Owen Wilson

**Owen Wilson** is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and comedian known for the movies "Cars," "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Marley And Me" and his long partnership with actor Ben Stiller.

He was born Owen Cunningham Wilson in Dallas, Texas on November 18, 1968, to photographer Robert Andrew Wilson, an advertising executive, and Laura (née Cunningham) Wilson. He is the brother of Luke and Andrew Wilson. Born of Irish descent, his parents were originally from Massachusetts. He attended New Mexico Military Institute and the University of Texas at Austin, where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

Owen made his film debut in the 1996 movie "Bottle Rocket." With Wes Anderson, he co-wrote the script for Anderson's next two directorial films, "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," for which they garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He then landed a role in "The Cable Guy," directed by Ben Stiller, and went on to minor roles in "Anaconda," "Armageddon" and "The Haunting." Although generally known for comedy, he appeared in two dramatic roles in the films "Permanent Midnight," which co-starred Stiller and as a serial killer in "The Minus Man" with singer Sheryl Crow, who he later dated. Her album, "C'mon C'mon," features the song "Safe and Sound", which is dedicated to Wilson in the liner notes and is said to be an account of Wilson and Crow's relationship.

Wilson's career got a big boost for his role in the 2000 comedy-action film "Shanghai Noon" with Jackie Chan, which grossed nearly US$100 million worldwide. He starred in "Zoolander" with Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell and "Behind Enemy Lines" with Gene Hackman, who recommended him for the movie. In 2001, Wilson and Anderson collaborated on their third film, "The Royal Tenenbaums," a financial and critical success which earned the writing team an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

For several years, Wilson was a member of the "Frat Pack," a collaboration of friends which included Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell. In 2002, he starred in the action comedy "I Spy," based on the TV series with comedian Eddie Murphy. Although the movie bombed, he made a cameo appearance in the Girl Skateboards video "Yeah, Right!" in 2003 before reuniting with Jackie Chan to make "Shanghai Knights" and star in "Starsky & Hutch," another big screen remake of a television series. His busy schedule as an actor and an ongoing sinus condition made him unavailable to collaborate on the script for Wes Anderson's fourth feature film, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," but he did star with Bill Murray's son in the film. He and his brother, Owen Wilson, also played the Wright Brothers in a cameo in the 2004 Jackie Chan film "Around the World in 80 Days."
After partnering with Vince Vaughn in "Wedding Crashers," Owen collaborated with his brothers, Luke and Andrew, by collaborating and writing "The Wendell Baker Story" in 2005. In 2006, he voiced Lightning McQueen in the Disney/Pixar film "Cars" and starred in "You, Me and Dupree" with Kate Hudson and "Night at the Museum," with Ben Stiller. He starred with Stiller in several more movies, including the sequels "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian," "Little Fockers," "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" and "Zoolander 2."

In August 2007, Wilson went through a bout of depression and attempted suicide. He underwent treatment at St. John's Health Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His treatment kept him from starring in "Tropic Thunder," which was produced by Ben Stiller, who recast his role with Matthew McConaughey. Wilson did go on to appear in "The Darjeeling Limited," another Wes Anderson film, which screened at the 45th annual New York Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival. He next starred in "Drillbit Taylor" and a film adaptation of John Grogan's best-selling memoir, "Marley & Me" with Jennifer Aniston.

He did more voice work in Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and starred "The Big Year, an adaptation of the Mark Obmascik book. He made a guest appearance on the NBC comedy "Community" with fellow Frat Pack member Jack Black and starred "Midnight in Paris," written and directed by Woody Allen. His later films include "The Coup," "Behind Enemy Lines," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Inherent Vice," "She's Funny That Way," his second film with Jennifer Aniston, and the animated feature "Free Birds."

For a while, Wilson dated Kate Hudson in 2008 and 2009, later going on to have a son, Robert Ford Wilson, with his girlfriend Jade Duell in January 2011. They ended their relationship later that year. In January 2014, actress Caroline Lindqvist gave birth to Wilson's second son, Finn Lindqvist Wilson.

His future plans include a film with Ed Helms, a sequel to "Shanghai Knights," marking his third collaboration with Jackie Chan and a Wright Brothers biopic, co-written by Own and his brother Luke, who also both plan to star in it.