Born in Evanston, Illinois, USA on June 26, 1966, John Cusack was the son of an Irish Catholic family. The fourth child in the Cusack clan, John's entire family bursts with talent. His father Richard is an actor and a documentary film maker. His mother Nancy is a teacher. He has three sisters - Joan, Susan and Anne who are all actors; and a brother, Bill who is (you guessed it!) an actor. John Cusack knew early on that he wanted to go into show business. At the age of 8, he joined the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Illinois which produces many of Chicago's theatre stars. By the time Cusack turned twelve, he was a veteran in the business with a string of industory films, acted radio spots and commercial voice overs under his belt. Then, at the age of 17, Cusack got his first big break in the teen sex comedy Class.  

 

 During the eighties, Cusack acted in many memorable films like Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, the Sure Thing, The Journey of Natty Gann , and of course Cameron Crowe's classic eighties movie, Say Anything. Cusack remarked that the character he played in Say Anything (Lloyd Dobler) was the most like himself of all the characters he had ever played. He also had small parts in Stand By Me (one of my favourites) and Broadcast News.

 

 

 

After Say Anything, Cusack started to receive offers for better roles. His first major adult role came in Martin Scorsese's gritty film The Grifters. Both Cusack's co-stars Angelica Huston and Annette Benning received Oscar nominations. Though Cusack did not get nominated, he still received rave reviews from the critics. Next, Cusack appeared in True Colors with James Spader, a film about friendship and betrayal and he appeared in a cameo role in The Player. Money for Nothing came out in 1993, which had the potential to be a great film. However, outraged because of the edits the director had make, Cusack disowned the film about viewing the final cut.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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