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Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959 in Loma Linda, California) is an American actor.

Modine is the youngest of seven children. Although he was born in Loma Linda, California, his informative years were spent growing up in Utah. His father, Mark, was a drive-in theater manager. This provided jobs for the large family and is most likely where Matthew grew to love movies. When Modine was ten years old, he saw a documentary about the making of the film Oliver!. Inspired by the young actors and their performances, Modine decided to become an actor. He found a dance school in Provo, Utah and began taking tap dancing lessons. He also joined the junior high school Glee Club when his family moved to Midvale, Utah. After graduating high school in Imperial Beach, California, Modine moved to New York City to study acting. It was there that he began working with the legendary acting teacher, Stella Adler.

His first film role came in John Sayle's "Baby it's You". His performance caught the eye of director Harold Becker who cast him in "Vision Quest (Crazy for You)". It was the director Robert Altman that propelled Modine into international stardom with his film adaptation of David Rabe's play "Streamers". Modine and his fellow castmates won an unprecidented Best Actor prize from the Venice Film Festival for this tragic story of young American soldiers about to be shipped to Vietnam. Modine played Mel Gibson's brother in "Mrs. Soffel" and starred with Nicloas Cage in Alan Parker's "Birdy". "Birdy" was awarded a prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Modine might be best known for his role as "Private Joker," the main character of Stanley Kubrick's 1987 war movie "Full Metal Jacket". His acting range was made evident in the two films he did back-to-back after Full Metal jacket. He played the dangerous young criminal, Treat, in Alan Pakula's film versoin of the hugely successful play "Orphans" by writer Lyle Kessler and the goofy, earnest, Det. Mike Downey, in Jonathan Demme's screwball comedy "Married to the Mob" opposite Michelle Pfeiffer.

Modine was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performances in "And the Band Played On" and "What the Deaf Man Heard".

In 1999, he made his feature directorial debut with If... Dog... Rabbit. This came after the success of three short films that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, "When I was a Boy" (co-directed with Todd Field) "Smoking" written by David Sedaris, and "Ecce Pirate".

His most recent films include "The Go Go Tales", "The West Texas Childrens Story" "Opa!" (2006), "Mary" (Winner Venice Film Festival)

The band, Pony Up, wrote and recorded a song called "Matthew Modine" on their album Pony Up! It is an fun and erotic romp in the style of many of the great 60's girl bands. The lyrics make wild suggestions of what the girls in the band would like to do to Modine.

Actor Martin Short created the character Jiminy Glick and named his twin sons, Matthew and Modine.

Partial filmography

• Go Go Tales (2006)
• The West Texas Childrens Story (2006)
• The Bedford Diaries (2006)
• Into The West (2005, TV)
• Transporter 2 (2005)
• Mary (2005)
• Le Divorce (2003) by James Ivory
• Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
• Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001, TV)
• Notting Hill (1999, cameo)
• Any Given Sunday (1999)
• The Real Blonde (1997)
• Bye Bye Love (1995)
• Cutthroat Island (1995)
• The Browning Version (1994)
• And The Band Played On (1993, TV)
• Short Cuts (1993) by Robert Altman
• Equinox (1992) by Alan Rudolph
• Wind (1992)
• Pacific Heights (1990) by John Schlesinger
• Memphis Belle (1990)
• Gross Anatomy (1989)
• Married to the Mob (1988) by Jonathan Demme
• Full Metal Jacket (1987)
• Vision Quest (1985)
• Birdy (1984)
• Streamers (1983) by Robert Altman
• Private School (1983)

External links

• Matthew Modine cast bio on The WB
• Official website

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