10 Dec 2023, 00:00

Synopsis

Owen Wilson was born on November 18, 1968, in Dallas, Texas. While at the University of Texas at Austin, he met filmmaker Wes Anderson. The two teamed up to make the film Bottle Rocket in 1996, the first of several films they would work on together, which would include Rushmore, The Life Aquatic and The Royal Tenenbaums. Wilson has starred in a range of comedies over the years and also lent his vocal talent to the voice of Lighting McQueen, an animated car, in Cars and Cars 2, in addition to other animated projects.

Early Years

Actor Owen Cunningham Wilson was born on November 18, 1968, in Dallas, Texas, the son of a photographer and an advertising executive. Known now for his smooth, subdued comedic personas and his rakishly crooked nose, Wilson grew up alongside two other future actors: brothers Andrew and Luke.

After being expelled from the St. Mark's School of Texas, he graduated from Thomas Jefferson School before attending the New Mexico Military Institute. While attending the University of Texas at Austin, he met future filmmaker Wes Anderson.

Wes Anderson Films and Hollywood Hits

Wilson and Anderson's first feature film partnership was 1996's Bottle Rocket, which was created from a short film shown at the Sundance Film Festival. Soon after, Wilson moved to Hollywood with his two brothers. While there, he went on to co-write three other films with Anderson: Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004). Tenenbaums earned the duo an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, while Wilson also co-starred in that film and Life Aquatic.

In addition to his collaborations with Anderson, Wilson has appeared in several big-budget films with comedic actor (and good friend) Ben Stiller, including Meet the Parents (2000) and its two sequels, Zoolander (2001) and Starsky & Hutch (2004). Wilson scored one of his biggest box office successes with 2005's Wedding Crashers, starring opposite Vince Vaughn.

Wilson also contributed his voice to the animated smash hit Cars (2006). Around this time, he was romantically linked to his You, Me and Dupree (2006) co-star Kate Hudson, but the couple broke up in 2007. Wilson was previously romantically linked to Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston and Sheryl Crow.

Personal Troubles

On August 26, 2007, Owen was taken from his Santa Monica, California home to the hospital after a call for medical assistance was made. Police reports later showed that they'd responded to a suicide attempt. From the hospital, Wilson issued a statement asking for privacy so that he may "receive care and heal in private during this difficult time." During his hospital stay, he was visited by family and friends, including Wes Anderson and Woody Harrelson. Wilson went home less than a week later.

Wilson canceled several appearances and dropped out of the film Tropic Thunder (2008).

Back on the Big Screen

Wilson stepped back into the spotlight in October 2007 when he attended the Los Angeles premiere of Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, in which he co-starred.

In 2008, he starred in the comedies Drillbit Taylor and Marley & Me. Wilson then garnered acclaim for his role in 2009's The Fantastic Mr. Fox and later voiced other animated characters in Marmaduke (2010), Cars 2 (2011) and Free Birds (2013). Additional films on his slate have included Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011) and Inherent Vice (2014), Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of the Thomas Pynchon novel. In 2015 Wilson tried his hand in an action thriller called No Escape, co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Lake Bell.

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