Matt Dillon
| Matt Dillon | |
|---|---|
 Dillon at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival |
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| Born | Matthew Raymond Dillon February 18, 1964 New Rochelle, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1979–present |
Matthew Raymond "Matt" Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He began acting in the late 1970s, gaining fame as a teenage idol during the 1980s.
Contents |
Early life
Matthew Raymond Dillon was born in New Rochelle, New York, to second-generation Irish American Catholic parents Mary Ellen, a homemaker, and Paul Dillon, a portrait painter and sales manager for Union Camp, a packing material manufacturer.[1][2] Through his father, Dillon is related to comic strip artist Alex Raymond.[3] Dillon has one sister and four brothers, one of whom, Kevin Dillon,[4] is also an actor, and appears on the hit TV series Entourage. Dillon grew up in Mamaroneck, New York and before dropping out in junior year he attended Mamaroneck High School.
Career
In 1977, Jane Bernstein and a friend were helping director Jonathan Kaplan cast the violent teen drama Over the Edge when they found Dillon cutting class at Hommocks Middle School in Larchmont, NY. Dillon auditioned for a role and made his debut in the film.[5] The film received a regional, limited theatrical release in May 1979, and grossed only slightly over $200,000.[6] Dillon's performance was well-received, which led to his casting in two films released the following year; the teenage sex comedy, Little Darlings, in which Kristy McNichol's character loses her virginity to a boy from the camp across the lake, played by Dillon, and the more serious teen dramedy, My Bodyguard, where he played a high-school bully opposite Chris Makepeace. The films, released in March and July 1980, respectively, were box office successes[7] and raised Dillon's profile among teenage audiences.
Another of Dillon's early roles was in the Jean Shepherd PBS special The Great American Fourth of July. The only available copies of this film are stored at UCLA, where a legal dispute makes it unavailable to the public.
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 three adaptations of S. E. Hinton novels: Tex (1982) The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983). All three films were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hinton's hometown. The Outsiders and Rumble Fish had Dillon working with Francis Ford Coppola and Diane Lane. He followed it up with The Flamingo Kid in 1984. He made his Broadway debut with the play The Boys of Winter in 1985.
Dillon did voiceover work in the 1987 documentary film Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. The same year, 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 the early 1990s with roles in movies like Singles (1992). He had somewhat of a career resurgence when he played 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 wrote and directed the film City of Ghosts, starring himself, James Caan and Gérard Depardieu. That same year he starred in Factotum, a film adaptation of an autobiographical work by Charles Bukowski. Two years later he received critical praise and earned a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe along with Oscar nominations for his role in Crash, a film co-written and directed by Paul Haggis. In 2005 Dillon co-starred in Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded and on March 11, 2006 the actor hosted Saturday Night Live, in which he impersonated Greg Anderson and Rod Serling in sketches.
Dillon starred in the comedy You, Me and Dupree, opposite Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson. The film opened on July 14, 2006. On September 29, 2006, Dillon was honored with the Premio Donostia prize in the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
Dillon contributed his voice as the narrator, Sal Paradise, in Jack Kerouac's famous novel On the Road. In 2006, he narrated Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos.
Dillon appeared in several music videos during his career. He made a cameo appearance as a detective in Madonna's Bad Girl music video which also stars Christopher Walken. Dillon appeared in 1987 in the music video of "Fairytale Of New York" by the Irish folk-punk band The Pogues playing a cop who escorts lead singer Shane MacGowan into the drunk tank.
In 2007, the band Dinosaur Jr. hired Dillon to direct the video for their single "Been There All The Time" from the album Beyond. He guest stars in The Simpsons episode "Midnight Towboy" and also appears on an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Personal life
Dillon had a 3-year relationship with actress Cameron Diaz in the late 90s'.
On December 30, 2008, he was arrested by the Vermont State Police after he was clocked traveling at 106 miles per hour northbound on Interstate 91 near Newbury, Vermont.[8] He was charged with negligent operation of a vehicle. His attorney, Mark Kaplan, entered a plea of not guilty on Dillon's behalf in a January appearance in Orange County Court in Chelsea, and also appeared in court on February 25, 2009.[9] He faced a maximum of one year in jail, and a fine of $1,000. He pleaded guilty to speeding and paid a $828 fine on March 30, 2009; in return, the negligence charge was dismissed by prosecutors.[10]
Cultural influence
Dillon is mentioned on Jeff Buckley's Live at Sin-é: Legacy Edition CD. On the fifth track Buckley mentions that he cut his hair because people thought he looked like Matt Dillon. Dillon's name is dropped in the lyrics of "After the Fire", a song that Pete Townshend wrote for Roger Daltrey's solo album "Under A Raging Moon":
I saw Matt Dillon in black and white/There ain't no colour in memories/He rode his brother's Harley across the TV/ While I was laughing at Dom deLuise
Dillon is also mentioned in Pencey Prep's Don Quixote from the album Heartbreak in Stereo.
I dance the same dance every night;/ It's only you you're killing./ Super glue the queen of hearts and the information she's spilling,/ Matt Dillon.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
| 1979 | Over the Edge | Richie White | Film debut |
| 1980 | My Bodyguard | Melvin Moody | |
| Little Darlings | Randy Adams | ||
| 1981 | Gunmen's Blues | Lake | short film |
| 1982 | Tex | Tex McCormick | |
| Liar's Moon | Jack Duncan | ||
| 1983 | Rumble Fish | Rusty James | |
| Amazed | Ewan Willson | ||
| The Outsiders | Dallas 'Dally' Winston | ||
| 1984 | The Flamingo Kid | Jeffrey Willis | |
| 1985 | Target | Chris Lloyd/Derek Potter | |
| 1986 | Native Son | Jan | |
| Rebel | Rebel | ||
| 1987 | The Big Town | J. C. Cullen | |
| 1988 | Kansas | Doyle Kennedy | |
| 1989 | Drugstore Cowboy | Bob | Independent Spirit Award – Won – Best Male Lead |
| Bloodhounds of Broadway | Regret | ||
| 1991 | A Kiss Before Dying | Jonathan Corliss | |
| 1992 | Singles | Cliff Poncier | |
| 1993 | The Saint of Fort Washington | Matthew | |
| Mr. Wonderful | Gus | ||
| 1994 | Golden Gate | Kevin Walker | |
| 1995 | To Die For | Larry Maretto | |
| Frankie Starlight | Terry Klout | ||
| 1996 | Grace of My Heart | Jay Phillips | |
| Albino Alligator | Dova | ||
| Beautiful Girls | Tommy 'Birdman' Rowland | ||
| 1997 | In and Out | Cameron Drake | |
| 1998 | There's Something About Mary | Patrick (Pat) Healy | MTV Award – Won – Best Villain |
| Wild Things | Sam Lombardo | ||
| 2001 | One Night at McCool's | Randy | |
| 2002 | Deuces Wild | Fritzy | |
| City of Ghosts | Jimmy | also director and writer | |
| 2003 | Abby Singer | Himself | |
| 2004 | Employee of the Month | David Walsh | |
| 2005 | Herbie: Fully Loaded | Trip Murphy | |
| Crash | Sgt. John Ryan | Academy Award nomination – "Best Supporting Actor"
Independent Spirit Award - Won – Best Supporting Male |
|
| 2006 | Factotum | Henry Chinaski | playing Charles Bukowski |
| You, Me and Dupree | Carl Peterson | ||
| Loverboy | Mark | limited release | |
| 2008 | Nothing But the Truth | Patton Dubois | |
| 2009 | Old Dogs | Barry | |
| Armored | Mike Cochrane | ||
| 2010 | Takers | Det. Jack Welles | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters | Ralph | PBS TV-Movie |
| 1991 | Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules | Eddie Megeffin | HBO TV-Movie |
| 1991 | Fishing With John | IFC | |
| 1999 | Oz | Director of Episode: Napoleon's Boney Parts |
|
| 2007 | The Simpsons | Louie | Voice/Episode: Midnight Towboy |
Awards and nominations
Matt Dillon has won several awards in his career including Screen Actors Guild Award, MTV Movie Award and Independent Spirit Award. He also nominated for many awards which includes Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA with the film Crash. He was also honored in the San Sebastián International Film Festival where he received the "Donostia Lifetime Archievement Award." This list includes awards and nominations for his work. In the "Best Ensemble" category, he shared the award with the rest of the ensemble cast.
| Year | Ceremony/Award | Nomination | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Motion Picture Actor | My Bodyguard | Nominated |
| 1983 | Best Young Actor – Motion Picture | Tex | Nominated | |
| 1990 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Actor | Drugstore Cowboy | Won |
| 1999 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Villain (tied) | There's Something About Mary | Won |
| Best Kiss (shared) | Wild Things | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Film – Funniest Scene | There's Something About Mary | Won | |
| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy | There's Something About Mary | Won | |
| 2005 | Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Crash | Won |
| Gotham Awards | Tribute Award | - | Won | |
| Best Ensemble Cast | Crash | Nominated | ||
| Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Crash | Won | |
| Washington DC Area Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actor | Crash | Nominated | |
| Hollywood Film Festival | Ensemble of the Year | Crash | Won | |
| Satellite Awards | Best Ensemble | Crash | Won | |
| Washington DC Area Film Critics Association | Best Cast | Crash | Won | |
| Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Cast | Crash | Won | |
| 2006 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Crash | Nominated |
| BAFTA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| Black Reel Awards | Best Ensemble | Nominated | ||
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| Critics' Choice Award | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| Best Ensemble | Won | |||
| Empire Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | ||
| Golden Globe | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Won | ||
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| SAG Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| Best Cast | Won | |||
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | Donostia Lifetime Archievement Award | - | Won | |
| 2007 | Cairo International Film Festival | Special Award | - | Won |
References
- ↑ Cigar Aficionado | People Profile | Matt Dillon
- ↑ Matt Dillon Biography (1964-)
- ↑ "Fordham golf coach has way with the brush". USA Today. October 9, 2001. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2001-10-10-fordham-golf.htm. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
- ↑ Kevin Dillon Biography at FilmReference.com
- ↑ Over the Edge: An Oral History of the Greatest Teen Rebellion Movie of All Time September 2009, Vice Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
- ↑ "50 Top-Grossing Films". (Week ending May 23, 1979). Variety, pp. 9.
- ↑ "Matt Dillon box office tallies". http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=mattdillon.htm. Retrieved March 10, 2006.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Matt Dillon Pleads Guilty WPTZ news, March 30, 2009
External links
- Matt Dillon at the Internet Movie Database
- Matt Dillon at the Internet Broadway Database
- Scotsman.com interview (November 13, 2005)
- About. com interview (May 3, 2005)
- BeliefNet interview (2003)
- Cigar Aficionado interview (October 31, 1996)
- Mug Shot at The Smoking Gun (March 6, 2009)