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Edward Walter Furlong¹ (born August 2, 1977) is a Saturn Award-winning American actor, best known to film audiences as John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Daniel Vinyard in American History X.

Biography

Beginnings

Furlong was born in Glendale, California, near Burbank, the son of Eleanor (née Tafoya), a youth-center worker, and an unknown father. He is of Mexican descent on his mother's side,² and also has Russian and possibly Native American ancestry.³ Furlong has a younger half-brother, Bobby Torres, from his mother's marriage to Moises Torres. Furlong moved in with his aunt and uncle, Nancy Tafoya and Sean Furlong, in 1990; the two gained legal guardianship of Furlong in September 1991 and subsequently lost it to his mother in August 1993.⁴ Furlong attended Charles W. Eliot Middle School in Altadena, and South Pasadena Junior High School in South Pasadena, California.

Personal life

Furlong had a string of relationships, beginning with a romance with Jacqueline Domac. The pair met on the set of Terminator 2 and became an item when she was his tutor on A Home of Our Own. The relationship lasted for several years, but the pair split acrimoniously, with Domac suing Furlong for part of his earnings.⁵

Furlong was also involved with Natasha Lyonne,⁶ Jolene Blalock,⁷ and Paris Hilton.⁶⁸

Furlong married Rachael Bella on April 19, 2006. The couple's son, Ethan Page Furlong, was born on September 21, 2006.⁹ Furlong described the birth as "trippy".¹⁰

He is a close friend of actress Monica Keena.

Substance abuse and legal problems

Furlong had a long battle with drugs and alcohol, at one point ending up in hospital with a suspected drug overdose.¹¹ In 2001, Furlong was arrested for two separate incidents involving driving without a license and DUI.¹²¹³ After being in and out of rehab,⁸ Furlong said, "The first year of quitting (drugs) is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, physically and mentally.¹⁴

Furlong is a supporter of animal rights, and has campaigned for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In 2004, he was arrested for trying to remove lobsters from a Meijer grocery store in Florence, Kentucky (15 minutes south of Cincinnati), where he was filming the independent film Jimmy and Judy.¹⁵¹⁶

Career

Acting

Terminator 2

Furlong began his film career as John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a role that earned him an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Role and a Saturn Award for best young actor. He was discovered for the part by casting director Mali Finn while visiting the Pasadena Boys and Girls Club. Furlong had no acting ambitions. He has stated, "I fell into [acting], it wasn't something that I planned".¹⁷

1990s

He followed this role with a string of moderately successful films and indies, sharing screen with Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson in Before and After, Tim Roth in Little Odessa, and Anthony Edwards in Pet Sematary Two.

In 1993, Furlong was featured in Aerosmith's music video for "Livin' on the Edge". This was also the only major Aerosmith video from Get a Grip not to feature Alicia Silverstone. In 1995, he starred in the film adaptation of Truman Capote's The Grass Harp.

In 1998, he starred in American History X alongside Edward Norton, and appeared in his first comedy role in Pecker, directed by John Waters. Of the role, he stated, "It's true most of the characters that I've played so far are kind of like suicidal. Really dark roles. Which I like. But I wanted to do something different and John gave me a chance to do that."¹⁸

In 1999, he starred in the film Detroit Rock City. During filming he met Natasha Lyonne.⁶

2000 and beyond

In 2000, Furlong played a young inmate in Steve Buscemi's film Animal Factory. The following year, he took a role in I Cavalieri che fecero l'impresa aka The Knights of the Quest, a film by Italian filmmaker Pupa Avati. Furlong worked steadily over the next few years, acting in five other films between 2003 and 2005.

In 2003, Terminator 3 was released. Despite having played the role of John Connor in Terminator 2, Furlong was not cast to reprise the role. Instead the part was played by Nick Stahl. Furlong later stated, "It just wasn't the time. I was going through my own thing at the point in my life – whatever, it just wasn't meant to be".¹⁹

That same year, he appeared in a music video for Metallica's "The Unnamed Feeling".²⁰

In 2005, Furlong played the lead in the fourth film in The Crow series, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, alongside David Boreanaz and Tara Reid. The film was planned for a theatrical release, but eventually went straight to DVD. Despite this, Furlong was optimistic, stating, "I feel through word of mouth people will find it. There's a huge base for Crow fans. Just from what I've seen on the Internet, people are really excited about it. Personally, I say it's the best one since the first one".¹⁷

In 2006, Furlong appeared as a guest star on two episodes of the television program CSI: NY as character Shane Cacey. In the same year he starred as Jimmy in Jimmy & Judy, during which time he met Rachael Bella. The two became romantically involved and later married.

He will appear next in the film Kingshighway, which is due to be released 2009.²¹

Furlong is also slated to appear in the 2009 remake of the 1988 horror classic "Night of the Demons" currently shooting in Canada.

Other work

Furlong achieved popularity in Japan following Terminator 2, and appeared in advertisements for various Japanese products.²² He also released an album in Japan called Hold on Tight, which included a cover of The Doors song "People Are Strange".²³ Furlong would later claim that the music was "the exact opposite of rock" and "a bad mistake".²⁴

In 1996, Furlong modeled for Calvin Klein.²⁵

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Saturn Awards

• 1992: Won, "Best Performance by a Younger Actor" - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• 1993: Nominated, " Best Performance by a Younger Actor" - Pet Sematary II

Independent Spirit Awards

• 1994: Nominated, "Best Supporting Male" - American Heart

MTV Movie Awards

• 1992: Won, "Best Breakthrough Performance" - Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Young Artist Awards

• 1994: Nominated, "Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Motion Picture" - A Home of Our Own (shared w/co-stars)
• 1994: Won, "Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture Drama" - A Home of Our Own
• 1999: Nominated, "Best Supporting Young Actor Performance in a Feature Film" - American History X

References

External links

• Edward Furlong at the Internet Movie Database
• Official MySpace Music Page
• Eddie Furlong unofficial web site

Persondata
NAME	Furlong, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Furlong, Edward Walter
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	1977-8-2
PLACE OF BIRTH	Glendale, California,  United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH