An American stage and film actor, as well as a director, producer, and fashion designer, John Malkovich has appeared in more than seventy films throughout his career. He also is the holder of twenty-five award wins and twenty-six nominations, and his career stretches back nearly three decades and has included everything from the acclaimed period drama Dangerous Liaisons (1988) to action thrillers In the Line of Fire (1993), Con Air (1997), and the Red film franchise to Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich (1999).
In 1976, Malkovich joined Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. In 1980, he won an Obie Award for his performance in a version of Sam Shepard’s True West, which was soon followed by his Broadway debut in Death of a Salesman, for which he won an Emmy Award.
In 1982, he appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire with Chicago’s Wisdom Bridge Theatre. He then directed a Steppenwolf coproduction, the 1984 revival of Landford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead, for which he received a second Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award. That same year, he received his first Academy Award Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in Places in the Heart. In 1984, he won the National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, and Kansas City Film Critics Circle awards for Best Supporting Actor for Places in the Heart. He became a star when he portrayed Valmont in the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons, featuring Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer, a role he reprised for the music video to Annie Lennox’s song “Walking on Broken Glass”. In 1994, Malkovich received a second Academy Award nomination for his role in In the Line of Fire.
John Malkovich continued to pursue more unusual roles and films, including The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Beowulf; and Burn After Reading, a Coen brothers comedy.
Because of his aptitude for comedy, Malkovich has hosted Saturday Night Live on three occasions: in 1993 with Billy Joel as his musical guest; in 2008, the show featured appearances from Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Molly Sims, and Justin Timberlake.
Also, in 2008, Malkovich portrayed Jack Unterweger in a project for an actor, two sopranos, and period orchestra entitled The Infernal Comedy, which was premiered at Barnum Hall in Santa Monica. In 2011, he directed Julian Sands in A Celebration of Harold Pinter in the Pleasance Courtyard for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in 2012 a production of a newly adapted French-language version of Dangerous Liaisons for the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Paris.
Known for his achievements as an actor, producer, director, and writer, John Malkovich continues to win prestigious awards worldwide, including a News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2010, a special prize at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2011 for his contribution to the world of cinema, and an Independent Spirit Award in 2013. He also was presented with the Golden Eye Award at the Zurich International Film Festival in 2014 for lifetime achievement.
He currently takes a leading role in two exceptional projects for which his narration is accompanied by works of classical music performed by renowned musicians: Report on the Blind, which pairs Schnittke’s Piano Concerto (1979) with a chapter, “Report on the Blind,” from Ernesto Sabato’s novel “On Heroes and Tombs”; and The Music Critic, originally conceived by Aleksey Igudesman, in which Malkovich plays the role of the evil critic who writes about the music of Beethoven, Chopin, and Prokofiev, among others.
He holds a degree in theater from Illinois State University at Normal.
Reviews
He currently takes a leading role in two exceptional projects for which his narration is accompanied by works of classical music performed by renowned musicians: Report on the Blind, which pairs Schnittke’s Piano Concerto (1979) with a chapter, “Report on the Blind,” from Ernesto Sabato’s novel On Heroes and Tombs; and The Music Critic, originally conceived by Aleksey Igudesman, in which Malkovich plays the role of the evil critic who writes about the music of Beethoven, Chopin, and Prokofiev, among others.
For those who have listened to it, Report on the Blind was the occasion - yes - of a meeting between the words blown by the devil Malkovich and the music that I Solisti Aquilani and the pianist Terenkova were able to make real sound dramaturgy.
