilly made his film debut in the Brian De Palma film "Casualties of War" (1989) as "PFC Herbert Hatcher". Although the role of Hatcher was written as a small one, De Palma liked Reilly's performance so much that the role was significantly expanded. Also notable in his film work throughout the 1990's was his supporting role alongside Mark Wahlberg in Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 film Boogie Nights, in which he played the pornographic film star Reed Rothchild.
His profile as a film actor was significantly raised in 2002 when he appeared in three of the year's Academy Award for Best Picture nominees - "Chicago", "Gangs of New York" and "The Hours". The three movies were nominated for a total of 32 Oscars, including one for Best Supporting Actor for Reilly's performance as Renée Zellweger's trusting husband in "Chicago". Ultimately, "Gangs of New York" won none, "Chicago" won six, and "The Hours" won one.
Reilly appeared in Martin Scorsese's 2004 Howard Hughes biopic, "The Aviator", as Hughes' trusted business partner, Noah Dietrich.
Reilly has appeared in over fifty mostly supporting roles since his debut in 1989.
Music
Reilly performed on two tracks of the 2006 compilation "Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys": 'Fathom the Bowl? and 'My Son John?.
In 2007, Reilly starred in the biopic parody "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story". In addition to his acting role, he also performed as a vocalist and songwriter on the movie's soundtrack, for which he was nominated for a Grammy. Reilly went on a concert performance tour in the US, performing as his character "Dewey Cox" in the "Cox Across America 2007 Tour".
Television
Reilly provided the voice of himself in the "The Simpsons" episode 'Any Given Sundance?. He also frequently appears on "Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" as Dr. Steve Brule.
External links
(MikeHoncho.net-Unofficial Commentary Fansite)
(In the Driver's Seat ("Moving Pictures Magazine" interview))
(Interpreting Tennessee Williams) - "Working in the Theatre Seminar" video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 2005
(John C. Reilly's Producer Profile on The 1 Second Film)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about John C Reilly.
