He was also close friends with actors Tony Curtis, Ernie Kovacs, Walter Matthau, and Kevin Spacey.

Spacey was born in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of Kathleen Ann ( née Knutson ; December 5, 1931 – March 19, 2003 ), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler ( June 4, 1924 – December 24, 1992 ), a technical writer and data consultant.

Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known.

Spacey won universal praise and a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a depressed suburban father who re-evaluates his life in 1999's American Beauty ; the same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Beyond The Sea was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography / musical about Darin's life, career, and relationship with actress Sandra Dee.

However, reviewers criticized the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.

Spacey was the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film.

In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres.

In mid-2006, Spacey felt he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic.

The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007.

Based on a true story of a teacher arrested for teaching his students evolution also known as the " Scopes Monkey Trial ," Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by actor Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name.

Spacey was awarded a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa from the London South Bank University in November 2005.

Dunst was offered the role of Angela in the 1999 drama film American Beauty, but turned it down because she did not want to appear in the film's suggestive sexual scenes or kiss co-star Kevin Spacey.

The alien character of Prot in the book trilogy by Gene Brewer and played by Kevin Spacey in the movie K-PAX, like Proteus was said to embody, was a modernized " shape shifter " and magical type of advanced mystical ET who " walked in " to humanoid bodies, and shared wisdom and insights into the human condition.

Twilight Princess was named Game of the Year by X-Play, Game Trailers, 1UP, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Spacey Awards, Game Informer, GameSpy, Nintendo Power, IGN, and many other websites.

Mendes did not want a big star " weighing the film down "; he felt Spacey was the right choice based on his performances in the 1995 films The Usual Suspects and Seven, and 1992's Glengarry Glen Ross.

Spacey was surprised ; he said, " I usually play characters who are very quick, very manipulative and smart ...

Before filming, Mendes and Spacey analyzed Jack Lemmon's performance in The Apartment ( 1960 ), because Mendes wanted Spacey to emulate " the way moved, the way he looked, the way he was in that office and the way he was an ordinary man and yet a special man ".

Sam Mendes directed Spacey in a Shakespeare's Richard III.

Reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with particular emphasis on Mendes, Spacey and Ball ; criticism tended to focus on the familiarity of the characters and setting.

Mendes had Spacey and Bening in mind for the leads from the beginning, but DreamWorks executives were unenthusiastic.

" Mendes offered Bening the role of Carolyn without the studio's consent ; although executives were upset at Mendes, by September 1998, DreamWorks had entered negotiations with Spacey and Bening.

During the film, Lester's physique improves from flabby to toned ; Spacey worked out during filming to improve his body, but because Mendes shot the scenes out of chronological order, Spacey varied postures to portray the stages.

Mendes encouraged some improvisation ; for example, when Lester masturbates in bed beside Carolyn, the director asked Spacey to improvise several euphemisms for the act in each take.

Mendes spent two days filming Spacey against bluescreen, but removed the sequence as he believed it to be too whimsical —" like a Coen brothers movie "— and therefore inappropriate for the tone he was trying to set.

Critically acclaimed, American Beauty was widely considered the best film of 1999 by the American press ; it received overwhelming praise, chiefly for Spacey, Mendes and Ball.

* American Beauty ( film ), a 1999 film starring Kevin Spacey and directed by Sam Mendes

In 2011, well-known film actor Kevin Spacey starred in an Old Vic production which subsequently toured the United States, directed by well-known stage and film director Sam Mendes.

Mendes made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed and box-office success American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey.

Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus ; and again in the last episode of season 31 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.

Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews.

Emanuel Levy of Variety wrote: " Teaming for the first time Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson, arguably the two best actors of their generation, in perfectly fitting roles is a shrewd move and the best element of this fact-inspired but overwrought thriller.

Spacey thanked the drama department of his alma mater when he won his first Oscar.

Beginning in 1994, Kevin Spacey first offered his services to portray Bobby Darin, but the filmmakers believed the actor was too old.

She appeared at the first Spacey Awards too.

Actor Kevin Spacey recalled that Lemmon is remembered as always making time for other people.

Spacey also earned another Tony nomination the same year, for his work in a Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh.

In 2001, Spacey co-hosted, with Judi Dench, the Unite for the Future Gala, a UK fundraiser for the British Victims of 9 / 11 and Médecins Sans Frontières at London's Old Vic Theatre, produced by Harvey Goldsmith and Dominic Madden.

Facing little interest for backing in the States, Spacey went to the UK and Germany for funding.

Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions as when he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio he imitated, at host James Lipton's request: James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon.

Spacey undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years.

Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O ' Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best.

In September 2006, Spacey announced his intention to stay on at the Old Vic for at least another nine years, and that due to his continuing UK residency he intends to take up British citizenship when it becomes available to him.

" Spacey said to Gotham Magazine, " I ’ ve just never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity.

Spacey stated: "... they will never be able to ban the Belarus people's right to fight for their freedom and their voices to be heard, and that's what this protest is about.

* 8 p. m. EDT: Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music, a tribute to John Lennon that became a concert of prayer and healing for New York City to benefit the relief efforts, hosted by Kevin Spacey and featuring Dave Matthews, Moby, Stone Temple Pilots, Nelly Furtado, Shelby Lynne, Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper, The Isley Brothers, Lou Reed, Marc Anthony, Natalie Merchant, Yolanda Adams, Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono, is held at Radio City Music Hall and simultaneously broadcast live on the TNT and WB networks.

DreamWorks launched a major campaign to increase American Beautys chances of Academy Award success ; at the 72nd Academy Awards the following year, the film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor ( for Spacey ), Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.

Spacey and Bening worked to create a sense of the love that Lester and Carolyn once had for one another ; for example, the scene in which Lester almost seduces Carolyn after the pair argue over Lester's buying a car was originally " strictly contentious ".