Matthew McConaughey Biography

Matthew McConaughey
McConaughey approaching the finish line in a triathlon, September 2008
Born	Matthew David McConaughey November 4, 1969 (1969-11-04) (age 39) Uvalde, Texas, USA

Matthew David McConaughey (pronounced /məˈkÉ‘nəˌheɪ/¹; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s (including his breakout role in Dazed and Confused (1993), director Richard Linklater's second feature film), he appeared in films such as A Time to Kill (1996), Contact (1997), U-571 (2000), Sahara (2005), and We Are Marshall (2007). He also played the leading man in several romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Failure to Launch (2006), and Fool's Gold (2008).

Early life

McConaughey, the youngest of three boys, was born in Uvalde, Texas, the son of Mary Kathleen "Kay" (née McCabe), a substitute school teacher, and James Donald McConaughey, a gas station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business and once played football for the Green Bay Packers.² McConaughey has Irish ancestry³ and had what he describes as a strict Baptist upbringing.⁴ McConaughey's mother and late father divorced and re-married each other several times, in what McConaughey describes as a "loving, but unstable relationship".⁵

McConaughey moved to Longview, Texas — located east of Dallas. He lived for a year in Gorokan, New South Wales, Australia as a Rotary exchange student.⁶

Career

McConaughey at the Surfer, Dude after party

McConaughey began his acting career in 1991, appearing in student films and television commercials while attending the College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin before being cast in Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused (1993). Also, during this period he played the neglectful boyfriend in country singer Trisha Yearwood's video "Walkaway Joe". After appearing in some additional small parts in Angels in the Outfield, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Boys on the Side, and the television series Unsolved Mysteries, McConaughey's big break came as the lawyer "Jake Brigance" in the 1996 film A Time to Kill, based on the John Grisham novel of the same name.

McConaughey was cast in leading roles in many more movies: Contact, Amistad, The Newton Boys, Edtv, and U-571. By the early 2000s, he was frequently cast in romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, both of which were successful at the box office. During this period, he appeared as a firefighter in the low-budget film Tiptoes, opposite Rene Russo, in Two For The Money as a protege to Al Pacino's gambling mogul, and in Frailty, cast against type as a serial killer, opposite Bill Paxton.

McConaughey starred in the feature film Sahara (budgeted at $130 million), along with Steve Zahn and Penélope Cruz. Prior to the release of the movie, he promoted it by repeating some trips he took in the late 1990s, including sailing down the Amazon River and trekking to Mali. That same year, McConaughey was named People magazine's “Sexiest Man Aliveâ€� for 2005.⁷ McConaughey has been spoofed by many, including friend Matt Damon on the fact he often appears shirtless in public.

In 2006, he co-starred with Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch, which was reasonably successful at the box office. McConaughey also provided voice work for an ad campaign of the Peace Corps in late 2006. Matthew's production company, j.k. livin, is currently in development on projects with Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount Pictures and Imagine Entertainment and can most recently be seen in the football drama We Are Marshall. He is supposedly in line to star as Thomas Magnum in the 2009 movie Magnum, P.I.⁸ McConaughey appeared in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder, replacing Owen Wilson for the role.

On January 21, 2008, McConaughey became the new spokesman for the national radio campaign, "Beef: It's What's For Dinner".⁹¹⁰

Personal life

McConaughey's personal motto is "Just Keep Livin" and his foundation is called JK Livin Foundation. JK Livin Foundation's main purpose is to help young people live "fuller" lives. On October 24, 1999, McConaughey was arrested at his home in Austin, Texas on charges of possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. The police were responding to a 2:30 a.m. noise disturbance call. According to police reports, McConaughey was dancing around naked and playing bongo drums with a friend, actor Cole Hauser, a co-actor in Dazed and Confused (1993).¹¹ The drug charges were dropped, but McConaughey pled guilty for violating the city's noise ordinance and paid a USD $50 fine. I McConaughey rescued various pets, including cats, dogs and hamsters, that were stranded after the flooding of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.¹² In 2006 in Sherman Oaks, California, he rescued a cat from two youths who had doused the animal in hairspray and were attempting to set it on fire.¹³

McConaughey's personal life is the subject of media attention. He has dated actresses Sandra Bullock, Kate Hudson, Ashley Judd, Salli Richardson, and Penelope Cruz.

In Sports, McConaughey is a big Texas Longhorns fan and is also a huge Washington Redskins fan.

McConaughey and his Brazilian Supermodel girlfriend, Camila Alves, welcomed a son named Levi Alves McConaughey on July 7, 2008 in Los Angeles. He was born at 6:22 p.m. and weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

Filmography

References

External links

• Matthew McConaughey Official Site
• Matthew McConaughey at the Internet Movie Database
• Matthew McConaughey at People.com
• "Walkaway Joe" video[2]
• Matthew McConaughey's Guest DJ Set on KCRW KCRW Guest DJ Set