Keanu Reeves

CHILDHOOD

Keanu Charles Reeves was born on September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He spent the majority of his childhood growing up in Toronto, Ontario and claims Canada as his home country. Keanu’s childhood was often tumultuous. His mother, Patricia, was a costume designer and his father, Samuel, a convicted drug dealer. After Samuel left his family when Keanu was just 3 years old, Patricia would end up marrying 3 more times. Each time she re-married, she would subsequently move the family to a new city until that marriage broke up. His grandparents often babysat him and his sisters during this time. It seems that Keanu manifested this instability in a negative way as he was eventually expelled from Etobicoke School of the Arts for being unruly and disruptive. He dreamed of becoming a Canadian Olympic hockey player (he was quite talented) but an injury ended his hockey career. Keanu would eventually drop out of high school and would never graduate.

HOLLYWOOD UPS AND DOWNS

Keanu knew from an early age that he wanted to act. When he was 9 years old, he first appeared on stage at a production of Damn Yankees. He continued his theater career by appearing in Romeo and Juliet when he was 15 years old. He made his TV debut in the series Hangin’ In and would continue to appear in various commercials, short films and theater plays throughout the first part of the 1980s. He made his film debut by combining his love of hockey and acting in the Rob Lowe film, Youngblood. In 1986, he appeared in River’s Edge. Following this, he spent the rest of the 1980s starring in movies such as Permanent Record and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

In 1992, he appeared in Point Break for which he won an MTV award. In 1994, Keanu became a house-hold name by starring in Speed alongside Sandra Bullock. It would turn both of them into sought-after A-list stars. Surprisingly, he refused to appear in Speed 2: Cruise Control and instead appeared in a theater production of Hamlet in 1995. After Speed, Keanu appeared in a few box office failures such as Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996). In 1997, he appeared in Devil’s Advocate alongside Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. Interestingly, he deferred his salary for this role so that Al Pacino could be cast. In 1999, Keanu would star in the 1^st of 3 movies that would forever define his career – The Matrix. Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions would both come out in 2003. Following the Matrix trilogy, Keanu would appear in Constantine (2005), The Lake House (2006), and The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). Upcoming projects include starring in Cowboy Bebop in 2011.

Keanu Reeves

PERSONAL LIFE AND TRAGEDY

In addition to his Canadian citizenship, Keanu also holds American and British citizenship through his parents. He has never married. In 1999, Keanu suffered a personal tragedy as his girlfriend Jennifer Syme gave birth to a stillborn daughter. In 2001, he suffered another tragic loss as Jennifer was killed in a car crash.

AWARDS

In addition to his award for Point Break, he has also received an MTV nomination for Best Actor and won a Saturn Award for his work in The Matrix. He also has a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

He currenty alternates between living in Los Angeles and New York.

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