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Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin in 1991
Born	Macaulay Carson Culkin August 26, 1980 (1980-08-26) (age 28) New York City, New York, U.S.A.
Years active	1985–1994, 2003–present
Spouse(s)	Rachel Miner (1998–2000)
Domestic partner(s)	Mila Kunis (2002–present)

Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor and writer. He is perhaps best known for portraying Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and the title character of Richie Rich. At the height of his fame he was regarded as the most successful child actor since Shirley Temple. He was ranked # 2 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars".

Biography

Early life

Culkin was born in New York City, the son of Patricia Brentrup and Christopher 'Kit' Culkin, a former stage actor with a long career on Broadway.^[1] Culkin was the couple's third child of seven children; he has four brothers: Shane (born 1976), Kieran (born 1982), Christian (born 1987) and Rory (born 1989), and two sisters: Dakota (born 1979) and Quinn (born 1984). Culkin is the nephew of actress Bonnie Bedelia, who is his father's sister. During Culkin's early childhood, the family lived in a small apartment; his mother was a telephone operator and his father worked as a sacristan at a local Catholic church. Culkin was raised a Catholic^[2] and attended a Catholic school (St. Josephs) before moving on to Professional Children's School. Culkin also studied ballet at the School of American Ballet.^[3]

Culkin began acting at the age of four, appearing in a stage production of Bach Babies at the New York Philharmonic. He continued appearing in roles on stage, television, and in films throughout the 1980s. Notable parts in this period included an episode of the popular action series The Equalizer in which he played a kidnap victim. He also appeared in the movie Uncle Buck in which he probed the title character, played by John Candy, over his background on the basis that "I'm a kid - that's my job" (according to his character Miles in the film).

Career

Culkin's rise to fame was kick-started with his lead role as Kevin McCallister in the blockbuster film Home Alone (1990), where he was reunited with Uncle Buck's writer and director John Hughes. He reprised the role of Kevin in the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which was also a success. Around this time, Culkin struck a friendship with pop legend Michael Jackson, making an appearance in the "Black or White" music video. Culkin also starred in a Saturday morning cartoon, entitled Wish Kid and hosted Saturday Night Live in late 1991.

Despite the mega success of Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and My Girl, other films Culkin acted in, such as The Good Son (which co-starred Elijah Wood and Culkin's sister, Quinn Culkin) only did reasonably well. Getting Even with Dad, Richie Rich and The Pagemaster, all released in 1994, were all only mild-successes at the box office. After all three of these films turned out to be box-office disappointments, he suddenly dropped out of acting. Many people believed that it was because of his becoming too old to play 'childish' roles, as was the popular stereotype about him at the time.

After a period of inactivity, Culkin returned to acting in 2000 with a role in the play Madame Melville, which was staged in London's West End.^[4] In the spring of 2003, he made a guest appearance on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. His role as Karen Walker's immature divorce lawyer won him favorable reviews. Culkin headed back into motion pictures in 2003 with Party Monster, where he played fallen party promoter Michael Alig. His role in the film received much publicity thanks to the real-life Alig's drug addiction. Though not a huge hit, Party Monster developed a cult following and helped to restart his career. He quickly followed that role up with a supporting part in Saved!, alongside Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Patrick Fugit, and Eva Amurri. In the film, he played a student who uses a wheelchair in a conservative Christian high school. Though Saved! only had modest success at the box office, Culkin received many positive reviews for his role in the film.

Culkin also recently started a career in voice over, with his appearances on Seth Green's Robot Chicken. In 2006, he published an experimental, semi-autobiographical novel, Junior. Culkin stars in Sex and Breakfast, a dark comedy written and directed by Miles Brandman, according to Variety. Alexis Dziena, Kuno Becker and Eliza Dushku also star in this story of a couple whose therapist recommends group sex to them. Shooting for the film, Culkin's first since Saved!, took place in September 2006. The film opened in Los Angeles on November 30, 2007, and was released on DVD on January 22, 2008 by First Look Pictures.

Culkin was in the music video for Sunday directed by Harmony Korine, song by Sonic Youth.

Personal life

When Culkin was fifteen years old, his parents had a custody battle. His father had been his manager.

He was married to Rachel Miner from 1998-2000.

Culkin has dated actress Mila Kunis since 2002. It has been rumored since early 2006 that they are planning to be wed.^[5]

In 2004, Culkin was arrested in Oklahoma City for the possession of marijuana and a controlled substance, Xanax.^[6]

Culkin is noted as an avid professional wrestling fan and can be seen at WWE pay-per-view WrestleMania VII as a spectator.

Filmography

• Rocket Gibraltar (1988) - Cy Blue Black
• See You in the Morning (1988) - Billy Livingstone
• Uncle Buck (1989) - Miles Russell
• Jacob's Ladder (1989) - Gabe Singer
• Home Alone (1990) - Kevin McCallister
• Only the Lonely (1991) - Billy Muldoon
• My Girl (1991) - Thomas Jay Sennett
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) - Kevin McCallister
• The Good Son (1993) - Henry Evans
• The Nutcracker (1993) - The Nutcracker Prince
• Getting Even with Dad (1994) - Timmy Gleason
• The Pagemaster (1994) - Richard Tyler
• Richie Rich (1994) - Richie Rich
• Party Monster (2003) - Michael Alig
• Saved! (2004) - Roland
• Jerusalemski Sindrom (2004) - John McGaughran
• Sex and Breakfast (2007) - James

References

External links

• Macaulay Culkin at the Internet Movie Database
• Macaulay Culkin at TV.com
• [1] BBC News report on drug charges
• Oklahoma Court case file report
• Oklahoma police report file at thesmokinggun.com