Owen Wilson is a comic actor and screenwriter known to most moviegoers as
Jackie Chan's co-star in the funny western
Shanghai Noon (2000) and as
Vince Vaughn's partner in comic promiscuity in
Wedding Crashers (2005). Wilson began his movie career starring in the independent movie
Bottle Rockets (1996), a low-budget charmer he wrote with director
Wes Anderson. After several roles in clunkers such as
The Cable Guy (1996) and
Anaconda (1997), Wilson's career took off in 1998, with appearances in
Armageddon (starring
Bruce Willis) and
Permanent Midnight (with his frequent co-star,
Ben Stiller). Since then he has appeared in several movies, including
Meet the Parents (2000, with Stiller and
Robert DeNiro),
Zoolander (2001, as the surfer supermodel Hansel) and
Behind Enemy Lines (2001). Although he often takes roles as a blithesome stoner or goofy neer-do-well, Wilson is no slouch: he co-wrote Wes Anderson's critically acclaimed films
Rushmore (1998, with
Bill Murray) and
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, starring
Gwyneth Paltrow), and has appeared in dozens of films, including
Starsky and Hutch (2004, also with Ben Stiller),
Meet the Fockers (2004, with
Dustin Hoffman),
You, Me and DuPree (2006, with
Kate Hudson, who later became his girlfriend),
Marley and Me (2008, based on the hit book), and as the cowboy Jedediah in
Night at the Museum (2006, Stiller
again) and the sequel
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009).
Extra credit: Wilson was hospitalized on 26 August 2007 after an apparent suicide attempt; he reportedly slashed his wrist and overdosed on drugs. He recovered, but has never publicly offered details on the incident... Wilson's brothers, Luke and Andrew, are also actors... Wilson supplied the voice of the car Heat Vision in the short-lived television show
Heat Vision and Jack (1999, starring
Jack Black). Seven years later, he voiced the car Lightning McQueen in the hit movie
Cars.
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