Home > Willem Dafoe

Born William Dafoe Jr., in Appleton, Wisconsin, the seventh of eight children, he acquired the nickname "Willem" in childhood. He studied drama at the University of Wisconsin, but left before graduation in order to join the newly formed avant-garde group Theatre X. After touring with Theatre X for four years in the United States and Europe, he moved to New York City and joined the Performance Group , where he met director Elizabeth Lecompte . Lecompte and Dafoe left the Performance Group together and became both collaborators and life partners; they are not married, but have a son.

Dafoe's film career began in 1981, when he was cast in Heaven's Gate, but his role was removed from the film during editing. A year later he starred as the leader of a motorcycle gang in The Loveless , but his first breakthrough film role was as Sergeant Elias in PlatoonSee also Platoon (movie) and platoon (automobile) for the concept for reducing traffic congestion. Platoon is a term from military science. In an army, a platoon is a unit of thirty to forty soldiers typically commanded by a First Lieutenant who is assist ( 19861986 is a common year starting on Wednesday. Events January January 1 Spain and Portugal enter the European Community January 1 Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands and is separated from the Netherlands Antilles. January 9 After losing a pa). He has since become a popular character actor; due to his harsh facial features, he is often typecast as unstable or villainous characters, most recently the Green GoblinThe Green Goblin is a Marvel Comics supervillain who is the greatest enemy of Spider-Man. The Green Goblin dresses in a garish green costume resembling a goblin and uses an arsenal of high-tech weapons, notably grenade-like "pumpkin bombs", and rides on a in the Spider-ManSpider-Man is the name of an extremely successful movie (released on May 3, 2002) which stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe and was directed by Sam Raimi. It is an adaptation of the story of how the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man came movies. He also notoriously played Jesus Christ in The Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of Christ is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in December 1960. It has been the subject of a great deal of controversy due to its subject matter: it tells a fictional version of the life of Jesus Christ, told from ( 19881988 is a leap year starting on Friday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 2 Georgia celebrates its bicentennial statehood. January 9 Connecticut celebrates its bicentennial statehood. January 26 Australia celebrates its bicentennial day.). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorThe Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. The winners a in 1986 (for Platoon) and 2000 (for Shadow of the Vampire).

Dafoe also worked briefly as a model in a 1990 Prada campaign.

In 2004 Dafoe lent his likeness and voice for the highly successful James Bond video game Everything or Nothing.