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Date of Birth:
24 May, 1965
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Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
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Biography:
John Christopher Reilly is an Academy Award-nominated American actor.
Reilly, the fifth of six children, was born in Chicago, Illinois to an Irish American father and a Lithuanian mother. His father owned a linen supply company. He was raised in the Catholic religion and graduated from Brother Rice High School. Reilly had several minor infractions for juvenile mischief. To better occupy his time, he later became involved with theatre. He subsequently enrolled at the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University. A proud member of the Chicago theater, Reilly credits the Windy City with helping him gain experience as he was working for his big break. Reilly is a vegetarian. He has been married since 1992 to Alison Dickey, whom he met on the set of Casualties of War.
Reilly made his film debut in the Brian De Palma film Casualties of War (1989) as PFC. Herbert Hatcher. Although the role of Hatcher was written as a small one, De Palma liked Reilly's performance so much that the role was significantly expanded. Reilly has consistently appeared in film since his debut; he has appeared in an about 50 roles since 1989, mostly supporting roles. Among his most notable roles: Dewford "Dewey" Cox, a Johnny Cash type singer in Walk Hard (2007); Dr. Steve Brule, the local news correspondent on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007); Cal Naughton, Jr., the dimwitted race car driver and best friend of Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006); Lefty, the singing cowboy, in A Prairie Home Companion (2006); Noah Dietrich, in The Aviator (2004); Amos Hart, husband to an adulterous murderess, in Chicago (2002). Bill the Butcher's righthand policeman, Happy Jack, in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002); House painter Phil Last, a "stoner" with an unhappy marriage, in The Good Girl (2002); Jim Kurring, a lonely, divorced and religious by-the-book cop who ends up involved with a drug addicted woman in Magnolia (1999); Gus Siniski, Detroit Tigers catcher in For Love Of The Game (1999); Reed Rothchild, Dirk Diggler's co-worker and sidekick in Boogie Nights (1997); In the past six years, he has been a friend of Tenacious D, appearing as "Sasquatch" in the late-nineties HBO television show, on their 2001 album, and in the 2006 feature-length movie, Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny. His profile as a film actor was significantly raised in 2002 when he appeared in three of the year's Academy Award for Best Picture nominees - Chicago, Gangs of New York and The Hours. The three movies were nominated for a total of 32 Oscars, including one for Reilly for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Renée Zellweger's trusting husband in Chicago. Ultimately, Gangs of New York won none, Chicago won six, and The Hours won one. Reilly lost to Chris Cooper for Adaptation.. Reilly with a producer credit and a $1 bill for The 1 Second Film in February 2007 More recently, Reilly appeared in the Martin Scorsese film The Aviator (2004) as Howard Hughes's (Leonardo DiCaprio) trusted financial advisor, Noah Dietrich. Reilly had to turn down the role of Champ Kind in the Will Ferrell film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy in order to appear in The Aviator. Reilly has been praised for his diversity as an actor, drawing plaudits for his dramatic roles, and also for being a great comedic actor with notable roles in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and his most recent movie, Walk Hard. He is also a singer, performing on two tracks of the 2006 compilation Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys: Fathom the Bowl and My Son John. He also performed his own vocals in "Walk Hard," and went on tour in the US, performing as Dewey Cox in the "Cox Across America 2007 Tour." Most recently he's appeared in adult swim's Tom Goes To The Mayor and Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!.
