Comprehensive information and links about Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe (born July 22, 1955Willem Dafoe is a versatile American actor. He is a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group.

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Biography

Born William Dafoe Jr., in Appleton, Wisconsin, the seventh of eight children, he acquired the nickname "Willem" in childhood. He graduated from Appleton East High School. He studied drama at the University of Wisconsin, but left before graduation in order to join the newly formed avant-garde group Theatre X. After touring with Theatre X for four years in the United States and Europe, he moved to New York City and joined the Performance Group, where he met director Elizabeth LeCompte. LeCompte and Dafoe left the Performance Group together and became personal and professional collaborators. Their son, Jack, was born in 1982. Dafoe married Italian actress Giada Colagrande on March 25, 2005.

, but his role was removed from the film during editing. A year later he starred as the leader of a motorcycle gang in (1986). He has since become a popular character actor; due to his harsh facial features, he is often typecast as unstable or villainous characters, most recently the Green Goblin in the (1988), which moved Sergio Leone to exclaim, "This is the face of a murderer, not of Our Lord!" Twice he has played peculiar detectives, once in . After Spider-Man, Willem had a rare opportunity to play a heroic film role when he provided the voice of Gill in the animated movie .

Willem also worked briefly as a model in a 1990 Prada campaign.

In 2004 Dafoe lent his likeness and voice for the highly successful James Bond video game .

Willem is the only listed cast member for the Deus Ex movie, tentatively to be released in 2006.