Matthew McConaughey

Matthew David McConaughey (born November 4, 1969 in Uvalde, Texas) is an American actor. After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, he came to fame after starring in several successful films, including A Time to Kill and U-571. He is known for having played the leading man in several hit romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) and Failure to Launch (2006).

Biography

Early life

McConaughey, the youngest of three boys, was born in Uvalde, Texas on November 4th, 1969; he is of "Scotch-Irish" ancestry (the surname McConaughey means "son of Duncan" in Gaelic). McConaughey had what he describes as a conservative Christian upbringing. His late father, James Donald McConaughey, ran a Texaco gas station, worked as a truck driver, and was a former professional football player (for the Green Bay Packers, drafted in 1953). His mother, Mary Kathlene "Kay" McCabe, was a substitute schoolteacher. His parents divorced and re-married several times (to each other), in what he describes as a "loving, but unstable relationship".

McConaughey moved to Longview, Texas in 1980 and, after graduating from Longview High School in 1988, where he was voted the most handsome, Matthew lived briefly in Australia. He had relative academic success in high school, and went to college. He studied film direction at the University of Texas at Austin and was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, graduating in 1993.

Career

McConaughey got his start working in television commercials and was cast in his first role in the film Dazed and Confused (1993), after meeting director Richard Linklater at the University of Texas at Austin. After appearing in some additional small parts in Angels in the Outfield, 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. In 1997, McConaughey won an MTV Movie Award for best breakthrough performance for the role. He has also twice been nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award.

McConaughey gained renown and 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 time period, he appeared in the low-budget film, TipToes, a drama where he played a firefighter opposite Kate Beckinsale.

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. In 2005, People magazine named him their "Sexiest Man Alive". In 2006, he co-starred with Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy, Failure to Launch, which was a success at the box office.

Personal life

On October 25, 1999, McConaughey was arrested at his home in Austin, Texas; the charges included possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. The police were responding at 2:37 a.m. to a disturbance call after a neighbor complained of loud music from the house next-door. They arrived to "easily hear very loud music," bongo drum playing and clapping coming from McConaughey's residence. According to official police reports, McConaughey was found dancing around naked and playing bongo drums with a friend, actor Cole Hauser, a co-actor in Dazed and Confused (1993). The drug charges were dropped, but McConaughey pled guilty for violating the city's noise ordinance and paid a USD $50 fine.

An avid University of Texas at Austin football fan, McConaughey is often seen at Longhorn games. In addition to his home in Austin, he also owns a 1,600 acre ranch in Texas. He has dated actress Sandra Bullock, as well as Penelope Cruz. The two had been together since 2004, soon after Cruz broke up with Tom Cruise in January 2004. In June 2006 People reported that he and Cruz have decided to split due to their busy work schedules. He was last seen with Jamie A. Garcia.

In July 2006, McConaughey's latest foibles in real life were documented via "McConaughey's Lost Weekend.", a blog with photographs of a "three-day bender in Costa Rica."

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Widow Claire	TBA
	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	TBA	Just Announced
	Hammer Down	TBA	Just Announced
	Dear Deliah	TBA	Just Announced
2006	We are...Marshall	Coach Jack Lengyel
2006	Failure to Launch	Tripp
2005	Two for the Money	Brandon Lang
2005	Sahara	Dirk Pitt
2003	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days	Benjamin 'Ben' Barry
2002	Reign of Fire	Denton Van Zan
	Thirteen Conversations About One Thing	Troy
	Frailty	Fenton Meiks
2001	The Wedding Planner	Steve Edison
2000	U-571	Lt. Andrew Tyler, Executive Officer
1999	Edtv	Ed 'Eddie' Pekurny
1998	The Newton Boys	Willis Newton
1997	Amistad	Baldwin
1997	Contact	Palmer Joss
1996	A Time to Kill	Jake Tyler Brigance
	Lone Star	Buddy Deeds
	Glory Daze	Rental Truck Guy
1995	The Next Generation	Vilmer	limited release
1994	Angels in the Outfield	Ben Williams
1993	Dazed and Confused	David Wooderson

References

Footnotes

Interviews

Cosmopolitan interview (November, 2005)
About.com interview (October, 2005)
CrazedFanBoy.com interview (March, 2005)
MovieHole interview (February 6, 2003)
Well Rounded Entertainment interview (February 1998)
FinalArticles interview (August, 1996)

Web sites

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