Matthew McConaughey

January 29, 1:38 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY

Matthew David McConaughey was born on November 4th, 1969 -- he is an American actor known for his laid-back demeanor, his Texas-cool style, and for appearing in movies with his shirt off.  He is also a gifted actor whose cross-genre films (action, drama, romance) have brought him worldwide fame and the respect of his peers.

Matthew was born in Uvalde, Texas to James Donald McConaughey, a gas station owner and former professional football player, and Mary Kathleen "Kay" McCabe, a substitute teacher -- he has two older brothers, all of whom were brought up in strict Baptist home.  Though Matthew’s mother and (late) father divorced, they remarried and divorced again numerous times.

After moving to Longview, Texas, where he graduated high school in 1988, Matthew decided he needed a change of scenery and moved to Australia as a Rotary exchange student.  Spending a year there, washing dishes and shoveling chicken manure, he came back stateside and enrolled at the University of Texas in Austin, seeking a degree in law.  During his final year, after reading read the inspirational book The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino, he changed his major from law to film.

In the early 1990s, after appearing in numerous commercials and student films, Matthew was having a drink in a hotel bar in Austin when he struck up a conversation with producer and casting director, Don Phillips.  It was through this chance meeting that Matthew met director Richard Linklater, who was looking for someone to play an early-twenties, skirt-chasing, stoner-type for his coming-of-age, ode to 1970s film, Dazed and Confused.  Matthew was initially considered too handsome to play Dave Wooderson, but after he grew a mustache and let his hair grow long, he got the part -- a part that increased considerably in size after Linklater encouraged Matthew’s improvisations.  One of his improvised lines, “Just keep livin’,” became his personal motto.

After appearing in supporting roles in films like, Angels in the Outfield, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Boys on the Side, Matthew got his biggest break in 1996 when he was cast as Jake Tyler Brigance in the film adaptation of John Grisham’s A Time To Kill.  As the book was Grisham’s first published, and was quite close to his heart, the author had final casting approval for the lead character.  After months of auditions where nobody seemed right for the role, Grisham knew immediately that Matthew was the one.  The rest is history.

Though that film was a smash hit, Matthew’s next films were still only supporting roles.  He appeared as an obnoxious redneck trucker in Bill Murray’s Larger Than Life, a theologian in love with Jodie Foster in Contact, and a young lawyer in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad.

In 1999, Ron Howard cast him as the lead in his reality-show comedy, EdTV.  The film did not do well at the box office (possibly because it was too close in plot to Jim Carrey’s The Truman Show, released not long before).  Following that, he made U-571, The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez, Frailty (Bill Paxton’s very scary directorial debut), Reign of Fire, and How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days opposite Kate Hudson.

In 2005, Matthew was cast as Dirk Pitt in the film version of Clive Cussler’s Sahara.  Though the actor took to driving cross-country in his own personal Airstream trailer (with large Sahara movie posters on each side), doing interviews and signing autographs at locations like military bases and the Daytona 500, the film (which is really not that bad) is considered one of the most expensive flops in history.  Clive Cussler sued the filmmakers, and lost.

Next came Failure to Launch, We Are Marshall, Fool’s Gold (reuniting him with Kate Hudson), Tropic Thunder, and Surfer Dude.

If there is any infamous incident in Matthew’s life, it has to be the October 24, 1999 arrest in his Austin, Texas home.  Police, responding to a “noise disturbance,” found Matthew and a friend, naked, stoned, and playing bongos.  While the drug charges were dropped, Matthew pled guilty for violating the city's noise ordinance.  He had to pay a $50 fine.

Matthew has been linked romantically to Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Penelope Cruz, and Kate Hudson.  While he has never married, Matthew and Brazilian girlfriend Camila Alves welcomed a son, Levi Alves McConaughey, on July 7, 2008.

The motto that Matthew took from the film Dazed and Confused: “Just keep livin’,” is also the basis of his JK Livin Foundation which seeks to help young people live fuller lives.

Up next: The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Hammer Down.