James Spader: biography, filmography, personal life and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

American actor James Spader has played about 4 dozen roles in his more than 35-year career in television and film. Among them are works for which he received well-known professional awards.

Early years

James Spader was born in 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the youngest of three children of Jean (née Fraser) and Stoddard Spader. Parents were school teachers and spent a lot of time raising their son and two older daughters. As the actor likes to joke, as a child he was under an extremely tough female dictate, from which he dreamed of getting out as soon as possible. James Spader and his family moved frequently, so the future actor could not make friends.

First, the boy studied at the private Pike School, where his mother taught painting, and then at a secondary school in the town of North Andover, Massachusetts, where his father worked. James later enrolled at Phillips Academy in Andover, but dropped out in 11th grade and went to New York to become an actor.

Arriving there, Spader worked as a bartender for a couple of years, taught yoga, wastruck driver, unloaded wagons and served as a groom.

Debut

James Spader played his first film role at the age of 18 in the film "Teammates". The film was aimed at a teenage audience and was not a big success. However, the young actor did not have to wait long for the next invitation to shoot, and in 1981 the movie Endless Love was released, in which James played the role of Keith Butterfield. The role was not the main one, but his partners were Tom Cruise, Brooke Shields and two-time Oscar-nominated Shirley Knight, and Spader was noticed by directors who were looking for talented newcomers for their films.

In 1985, the actor has already played in 2 films, including the main role in the youth drama "Wall to Wall". By the way, this was one of the first films that young people in the Soviet Union could illegally watch on videocassettes.

A year later, he was recorded as a sex symbol for the role of a handsome playboy in the film "The Girl in Pink". This role of a spoiled insolent soon stuck with the young actor, and for a long time he could not get rid of him.

Further career

In 1987, James Spader first played a criminal in Less Than Zero. In it, he was asked to create on the screen the image of a drug dealer named Rip. Around the same time, the actor also appeared on screen in Mannequin, Baby Boom and Wall Street. Moreover, in the last film, Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen were invited to play the main roles.

Sex,lie and video

This film marked the triumphant debut of the then little-known 26-year-old Steven Soderbergh. For her, the director received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and James Spader, who played the title role, was awarded the Best Actor award. The actor's partner was the charming Andie MacDowell, and the picture itself became a cult, its box office receipts were unusually large for a low-budget film.

Thus, on the threshold of his 30th birthday, Spader could already consider himself an accomplished actor with great career horizons.

In the 1990s

The Last 10th Anniversary of the 20th Century James Spader did a lot of filming. Among his most successful works of this period are the roles:

• Michael Ball in The Bad Influence (1990);
• Tim Geritti in True Light (1991);
• Bob Roberts in Chuck Marlin (1992);
• Gray in Fowler's Storyville (1992);
• Jack Pozzi in Music for the Occasion (1993);
• Ray Reardon in "Sex, Lies, Madness" (1993);
• Stuart Swinton in The Wolf (1994);
• Dr. Daniel Jackson in Stargate (1994);
• James Ballard in Crash (1996);
• Lee Woods in Two Days in the Valley (1996);
• Dr. Werner Ernst in Critical Care (1997).

Dr. Daniel Jackson

As already mentioned, in 1995 James Spader, whose films are known in Russia,starred in the fantastic film "Stargate". He got the main role of archaeologist Dr. Daniel Jackson, who is trying to unravel the mysteries of history and goes on the trail of aliens. The film became the basis for a franchise that currently includes 2 TV movies, 3 TV series, an animated series, a comic book, several video games, board games and more.

Car Crash

This 1996 film directed by David Cronenberg and based on the novel by James Ballard. The main role of James Ballard was played by James Spader, whose filmography includes absolutely diverse works. The picture had a great public outcry. She received the Courage, Courage and Originality Award at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as prizes in 6 nominations from Canada's Highest National Film Awards. At the same time, the founder of CNN and the famous TV magnate Ted Turner declared war on her, calling her immoral.

Television work

In 2004, the actor received an offer to star in the television project Boston Lawyers, where he got the main role of lawyer Alan Shore. The series was a huge success with the American television audience. He received 5 Emmy Awards (22 nominations in total), as well as Golden Globe (4 nominations) and Peabody (2005) awards.

Filmography of the last decade

Time is inexorable, so over the years, James Spader parted ways with the handsome man role. Of his most memorable works of recent years, participation in films and television projects can be noted:

• The Office (2011);
• Wishing Stone (2009);
• Lincoln (2012);
• Black List (2013);
• "Local" (2014);
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

James Spader: personal life

From the mid-80s, the actor was fond of yoga. At one of the classes, he met Victoria Keel, with whom he began an affair. In 1987, Spader proposed to the girl, which she gladly accepted. During their 17 years of marriage, the couple had 2 sons. After the divorce, James Spader remained alone for four years until he met Leslie Stefanson. As it turned out later, their romance began back in 2000, during the filming of the movie "Robbery", and, possibly, became the reason for the divorce of James and Victoria. In 2008, Leslie gave birth to his son.

Now you know some details of the biography of the American actor James Spader, and are also familiar with his filmography. Let's hope that he will continue to delight his fans with interesting roles.