Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959 in South Orange, New Jersey), better known as Kevin Spacey, is an American actor. He has won two Oscars for his film acting, including Best Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects in 1995, and Best Actor for American Beauty in 1999.

Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a messenger in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, part 1 in 1981. The following year he made his first Broadway appearance in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts. Although his interest soon turned to film, Spacey remains actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers.

Spacey is best known for playing dark, quirky characters such as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects, a serial killer who murders people he thinks guilty of the Seven Deadly Sins in Seven, and a suburban father who falls in lust with a teenage cheerleader in American Beauty. In the last few years, however, he has taken on lighter, more sympathetic roles, such as a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward, and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea. It's notable that these films have been considerably less critically and financially successful than Spacey's darker films.

Spacey announced in February 2003 that he was moving to London, England to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Spacey will direct the new Old Vic Theatre Company, which stages shows eight months out of the year, starting in 2004. Spacey has agreed to star in two shows a season, in addition to directorial duties. In the 2004/05 season, Spacey is directing a performance of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, and performing in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry.

He founded Trigger Street Productions Inc., in 1997 with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media.

Credit: en.wikipedia.org