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ALL ABOUT DERMOT MULRONEY

Full Name: Dermot Mulroney
Date of Birth: 31 October 1963
Place of Birth: Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Spouse: Catherine Keener (1990 - present) 1 child Clyde (born June 1999)
Family: Brother - Sean Mulroney, Conor Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney (actor; born in 1965) - Sister - Maura (older)
Education: Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois (graduated with BFA in 1985 majored in film, theater and music)

Bio:

Raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Dermot Mulroney was the son of a lawyer. He grew up with three brothers, Sean, Conor and Kieran (now also an actor) and a sister named Maura. Mulroney learned to play classical cello and appeared in local children’s theater productions from an early age. He made his high school stage debut in a play called Are Teachers Human? at George Washington High School. He was unusually short for most of his years in high school and was known for having a sharp, if not very nice, sense of humor. He went on to attend Northwestern University in Chicago, graduating in 1985 with a degree in film, theater, and music.

His squeaky-clean Irish good looks brought him a steady diet of roles in made-for-TV movies like the incest-themed Sin of Innocence (1986), the teen pregnancy-themed Daddy (1987), and the anti-drug diatribe The Drug Knot (1986).

Mulroney was rescued from afterschool specials with a feature-film assignment playing Roddy McDowell’s son in the easily forgotten Western, Sunset (1988). Later on that year, he was given a career breaking role in the Brat Pack-ish ensemble cast of the abominable western Young Guns. Mulroney was given the opportunity to eschew personal cleanliness and portray a coarse character named “Dirty Steve.”

Following his appearance in Young Guns, Mulroney ducked into independent films, surfacing in a string of little-seen, if critically respected films like Longtime Companion (1989); Bright Angel (1990), in which he played Sam Shepard’s dead ringer of a son; and Where the Day Takes You (1992). His gritty portrayal of a teen hustler’s fringe existence on L.A.’s mean streets in the latter film garnered him the Seattle Film Festival’s Best Actor Award.

It wasn’t until 1993 that luck would turn to Mulroney’s favor. Cast in such films as Point of No Return afforded him a high-profile opportunity to hone his skills as a puppy-dog boyfriend; and the little-seen The Thing Called Love gave him his first chance to sing on-screen (he has since contributed his pipes to Kansas City and My Best Friend’s Wedding). Also that year, Mulroney and River Phoenix collaborated with Sam Shepard on his western ghost story Silent Tongue.

The following year offered little in the way of standout opportunities. But after the bad western flick, Bad Girls, he was able to redeem himself with strong performances in films like Copycat and How To Make an American Quilt; and appropriately acerbic as the eye patch-wearing cinematographer in Living in Oblivion, in which he co-starred with his Oscar-nominated wife Catherine Keener.

In 1996, Mulroney was playing larger parts as Jennifer Jason Leigh’s thuggish husband in Robert Altman’s Kansas City, and joined Kyle MacLachlan and Elisabeth Shue in the paranoiac power-outage flick The Trigger Effect.

He next appeared in Roland Joffe’s “sarcastic thriller” Goodbye, Lover (1999) with Patricia Arquette and Mary-Louise Parker. Since then, he has worked in a number of acclaimed films such as The Safety of Objects (2001) with Glenn Close and About Schmidt (2002) starring Jack Nicholson, and garnered even more female fans with his sexy turn as a hustler with a heart of gold in the romantic comedy The Wedding Date (2005).

When not on set, Mulroney occupies his time playing the cello, mandolin and the dobro in an eclectic septet that includes his brother Kieran. He and his wife have a son named Clyde.

Trivia:

Was furious when he exchanged gifts with his THE FAMILY STONE co-star Luke Wilson - because he was convinced he’d spent far more. He opted for the generous approach, handing his pal a stack of money - only to receive an ornament in return. (December 23, 2005)
Born on the same day as actor/comedian Rob Schneider.
Good friends with Brad Pitt.
He is sometimes confused with actor Dylan McDermott; there is a slight resemblance and a similar sounding name.
His younger brother Kieran Mulroney is also an actor. The brothers starred together in the John Hughes comedy, CAREER OPPORTUNITIES (1991) with Jennifer Connelly and Frank Whaley.
Is of predominantly Irish ancestry. All of his siblings have traditional Irish names.
Met wife Catherine Keener in 1987 when filming SURVIVAL QUEST (1989).
Mulroney and his older brother Dan are co-owners of ‘The Double Door’, one of Chicago’s more popular music clubs.
Plays cello in the song Place Your Hand from Melissa Etheridge’s 1992 Album ‘Never Enough.’
Plays double bass and cello on the debut EP of Rain and Summer Phoenix’s band, Papercranes.
Sister Moira works in the Philadelphia DA’s office as an assistant district attorney.
Was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at Northwestern University.
Was in a band called ‘The Low & Sweet orchestra’.
Nominated for Best Kiss at MTV Movie Awards for How to Make an AMERICAN QUILT (1996) - shared with Winona Ryder

Quotes:

“Its’s not often I get the opportunity to stand buck naked in front of someone as sweet and charming as Debra. [Dermot on a scene with Debra Messing in 'Wedding Date'.]”
“I think I probably have a latent talent as a painter. I haven’t really developed it, but the things I’ve tried have been really good-watercolors.”
“I write songs. My brother writes cool story songs,like the one about a tiny women and a deaf mute. All mine end up being about me, sort of happy, sad, with a narrative arch. ”
” I pretend I don’t dance. I can. Not like tap-dance or show tunes or anything like that but I’ve danced in movies. ”
“I play the cello, which is definitely sexy-it’s a big piece of vibrating wood between your knees. And the sound is just beautiful.”
“After [my father had] seen me in five or six things, he said, ‘Son, your mother and I really enjoyed your recent film, and I must say that you’re a lot like John Wayne.”

Filmography:

Dermot Mulroney Filmography as an Actor:
2007 Jolene
2007 Gracie
2007 Georgia Rule
2007 Zodiac
2006 Griffin & Phoenix
2005 The Family Stone
2005 The Wedding Date
2005 Must Love Dogs
2004 Undertow
2004 Hair High
2003 Friends: The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work
2003 Friends: The One Where Monica Sings
2003 Friends: The One With Phoebe’s Rats
2002 About Schmidt
2001 The Safety of Objects
2001 Investigating Sex
2001 Lovely & Amazing
2000 Where the Money Is
2000 Trixie
1999 Goodbye Lover
1997 My Best Friend’s Wedding
1996 Bastard out of Carolina
1996 Heroine of Hell
1996 Kansas City
1996 The Trigger Effect
1996 Box of Moonlight
1995 Living in Oblivion
1995 How to Make an American Quilt
1995 Copycat
1994 Angels in the Outfield
1994 The Last Outlaw
1994 There Goes My Baby
1994 Bad Girls
1994 Silent Tongue
1993 The Thing Called Love
1993 The Heart of Justice
1993 Point of No Return
1993 Family Pictures
1992 Where the Day Takes You
1992 Samantha
1991 Career Opportunities
1991 Bright Angel
1990 Longtime Companion
1989 Unconquered
1989 Staying Together
1989 Survival Quest
1988 Sunset
1988 Young Guns
1987 Long Gone
1987 Daddy
1986 Sin of Innocence

Dermot Mulroney Filmography as an Associate Producer:
2005 God Grew Tired of Us
1995 Living in Oblivion

Dermot Mulroney Filmography as a Stunts:
1992 Where the Day Takes You

Dermot Mulroney Awards:

1992 : Won Golden Space Needle Award
category Best Actor for Where the Day Takes You (1992)

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