Actors - Keanu Reeves

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Keanu Reeves

	Actors - Keanu Reeves

Keanu Charles Reeves (born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian/English Hollywood actor and musician (bassist). He is perhaps best known for his roles in comedies like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, as well as in several successful action films, including Speed
and The Matrix
film trilogy. He was also a member of a grunge band, Dogstar, during the 1990s.

Biography

Early life

Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon to Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., an American geologist, and Patricia Taylor, an English showgirl and costume designer who was working in Beirut when she met Reeves' father at a local nightclub.

His paternal grandfather, Samuel Nowlin Reeves, was born in Hawaii to Charles Armistead Reeves, a Tennessee-born Irish American, and Rose Lokalia Miguel, who was of Portuguese and Hawaiian descent. His paternal grandmother, Sarah M. Victor, was of part Chinese descent. The name "Keanu" means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian. Reeves was named after his uncle Henry Keanu Reeves, and the name is a short form of the name of Reeves' great-great uncle Keaweaheulu.

Reeves has a sister, Kim (born 1966 in Beirut, Lebanon), a half-sister named Karina Miller (born 1976 in Toronto, Canada) and another half-sister named Emma Rose Reeves (born 1980 in Hawaii). Kim Reeves is a devoted horse breeder, as well as an actress. She presently lives in Anacapri, in the north of the island of Capri.

His parents divorced in 1966; his mother, along with him, left for New York City in 1969, where she met and subsequently married Paul Aaron, a Broadway and Hollywood director. The couple, who divorced in 1971, moved to Toronto, Canada, where Keanu grew up. Reeves' mother was later married to Robert Miller (between 1976 and 1980, and from whom he has a half-sister, Karina) and Jack Bond. Reeves grew up in Toronto, and as such he has dual Canadian and British citizenship. He worked at a pasta shop, sharpened skates at an ice rink, and was voted MVP on his high school ice hockey team. Within a span of five years, Reeves attended four different high schools in total, including a performing-arts school from which he was expelled. Reeves began his acting career at the age of 15, appearing in a stage production at a local Jewish community center. After leaving the Catholic boys' high school where he played hockey, he attended a free school which allowed him to obtain an education while working as an actor. He later dropped out, never obtaining his high school diploma.

Career

Reeves made his screen acting debut in Canada, in a 1979 CBC production, Hanging In. Throughout the early 1980s, he appeared in commercials (including one for Coca-Cola), short films and stage work in Toronto. He moved to Los Angeles in 1986, and subsequently began appearing in American films, and after a few minor roles gained the notice of the critics in 1986's River's Edge
, a teenage drama which received positive reviews. Following the film's success, he spent the late 1980s appearing in a number of movies aimed at teenage audiences, including Permanent Record
, a dark film about teenage suicide, and the successful 1989 comedy, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
, which typecast Reeves somewhat during the next few years, as much of his subsequent portrayal in the press has been influenced by his portrayal of the comically airheaded character, "Ted".

During the early 1990s, Reeves appeared in both high-budget action films like Point Break
and lower-budget independent films, including the well-received 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho
, and the critically-hated 1994 film, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. In 1994, Reeves also starred in the action film Speed
, which was a commercial success and raised his profile, leading to his casting in films like Johnny Mnemonic
and Chain Reaction. His 1999 science fiction hit, The Matrix
, re-established him as a Hollywood leading man, after a few years of films that received only moderate box office and mixed critical reception. Reeves deferred his salary for The Devil's Advocate so Al Pacino would be cast, and did the same for The Replacements
, guaranteeing the casting of Gene Hackman.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Keanu Reeves ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Keanu Reeves; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Actors - Keanu Reeves

Biography

Early life

Career

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay