Biography
"I'm Mickey [Mouse], they don't know who's inside the suit." -Keanu Reeves
Full Name: Keanu Charles Reeves (named after his great, great uncle)
Nickname: The Wall (high school hockey team, because of his skill as a
goalie; he was voted the team's MVP),
Date of birth: September 2nd, 1964
Place of Birth: Beirut, Lebanon
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: about 175lbs
Sister: Kim
Half-sister: Karina *His mom had her with Robert Miller
Father: Samuel Nowlin Reeves, geologist, half Hawaiian, half Chinese
Mother: Patricia Reeves, costume designer, English
Step-fathers: Paul Aaron - director, Robert Miller, rock promoter, Jack Bond, Hairstylist
Keanu's Facts:
- His father left the family after his parents divorced, and
his father went to Hawaii, his mother took the 2 kids to New York City
- Plays bass guitar for the band Dogstar;
- Loves to play ice hockey (goalie position)- once he took on a job sharpening skates!;
- In Hawaiian,"ke" means "the" and "anu" means "cool or coolness", hence "the coolness" or
"cool wind over the mountains"
- He dropped out of high school when he was 17 to become an actor
- Keanu got an abdominal scar from a motorcycle wreck in Topanga Canyon. He was on a "demon ride"
(no headlights at night) when he crashed into the side of a mountain. He was hospitalized for a week
with broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. When the paramedics came to get him, an emergency
medical technician trainee picked up one end of the stretcher ... then dropped it by mistake!
"It made me laugh, but I couldn't breathe!"
- Keanu left for Hollywood with $3000, an old Volvo, and his stepfather Paul Aaron's address
His life:
- As a child, Keanu spent most of his time traveling the world with his mother. In fact, he was born in
Beirut,Lebanon on September 2, 1964 and his younger sister, Kim, was born in Australia. The family
moved from Lebanon to New York, then on to Toronto where they remained.
- Keanu found two loves at an early age, hockey and the theater. He started acting in Toronto during
High School, and began landing roles in plays and commercials. It was the desire to act that
eventually brought him to Los Angeles in 1983. He also continued to play hockey, as a transplanted
Canadian in southern California. Keanu plays as a goalie duing ice hockey and as a forward on a foot
hockey team, the Hollywood Hoofs. The Hoofs actually came in second place in the NHL Breakout
Contest in Santa Monica in 1995.
- Keanu’s love for music also started at an early age, however, he didn’t begin playing the bass until he
was twenty-three. Self taught, except for one lesson, he would spend hours a day picking away at the
four-stringed bass. Meeting Rob in 1991 lead to his first band experience jamming in his garage, and
eventually playing some live shows, then on to what we all know today.
- His passions: 2 Norton Motorcycles: a 1974 Combat Commando 850 and a 1972 Commando 750 and an
old couch he keeps on his sister’s house :o)
- Keanu described himself once as "A middle-class white boy. A bourgeois, middle-class
white boy with an absent father, a strong-willed mother, and two beautiful
younger sisters."
Did you know?:
- In 1995 he played Hamlet on stage at Manitoba Theatre Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada;
- In 1995 was a presenter at the Academy Awards, again in 2000
- In 1995 won the MTV Movie Awards for "Best Onscreen Duo" (together with Sandra Bullock in Speed);
- He played the James Dean role in Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush" music video, which is based on the film
"Rebel Without A Cause." ;
- Presented the award for "Most Desireable Female" in 1992.
- Likes: Ballroom dancing, wine, horseback riding and Coffee Crisp chocolate bars
- Keanu is left-handed
- He hated the name "K. C. Reeves" which was his name in the credits
at the end of one of his movies
- He went on a diet of oranges and water for Little Buddha
- In Pasadena, California, there is a college course called "the films of Keanu Reeves", taught by Stephen Prina. Keanu's comment? "I hope they learn something."
- Keanu is very hard on himself. Halfway through a take, Keanu will very often
swear violently and storm off into a corner.
- For Speed, Keanu pumped up 30 lbs of muscle and took gymnastics classes to
improve his balance and agility.
- In the credits of Act of Vengeance, Keanu's name is misspelled "Keannu"
- Was known for the bursts of imprompt iambic pentameter (i.e. Shakespeare) which
he used to helf himself relax on the film set and hockey rink.
- Had horrible stage fright doing Hamlet
- compared himself to a deer caught in truck lights -
"One of the most horrific nights of my life- oh my gosh!"
- Was one credit short of graduating from the High School of Performing Arts
- Wore stuff from second hand clothes stores
- When he was little, he would dismantle furniture with his tool set
- Was dyslexic when he was little
- Was voted one of People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people in 1995
Personal Quotes:
- "My name can't be that hard to pronounce."
- "I'm the male equivalent of the female ingenue." *If you don't know what this means, go check it up!
- "I do know that I am the critics' whipping boy."
- "I don't know anything, man."
- "I don't want to be superfamous, man. That would be awful."
Other small parts:
- (1988) MTV commerical
- (1983) Played Mercutio (Romeo & Juliet) on stage
- (1983) TV commercial for Coca-Cola, TV commercial for Kellogs Cornflakes
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