photo:
http://www.topnews.in/light/files/Ethan-Hawke.jpg
Biography
Hawke was born in Austin, Texas to James Steven Hawke and Leslie Carole Green, who were students at the University of Texas at the time of his birth, and separated three years later; Hawke's great-grandfather was the brother of Cornelius Williams, who was the father of well-known playwright Tennessee Williams. At an early age, Hawke moved to Princeton, New Jersey with his single mother, where he took acting classes at the McCarter Theatre and attended the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (now West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South) and the Hun School of Princeton. He first appeared in various high school performances, including George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan.
Career
At the age of fourteen he made his feature film debut in Explorers (1985). Hawke studied acting at the British Theatre Association in England and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He has twice enrolled in New York University's English program and is one of the founding fathers and artistic director of Malaparte, a New York City theatre company. Malaparte productions include A Joke!; Wild Dogs; Good Evening; Sons and Fathers; It Changes Every Year; Veins and Thumbtacks; Hesh; and The Great Unwashed. He also attended the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn.
In 1988, Hawke was cast in a role in director Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society; the film's success was considered Hawke's breakthrough. He left school and appeared in A Midnight Clear, Alive, Reality Bites, Before Sunrise, Gattaca, The Newton Boys, Great Expectations and many other movies. In 2001, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Training Day.
Hawke has recently directed Chelsea Walls and has written two novels, The Hottest State (in 1996) and Ash Wednesday (in 2002). In 2005, he received his first screenwriting Oscar nomination for co-writing the 2004 film, Before Sunset (a sequel to Before Sunrise).
Private life
On May 1, 1998, Hawke married actress Uma Thurman. The couple had two children, daughter Maya Ray (born July 8, 1998) and son Levon Roan (born January 15, 2002). They separated in July 2004 and divorced in 2005. Hawke began dating Canadian model Jennifer Perzow before separation, but said the affair wasn't the cause of the split.
Hawke owns a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia. This land was purchased before his divorce from Thurman as a family retreat.
Selected filmography
2005 - Lord of War - Jack Valentine
2005 - Assault on Precinct 13 - Sgt. Jake Roenick
2004 - Before Sunset - Jesse
2004 - Taking Lives - Costa
2001 - Training Day - Jake Hoyt
2000 - Hamlet - Hamlet
1999 - Snow Falling on Cedars - Ishmael Chambers
1998 - The Newton Boys - Jess Newton
1998 - Great Expectations - Finnegan 'Finn' Bell
1997 - Gattaca - Vincent Freeman
1995 - Before Sunrise - Jesse
1994 - Reality Bites - Troy Dyer
1993 - Rich in Love - Wayne Frobiness
1993 - Alive - Nando Parrado
1992 - Waterland - Mathew Price
1992 - A Midnight Clear - Will Knott
1991 - Mystery Date - Tom McHugh
1991 - White Fang - Jack Conroy
1989 - Dad - Billy Tremont
1989 - Dead Poets Society - Todd Anderson
1985 - Explorers - Ben Crandall
Bibliography
Ash Wednesday (2002)
The Hottest State (1996)
Interviews
interview, 2004, Premiere Magazine
interview, 7/04, About.com
interview, 8/06/02, Powell's.com
interview, 2001, Tribute.ca
interview, 12/08/00, The Guardian UK
interview, 5/00, ContactMusic
