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William James "Willem" Dafoe (/ d ə ˈ f oʊ /; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and four Golden Globe Awards.
Willem was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Muriel Isabel (Sprissler), a nurse, and William Alfred Dafoe, a surgeon. He is of mostly German, Irish, Scottish, and English descent. He and his wife, director Giada Colagrande, have made three films together: Padre, A Woman, and Before It Had A Name. His natural adventurousness is evident in roles as ...
- January 1, 1
- 1.74 m
- Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
- 1 min
Willem Dafoe is an American actor known for his work in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Platoon (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Flight of the Intruder (1991), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), The Boondock Saints (1999), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Spider-Man (2002), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Manderlay (2005), Antichrist (2009), The Florida Project (2017), At ...
YearTitleRole1980Willy1981Vance1981White LiesShort film19832nd Phone Booth Youth- 147
- 5
- 8
- Tom & Viv
- Mississippi Burning
- Finding Nemo
- Spider-Man
- The Loveless
- Streets of Fire
- Auto Focus
- White Sands
- The Last Temptation of Christ
- Platoon
Dafoe wasn’t natural casting as the clerkly TS Eliot in this literary biopic, which chronicled the poet’s troubled first marriage – and it showed, despite his customary actorly intelligence. If nothing else, it proved that, his highbrow credentials notwithstanding, Dafoe wasn’t really cut out for the anglophile heritage pics that littered the 1990s...
A technically precise but essentially unrewarding role in the Alan Parker civil rights pic. Dafoe plays a straight-arrow fed investigating the disappearing of vote-drive volunteers in the Klan-haunted 60s deep south alongside co-star Gene Hackman, who has much the showier role. Leading with razor-sharp side parting and horn-rimmed specs, it’s one o...
An inspired bit of voice casting that gave Dafoe his biggest box office result to date. He played Gill, the “tank gang” leader who teaches Nemo self-reliance and – crucially – comes up with the schemes to get the fish out of the dentist’s waiting room. Surreal in itself to hear Dafoe’s gravelly tones in a Disney picture.
Dafoe was an early-ish adopter of the new wave of comic-book pics; he wasn’t the first choice for the Green Goblin supervillain role, but it turned out a smart move on director Sam Raimi’s part, with Dafoe’s ability to project both complete sincerity and terrifying menace brought to bear – especially in the now celebrated mirror scene, where the tw...
Dafoe’s first lead role was for a fresh-from-film-school Kathryn Bigelow, co-directing with future Wild at Heart producer Monty Montgomery. A slice of early-80s 50s-revival chic, Dafoe is the super-hunky leader of a Wild Angels-ish outlaw biker gang. Presumably prioritising his work with avant-garde performance outfit the Wooster Group, Dafoe isn’t...
Dafoe doesn’t have a whole lot to do until the last 20 minutes of Walter Hill’s DayGlo rock’n’roll musical, and his twitchy greaser supervillain Raven is basically a nastier version of The Loveless’ Vance. But he makes the most of the climactic fight scene, giving it maximum voltage as he pummels Michael Paré with a platelayer’s hammer.
Paul Schrader has given Dafoe a good number of top-notch supporting roles, and this one, as the alleged murderer of sleazeball TV actor Bob Crane, is one of the most interestingly modulated. As video whiz John Carpenter, Dafoe moves from ingratiating manipulator to desperate killer with impressive conviction.
Dafoe proved he could carry a mainstream picture with this entertainingly twisty and atmospheric cop thriller directed by Roger Donaldson. Dafoe plays a smalltown lawman who enthusiastically stumbles into a high-stakes espionage kill-off; the patsy-type role doesn’t exactly play to his strengths, but he’s the movie’s solid centre.
This was supposed to be Dafoe’s big breakthrough to leading-man status – as ever, he gives it his all, successfully conveying the deadly seriousness of director Martin Scorsese’s intent. But it didn’t really happen for him: Dafoe’s self-lacerating contribution was overshadowed by the wider furore, as the film was engulfed in protests, threats and b...
Dafoe had a huge mainstream hit with Oliver Stone’s vision of the Vietnam war as a lawless charnel house. His role, memorably encapsulated in the film’s Christ-like poster image, is the film’s moral conscience, the good angel in Charlie Sheen’s ear. But, as we know, he is cut down by Tom Berenger’s brutal Sgt Barnes and then finished off in slo-mo ...
- 2 min
- Andrew Pulver
Apr 16, 2024 · Willem Dafoe, American actor known for his versatility and willingness to appear in controversial roles. His notable films included Platoon (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), and The Florida Project (2017). He also played the Green Goblin in a series of Spider-Man movies.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Jan 9, 2024 · Actor Willem Dafoe, who has appeared in almost 150 films throughout his long career, has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first such event this year.
Jan 17, 2020 · Willem Dafoe in "To Live and Die in L.A." (1986), based on the novel by Gerald Petievich and directed by William Friedkin. Sunset Boulevard/Corbis Historical/Corbis via Getty Images
