Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards. Spacey was named an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015.
Spacey began his film career with small roles in Mike Nichols's comedy-drama films Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). He won two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for playing a con man in The Usual Suspects (1995) and Best Actor for playing a suburban husband and father going through a midlife crisis in American Beauty (1999). His other films include Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Outbreak (1995), Se7en (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), Pay It Forward (2000), Superman Returns (2006), 21 (2008), Margin Call (2011), Horrible Bosses (2011), and Baby Driver (2017). He has also directed the films Albino Alligator (1996) and Beyond the Sea (2004).
In Broadway theater, Spacey starred in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986. He won a Tony Award in 1991 for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He won a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in a revival of The Iceman Cometh in 1999. Spacey portrayed the title role in Richard III in 2011 and Clarence Darrow in a West End production of Darrow in 2015. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, for which he received the Society of London Theatre Special Award. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards.
In television, Spacey portrayed Ron Klain in Recount (2008) and produced Bernard and Doris (2008), both for HBO Films. From 2013 to 2017, he starred as Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor. Both Spacey and the show itself were nominated for five consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Drama Series, respectively.
In 2017, Spacey faced several allegations of sexual misconduct. In the wake of these claims, Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his biopic of Gore Vidal and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His completed role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer. Spacey has denied the accusations and was found not liable in a 2022 lawsuit in New York. In a separate case in London, he was acquitted by a jury of sexual assault charges in 2023.
Early life, family and education
Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Spacey has a sister and an older brother, Randy Fowler, from whom Spacey is estranged. His brother has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey shut down emotionally and became "very sly and smart" to avoid beatings. Spacey first addressed the matter in October 2022, saying that his father was "a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi" who would call him "an F-word that is very derogatory to the gay community". He stated that, as a result, he became extremely private about his personal life and did not come out as gay earlier in his life. Spacey had previously described his father as "a very normal, middle-class man".
Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which was his paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed comedy in bowling alley talent contests.
Legal issues
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated, in April 2018, that it would investigate an allegation that Spacey had sexually assaulted an adult male in 1992. In July 2018, three more allegations of sexual assault against Spacey were revealed by Scotland Yard, bringing the total number of open investigations in the UK to six. In September 2018, a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Spacey sexually assaulted an unnamed masseur in October 2016 at a house in Malibu, California.
In December 2018, Spacey was charged with a felony for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist Heather Unruh's 18-year-old son in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016. Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charge on January 7, 2019. Unruh's son told police that he was texting with his girlfriend throughout the alleged "groping" incident. Spacey's defense attorneys spent months trying to obtain copies of the texts and the phone itself. In mid-May 2019, Unruh's son's personal attorney informed the court that the phone in question was "missing". On June 4, 2019, the defense learned that, when Unruh gave the police her son's phone in 2017, she admitted that she had deleted some of the text messages. Later that month, her son filed a lawsuit against Spacey, claiming emotional damages. Shortly later, on July 5, 2019, they withdrew the lawsuit.
If you want to read more about Kevin, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Spacey
- SERVES
- 6
- COOK TIME
- 45 Min
This summer, how about using those ruby red tomatoes to bake up something a little unusual but a whole lot tasty? We call it Summer's Best Tomato Pie and it's so fresh and creamy, you're gonna have a hard time stopping at one slice. With tomatoes being such a great summer food buy, you may want to bake one for a friend, too!
- 1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
- 2 large tomatoes, sliced
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 450º. Unroll pie crust and place in a 9-inch pie plate; fold edges under and crimp. Prick bottom and sides of crust with a fork. Bake 8 minutes, remove from oven, and reduce oven to 350º.
- Arrange tomato slices in crust. In a medium bowl, combine egg, heavy cream, mayonnaise, mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper; mix well and pour over tomatoes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let sit 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.
1995 – Shawn Nelson steals a tank from a military installation and goes on a rampage in San Diego resulting in a 25 minute police chase. Nelson is killed by an officer after the tank got stuck on a concrete barrier and tried to break free.
2004 – The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.
2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.
2007 – Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.
2013 – Two Metro-North commuter trains collide near Bridgeport, Connecticut injuring at least 72 people.
And births this date include...
1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (d. 2010)
1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
1956 – Bob Saget, American actor (d.2022)
1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish actor and comedian
On May 17th, National Idaho Day recognizes the 43rd state to join the union.
A wave of settlement made its way into The Gem State following in the footsteps of the Corps of Discovery. Miners, traders, and missionaries made their way West into the territory of the Nez Perce, Shoshone, and Bannock peoples. On July 3, 1890, the state became the 43rd state of the United States.
The state is dominated by the Rocky Mountains range. Snake River winds its way through the rugged western border of the state carving the deepest river gorge in North America. Hells Canyon National Recreation Area provides spectacular views of the dramatic landscapes the Snake River took thousands of years to sculpt.
Idaho doesn’t lack scenery. Take any byway, and the next turn will reveal a whole new vista to observe. For example, Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve will seem to erupt before your eyes. This vast lava field formed from ancient volcanic activity.
While exploring Idaho, don’t forget to investigate Hagerman’s Fossil Beds. Excavations of these well-preserved fossils have fascinated paleontologists for generations. If there is an equine interest, be sure to study the Hagerman Horse, too!
Beyond the fossils, entire cityscapes of stone appear. The City of Rocks encountered by native peoples, pioneers, and modern-day adventurers became a kind of waystation or landmark for those who were westward bound.
Inventors seem to like Idaho. Beyond the list of patents for improvements to printing presses and railroad technology, Idaho is the home of the television. Philo Farnsworth invented the necessary technology that brought the small screen to the mass market.
