Macaulay Culkin

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Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin, 1991.
Birth name	Macaulay Carson Culkin
Born	August 26, 1980 (age 26) New York, New York, USA
Other name(s)	Mac
Spouse(s)	Rachel Miner (21 June 1998 - 5 August 2000) (divorced)
Notable roles	Kevin McCallister in Home Alone

Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Kevin McCallister in the first two Home Alone films.

1 Biography
2 Filmography
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Culkin was born in New York City, New York to Christopher 'Kit' Culkin and Patricia Brentup; his aunt is actress Bonnie Bedelia, and his siblings are Christian, Kieran, Rory, Shane, Dakota and Quinn Culkin. During his early years, the family lived in a small apartment; his mother was a telephone operator and his father worked as a sacristan at a local Catholic church. His father was also a former stage actor with a long career on Broadway. Culkin was raised a Catholic and attended a Catholic school (St. Josephs) before moving on to Professional Children's School (NYC).

Culkin began acting at the age of 4, appearing in a stage production of Beach Babies at the New York Philharmonic. He continued appearing in roles on stage, television, and in films throughout the 1980s.

[edit] Career

Culkin's rise to fame was kick-started, thanks to his lead role as Kevin McCallister in the blockbuster film Home Alone (1990), where he was reunited with Uncle Buck's writer and director John Hughes. He reprised the role of Kevin in the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which was also a success. Around this time, Culkin struck a friendship with pop legend Michael Jackson, making an appearance in the Black or White music video. Culkin also starred in a Saturday morning cartoon, entitled Wish Kid and hosted Saturday Night Live in late 1991.

Despite the mega success of Home Alone and its sequel, other films Culkin acted in, such as The Good Son (which co-starred Elijah Wood) and My Girl only did reasonably well, while Getting Even with Dad and Richie Rich bombed at the box office, but provided Culkin with the bulk of his personal fortune.

After all three of Culkin's films released in 1994 turned out to be box-office disasters, he suddenly dropped out of acting. Many people believed that it was because of his becoming too old to play 'childish' roles, as was the popular stereotype about him at the time.

After a period of inactivity, Culkin returned to acting in 2000 with a starring role in the play Madame Melville. In the spring of 2003, he made a guest appearance on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. His role as Karen Walker's immature divorce lawyer won him favorable reviews.

Culkin headed back into motion pictures in 2003 with Party Monster, where he played fallen party promoter Michael Alig. His role in the film received much publicity thanks to the real-life Alig's drug addiction. Though not a huge hit, Party Monster developed a cult following and helped to restart his career.

In 2004, Culkin starred in Saved!, alongside Jena Malone, Mandy Moore and Eva Amurri. In the film, he played a student who uses a wheelchair in a conservative Christian high school. Though Saved! only had modest success at the box office, Culkin received many positive reviews for his role in the film.

Culkin also recently started a career in voice over, with his appearances on Seth Green's Robot Chicken. In 2006, he published an experimental, semi-autobiographical novel, Junior.

Culkin will star in Sex and Breakfast, a dark comedy written and directed by Miles Brandman reports Variety. Alexis Dziena, Kuno Becker and Eliza Dushku also star in the story of a couple whose therapist recommends group sex to them. Shooting has just begun on the film, Culkin's first since 2004's Saved!.

Culkin was in the music video for Sunday, by Sonic Youth.

[edit] Private life

When Culkin was fourteen years old, his parents had a custody battle. His father had been Culkin's manager.

Culkin married actress Rachel Miner on June 21, 1998. They were divorced on August 5, 2000.

In 2004, Culkin was arrested in Oklahoma after police discovered marijuana and prescription Xanax pills inside his vehicle, during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 44. He received a suspended sentence. [1]

In 2005, Culkin testified on behalf of Michael Jackson's defense during the pop singer's child molestation trial. On the stand, he said that he had never been molested by Jackson, and said that he felt that the charges against Jackson were outrageous.

Culkin has been dating actress Mila Kunis since 2002. It has been rumored since early 2006 that they are planning to be wed. ^[1]

Culkin was ranked # 2 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars".

Culkin is noted as a professional wrestling fan and can be seen at WWE pay-per-view WrestleMania VII as a spectator.

Culkin is a fan of animated sitcom Family Guy; according to girlfriend Mila Kunis (who voices Meg Griffin in the series) on the commentary of Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, he has every DVD of Family Guy released, and it was because of him that she actually sat down and watched the show.