Long before he became a prominent actor, John Malkovich tackled on several different jobs to make a living. "I worked in an office supply store, I drove a school bus, I painted houses, I worked for a Mexican landscape gardening company, picking out weeds," he revealed in a 2001 interview. After leaving school in 1976, he joined the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, with whom he played in a number of performances. On-stage, the Christopher, Illinois native won the prestigious Obie Award for his performance in Sam Shepard's play "True West".

Subsequently venturing into acting, Malkovich immediately earned his first ever Oscar nomination for his film debut in the 1984 "Places in the Heart". Such achievement helped earn him some other notable roles, like those in "The Glass Menagerie" (1987) and "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988) before he collected another Oscar nomination for his starring role in the Clint Eastwood's film "In the Line of Fire" (1993). In 1999, he teamed up with director Spike Jonze and created the notable film project titled "Being John Malkovich", for which he won American Comedy Award and New York Film Critics Circle Award.

Malkovich went on starring in numerous impressive films in the years to come, naming some were "Les Miserables" (2000), "Ripley's Game" (2002), "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (2005), and "Burn After Reading" (2008). His other famous big screen performances were in "RED" (2010), "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (2011), "RED 2" (2013), and "Crossbones" (2014).

Malkovich, who was born John Gavin Malkovich on December 9, 1953, has two children, Amandine and Loewy, with his longtime partner Nicoletta Peyran. He was previously married to actress Glenne Headly from 1982 to 1988.