Tobey Maguire biography

Synopsis

Tobey Maguire is an American actor and producer, best known for his role as Peter Parker in the Spider-Man films. After a childhood of Hollywood auditions, Maguire landed the role of Joan Allen's son in 1998's Pleasantville. In Wonder Boys (2000), he played a quirky version of the prodigal son. Maguire's first Spider-Man film (2002) netted $114 million in its opening weekend, a box-office record.

Early Life

Actor. Born Tobias Vincent Maguire on June 27, 1975, in Santa Monica, California. Tobey Maguire's aura of youthful sensitivity and his dry, understated delivery have allowed him to corner the market on coming-of-age roles. In the late 1990s, he was a standout in a steady stream of dramatic features. With the premiere of Spider-Man in May of 2002, Maguire has managed to parley that early success into a shot at big-budget stardom.

Maguire's father, Vincent, and mother, Wendy, were young and unwed when he was born. Although they married soon after the birth, their relationship was short-lived and Maguire spent much of his early childhood shuttling between households in California, Washington and Oregon.

Maguire's mother, a secretary, encouraged her son to take acting lessons and soon she was escorting him through the standard circuit of Hollywood auditions. Maguire managed to cadge one- and two-line roles in such sitcoms as Roseanne and Blossom. Maguire left school in the ninth grade to devote himself to acting. He eventually landed a lead role in FOX's ill-fated Great Scott!. The show was cancelled in 1992 after nine weeks.

In 1995, Maguire auditioned for the lead in the Generation X comedy Empire Records. He was given a small part and eventually excused himself from the production, citing personal frustration. His scenes were cut from the little-seen film.

Breakthrough Role

But this personal setback proved a prelude to giant professional leap forward. After a brief sabbatical from the audition circuit, later that year he appeared in Duke of Groove, a short-film which received an Oscar nomination. He then leveraged a role in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997) and following that, a major role in the brooding, Ang Lee drama The Ice Storm (1997). Maguire’s performance as Paul Hood, the sardonic-but-sensitive son of Kevin Kline and Joan Allen, earned high praise from critics. In 1998, Maguire again played the fictive son of Joan Allen in Pleasantville, but this time, it was Maguire in the lead role.

Career Highlights

After a small role in the film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Maguire again played the coming-of-age card in The Cider House Rules, a wistful interpretation of John Irving's bestselling novel.

The film garnered seven Academy Award nominations.

In Wonder Boys (2000), Maguire found himself playing a slightly quirkier version of the prodigal son. Cast opposite Michael Douglas, Maguire played James Leer, a precocious writing student with a flair for prevarication.

But with the release of Spiderman (2002), Maguire's days as the Holden-Caulfield-in-residence seem to be over. Reportedly paid $4 million for the title role, Maguire (with the help of a range of state-of-the-art special effects) made the transition from nerdy teen Peter Parker to comic book hero. The film, which was tied up in copyright wrangling for almost a decade, also features Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe. The film netted $114 million in its opening weekend, a box-office record. The actor signed on for the sequel Spider-Man 2 in 2004. In 2006, Maguire starred in the Oscar-nominated film, The Good German. Maguire returned as Peter Parker in the Spider-Man 3 in 2007.

Personal Life

Maguire lives in Los Angeles. Although he has publicly proclaimed his abstention from alcohol and drugs, he is an avid participant in the city's nightlife and a visible member of what the media has dubbed "the latter-day Rat Pack" along with fellow actor and friend Leonardo DiCaprio.