Matthew Modine

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Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959 in Loma Linda, California) is an American actor.

Contents 1 Early life 1.1 Career 2 Pop culture references 3 Partial filmography 4 External links

Early life

Modine is the youngest of seven children. Although he was born in Loma Linda, California, his formative years were spent growing up in Utah. His father, Mark, was a drive-in theater manager. When Modine was ten years old, he saw a documentary about the making of the film Oliver!. Inspired by the young actors and their performances, Modine decided to become an actor. He found a dance school in Provo, Utah and began taking tap dancing lessons. He also joined the junior high school Glee Club when his family moved to Midvale, Utah.

After graduating high school in Imperial Beach, California, Modine moved to New York City to study acting. It was there that he began working with the legendary acting teacher Stella Adler.

Career

His first film role was in John Sayles' Baby It's You. His performance caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who cast him in Vision Quest (Crazy for You) based on the novel by Terry Davis. It was the director Robert Altman that propelled Modine into international stardom with his film adaptation of David Rabe's play Streamers. Modine and his fellow castmates won an unprecedented Best Actor prize from the Venice Film Festival for this tragic story of young American soldiers about to be shipped to Vietnam. Modine played Mel Gibson's brother in Mrs. Soffel and starred with Nicolas Cage in Alan Parker's Birdy. The film was awarded a prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Modine might be best known for his role as "Private Joker," the main character of Stanley Kubrick's 1987 war movie Full Metal Jacket. Afterward, he played the dangerous young criminal, Treat, in Alan Pakula's film version of the hugely successful play Orphans by writer Lyle Kessler and the goofy, earnest Det. Mike Downey, in Jonathan Demme's screwball comedy Married to the Mob opposite Michelle Pfeiffer.

Modine was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performances in And the Band Played On and What the Deaf Man Heard.

In 1999, he made his feature directorial debut with If... Dog... Rabbit. This came after the success of three short films that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival: When I was a Boy (co-directed with Todd Field) Smoking written by David Sedaris, and Ecce Pirate.

His most recent films include The Go Go Tales, The West Texas Childrens Story, Opa!, and Mary, which won a prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Pop culture references

• Canadian girl-pop band, Pony Up!, wrote and recorded a song called "Matthew Modine" on their self-titled debut album.
• Actor Martin Short's character Jiminy Glick has made repeated references to his twin sons, Matthew and Modine.
• Missed out on super-stardom when he turned down the lead in Top Gun (film). Tom Cruise catapulted to great heights soon afterwards.

Partial filmography

Go Go Tales (2006) A West Texas Children's Story (2006) The Bedford Diaries (2006) Into The West (2005, TV) Transporter 2 (2005) Mary (2005) Le Divorce (2003) by James Ivory Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001, TV) Flowers for Algernon 2000 TV Notting Hill (1999, cameo) Any Given Sunday (1999) The Real Blonde (1997) Bye Bye Love (1995) Cutthroat Island (1995) The Browning Version (1994) And The Band Played On (1993, TV)

Short Cuts (1993) by Robert Altman Equinox (1992) by Alan Rudolph Wind (1992) Pacific Heights (1990) by John Schlesinger Memphis Belle (1990) Gross Anatomy (1989) Married to the Mob (1988) by Jonathan Demme Full Metal Jacket (1987) Orphans (1987) Vision Quest (1985) Birdy (1984) Streamers (1983) by Robert Altman Private School (1983)

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