Matt Dillon

Matt Dillon
Image:Matt Dillon Cannes.jpg Dillon at the Cannes Film Festival
Birth name	Matthew Raymond Dillon
Born	February 18 1964 (age 44) New Rochelle, New York,  United States

Matthew Raymond "Matt" Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. He began acting in the late 1970s, gained fame as a teen idol during the 1980s, and developed a successful career as an adult actor in the decades following, culminating in an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film Crash.

Biography

Early life

Dillon was born in New Rochelle, New York to second-generation Irish American Catholic parents Paul Dillon (a painter and sales manager for Union Camp, a packing material manufacturer (best friends with NFL player Hal McAvoy)) and Mary Ellen (a homemaker). He has one sister and four brothers, one of whom, Kevin, is also an actor. Dillon grew up in Mamaroneck, New York and attended Hommocks School in Larchmont, New York.

His next role was in the 1982 film, Tex, followed two months later by Liar's Moon, where he played Jack Duncan, a poor Texas boy madly in love with a rich banker's daughter. In the mid-1980s, Dillon had prominent roles in all three of Francis Ford Coppola's S. E. Hinton adaptations: Tex (1982) The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983). All three films were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hinton's hometown.

In 1987, Dillon appeared briefly as a policeman in the music video for the song Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, a major hit in Ireland and the United Kingdom. In 1989, Dillon won critical acclaim for his performance as a drug addict in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy.

Dillon continued to work in early 1990s with roles in movies like Singles (1992). He had somewhat of a career resurge as the role of Nicole Kidman's husband in To Die For (1995), as well as large roles in Wild Things (1998) and There's Something About Mary (1998), for which he received an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

In 2002, he also wrote and directed the film City of Ghosts, starring himself, James Caan and Gérard Depardieu. He recently appeared in Crash (co-written and directed by Paul Haggis); Dillon received much praise for his performance, including Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. He also co-starred in Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded. Dillon also hosted Saturday Night Live on March 11, 2006, where he impersonated Greg Anderson in a "SportsCenter" sketch and Rod Serling in Bill Hader's "Vincent Price St. Patrick's Day Special" sketch.

Dillon's most recent role is in the comedy You, Me and Dupree, opposite Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson. The film opened on July 14, 2006.

On September 29, 2006 the actor was honored with the price Premio Donostia in the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Other work

Dillon is mentioned on Jeff Buckley's Live at Sin-é: Legacy Edition CD. On track 5 Buckley mentions that he cut his hair because people thought he looked like Matt Dillon.

Dillon also contributed his voice as Sal Paradise in Jack Kerouac 's famous novel On the Road.

As of 2007 Dinosaur Jr. hired Dillon to direct their new video and single "Been There All The Time," off the band's upcoming album "Beyond"

Personal life

Dillon dated actress Cameron Diaz from 1996 to 1998; the two met in 1995 while both were filming movies in Minnesota.

Matt has also been linked to The Apprentice Season 3 cast member Tara Dowdell.^{[citation needed]}

Selected filmography

References

YEAR 1983

MOVIE The Outsiders

ROLE Dallas (Dally) Winston

Wikipedia information about Matt Dillon This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Matt Dillon". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.