Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980)[1] is an American actor. He became famous as a child actor for his role as Kevin McCallister in the family comedy Home Alone (1990) and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He is also known for his roles in Uncle Buck (1989), Richie Rich (1994), My Girl, The Pagemaster, The Good Son, Party Monster, and the music video for Michael Jackson's "Black or White". At the height of his fame, he was regarded as the most successful child actor since Shirley Temple.[2] Culkin ranked at number two on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars" and E!'s list of the "50 Greatest Child Stars".[3]

Culkin was born in Manhattan.[1] His father, Christopher Cornelius "Kit" Culkin, is a former actor known for his productions on Broadway and is the brother of actress Bonnie Bedelia. His mother is Patricia Brentrup, who never married Culkin.[4] He was raised Roman Catholic;[5] he attended a Catholic school (St. Joseph's School of Yorkville) for five years[6] before moving on to Professional Children's School. He also studied ballet at the School of American Ballet.[7]

Culkin was the third of seven children, five boys and two girls: Shane (born 1976), Dakota (1978–2008),[8] Kieran (born 1982), Quinn (born 1984), Christian (born 1987), and Rory (born 1989). During Culkin's early childhood, 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.[9]

Culkin began acting at the age of four. Early roles saw him appearing in a stage production of Bach Babies at the New York Philharmonic. He continued appearing in roles on stage, television, and films throughout the 1980s. Notable parts in this period included an episode of the popular action series The Equalizer, in which he played a kidnapping victim, and in the TV movie The Midnight Hour. In 1989, he starred in Uncle Buck with John Candy.[10]

Culkin rose to international fame with his lead role as Kevin McCallister in the blockbuster film Home Alone (1990), where he was reunited with Uncle Buck writer and director John Hughes and Uncle Buck co-star John Candy.[11] He reprised the role of Kevin in the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Culkin also starred in a Saturday morning cartoon entitled Wish Kid and hosted Saturday Night Live in late 1991. Despite the huge success of Uncle Buck, Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and My Girl, other films Culkin acted in, such as The Good Son, only did reasonably well (although he was nominated for MTV Movie Award in the category for Best Villain for his performance in the film). Getting Even with Dad, Richie Rich and The Pagemaster, all released in 1994, were only mildly successful at the box office. He also appeared in a filmed version of The Nutcracker as the title role in 1993, which was staged by Peter Martins from the 1954 George Balanchine New York City Ballet version of the work. He appeared in the 1998 music video for the song "Sunday" by the rock band Sonic Youth.

After several years of inactivity, Culkin returned to acting, in 2000, with a role in the play Madame Melville, which was staged in London's West End.[12] In the spring of 2003, he made a guest appearance on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.[13] His role as Karen Walker's deceptively immature divorce lawyer won him favorable reviews. Culkin headed back into motion pictures in 2003 with Party Monster, in which he played a role very different from those he was known for, that of party promoter Michael Alig, a drug user and murderer. He quickly followed that with a supporting part in Saved!, as a cynical wheelchair-bound, non-Christian student in a conservative Christian high school. Though Saved! only had modest success at the box office, Culkin received positive reviews for his role in the film and its implications for a career as an adult actor.[14][15][16] Culkin began doing voice-over work, with appearances in Seth Green's Robot Chicken. In 2006, he published an experimental, semi-autobiographical novel, Junior, which featured details about Culkin's stardom and his shaky relationship with his father. Culkin starred in Sex and Breakfast, a dark comedy written and directed by Miles Brandman.[17] Alexis Dziena, Kuno Becker and Eliza Dushku also star in this story of a couple whose therapist recommends they engage in group sex. Shooting for the film, Culkin's first since Saved!, took place in September 2006. The film opened in Los Angeles on November 30, 2007 and was released on DVD on January 22, 2008 by First Look Pictures. Culkin's next project was a role in the thirteen-episode NBC television series Kings as Andrew Cross.[18]

In 2009, Culkin appeared in a UK-based commercial for Aviva Insurance (formerly Norwich Union) to help promote their company's rebranding. Culkin stared into the camera stating, "Remember me." On August 17, 2009, Culkin made a brief cameo appearance on WWE Raw at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, following a "falls count anywhere" match between Hornswoggle and Chavo Guerrero, in which Guerrero was defeated by the classic Home Alone gag of rigging a swinging paint can to hit him upon opening a door. Culkin appeared in the doorway and said, "That's not funny." In February 2010, Culkin appeared in an episode of Poppy de Villeneuve's online series for The New York Times, The Park. On March 7 of the same year, he appeared alongside actors Matthew Broderick, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, and Jon Cryer in a tribute to the late John Hughes. In April 2011, Culkin was featured in musician Adam Green's experimental film "The Wrong Ferarri", which was entirely shot on an iPhone. In the same month, he also appeared in the music video for Stamp Your Name On It performed by Green's former bandmate Jack Dishel/Only Son. In September 2012, he appeared in a video on YouTube explaining how he turned his apartment in New York into a painting workshop.[19]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes

1988	Rocket Gibraltar	Cy Blue Black

1989	See You in the Morning	Billy Livingstone

1989	Uncle Buck	Miles Russell

1990	Jacob's Ladder	Gabe Singer	Uncredited[40]

1990	Home Alone	Kevin McCallister	American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture

Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Emerging Actor

Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture

Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

1991	Only the Lonely	Billy Muldoon

1991	My Girl	Thomas J. Sennett	MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Anna Chlumsky

Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Anna Chlumsky

1992	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	Kevin McCallister

1993	Dangerous: The Short Films	Himself	Seen in Black or White

1993	The Good Son	Henry Evans	Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Villain

1993	The Nutcracker	The Nutcracker Prince

1994	Getting Even with Dad	Timmy Gleason	Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor

Nominated – Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Actor[41]

1994	The Pagemaster	Richard Tyler	Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor

Nominated – Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Actor

1994	Richie Rich	Richard "Richie" Rich Jr.	Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor

Nominated – Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Actor

2003	Party Monster	Michael Alig

2004	Saved! Roland

2007	Sex and Breakfast	James Fitz

2011	The Wrong Ferarri	Himself