Willem Dafoe

Name: William Dafoe Jr.(Willem was a nickname given to him in high school)

D.O.B: 22nd of July, 1955

Family: Ex-partner, Elizabeth LeCompte, son Jack (born 1982). Wife, Giada Colgrande (married 2005)

Willem grew up in the town of Appleton, Wisconsin as the seventh of eight children to a surgeon (William Dafoe Sr.) and a nurse. As a teenager, he studied at the University of Wisconsin before dropping out to join Theater X, an experimental acting troupe in Milwaukee. Later, he moved to New York and became part of the Wooster group, a group of stage actors.

In 1981, Willem made his screen debut in 'Heaven's Gate'. This was followed by several small roles, before Willem made his breakthrough performance in 'To Live and Die in LA' as Rick Masters, a wanted criminal in 1985. His star rose even further in the following year, when he gained rave reviews and an academy award nomination for his role in Oliver Stone's 'Platoon'. His heart-wrenching performance as the martyred Sgt. Elias led onto further roles, the most notable including Jesus in 'The Last Temptation of Christ', a young FBI agent in 'Mississpi Burning', a Vietnam vet in 'Born on the Fourth of July',a hood with bad teeth in 'Wild at Heart', and in 2001, he gained great acclaim and a second Academy award nomination as the actor Max Schreck in 'Shadow of the Vampire'. More recently, he's starred in such varied works as the Wes Anderson comedy 'The Life Aquatic', action flick 'XXX: State of the Union' and had a cameo in Martin Scorsese's 'The Aviator'.

Dafoe currently resides in New York. In 2004 he split with his partner of over twenty years, Wooster Group founder Liz LeCompte, and has recently married the Italian director and actress Giada Colagrande, with whom he has made the upcoming 'Before it had a name'.