Ethan Hawke Biography

He landed a role in his junior high school production of 'Meet Me In St. Louis' which fuelled his thirst for acting.

In 1985, Ethan made his film debut in 'Joe Dante's Explorers'. Four years later he played Todd in 'Dead Poets' Society' and then embarked on his off-Broadway debut; a New York Shakespeare Festival production of 'Casanova' in 1991.

In the same year Ethan co-founded Malaparte; a non-profit theatre group. Gradually, after taking part in many productions, with a lot of hard work, he became a huge international star, and an acclaimed actor, as well as an experienced scriptwriter and director.

In 1996 he had his first novel published, entitled 'The Hottest State'. He wrote another novel - Ash Wednesday - in 2002.

In May, 1998 Hawke married actress Uma Thurman. The couple had two children, daughter Maya Ray and son Levon Green.

They separated in July 2004 and divorced the following year. Hawke was photographed with Canadian model Jen Perzow before the separation, but later revealed she was not the cause of the split.

In 2005, he received his first screenwriting Oscar nomination for co-writing the 2004 film, Before Sunset (a sequel to Before Sunrise).

The following year, Hawke's personal business office in New York City was destroyed by a fire. He was in the middle of directing and starring in a movie version of his first novel, The Hottest State.

The fire broke out in a newly renovated office on the second floor of
the office building and the blaze quickly spread to the fifth floor. It destroyed Hawke's fourth-floor office and his post-production studio. Master tapes and negatives from Hawke's film were being stored off-site and were reportedly not destroyed.