Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann (née Knutson), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. His family relocated to Southern California when he was four years old. Spacey has a sister and an older brother, Randy Fowler, from whom Spacey is estranged. His brother has stated that their father, whom he described as a racist "Nazi supporter", was sexually and physically abusive, and that Spacey shut down emotionally and became "very sly and smart" to avoid beatings. Spacey first addressed the matter in October 2022, saying that his father was "a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi" who would call him "an F-word that is very derogatory to the gay community". He stated that, as a result, he became extremely private about his personal life and did not come out as gay earlier in his life. Spacey had previously described his father as "a very normal, middle-class man". Spacey attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School in the 10th and 11th grades. He graduated co-valedictorian (along with Mare Winningham) of the class of 1977 of Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which was his paternal grandmother's maiden name. Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed comedy in bowling alley talent contests.