Cusack, Joan 1962– (Joan Cusak)

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CUSACK, Joan 1962
(Joan Cusak)


PERSONAL


Surname is pronounced "Kyuzack"; born October 11, 1962, in Evanston, IL; daughter of Richard (an owner of a film production company and actor) and Nancy (a mathematics teacher and an owner of a film production company) Cusack; sister of John Cusack (an actor), Bill Cusack (an actor), Susie Cusack (an actress), and Ann Cusack (an actress); married Richard Burke (an attorney), 1993; children: Dylan John, Miles. Education: University of Wisconsin, Madison, B.A., English, 1985; trained for the stage at Piven Theatre Workshop, Chicago, IL. Avocational Interests: Painting.


Addresses: Agent United Talent Agency, 9560 Wilshire Blvd., 5th Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.


Career: Actress and writer. The Ark (improvisational comedy group), Madison, WI, member of company in the 1980s; An Impulsive Thing (improvisational group), Chicago, IL, member of company in the 1980s; appeared in commercial for US Cellular, 2002.


Awards, Honors: American Comedy Award, funniest supporting female in a motion picture, and Academy Award nomination, best supporting actress, 1989, both for Working Girl; Theatre World Award, 1989, for Road; American Comedy Award nomination, funniest supporting actress in a motion picture, 1996, for Nine Months; Academy Award nomination, best supporting actress, Golden Globe Award nomination, best supporting actress in a motion picture, American Comedy Award, funniest supporting actress in a motion picture, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, New York Film Critics Circle Award, best supporting actress, Golden Satellite Award, best supporting actress in a comedy or musical motion picture, Society of Texas Film Critics Award, best supporting actress, runnerup for Boston Society of Film Critics Award, best supporting actress, Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, favorite actress in a comedy, Society of Texas Film Critics Award, best supporting actress, 1997, all for In and Out; Online Film Critics Society nomination, best supporting actress, 1998, for Grosse Pointe Blank; American Comedy Award, funniest supporting actress in a motion picture, Blockbuster Entertainment Award, favorite supporting actresscomedy/romance, 2000, both for Runaway Bride; Saturn Award nomination, best supporting actress, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, 2000, for Arlington Road; Annie Award, outstanding individual achievement for voice acting by a female performer in an animated feature production, 2000, for Toy Story 2; Commitment to Chicago Award (with Dick Cusack, Nancy Cusack, Ann Cusack, Bill Cusack, John Cusack, and Susie Cusack), 2000.


CREDITS


Film Appearances:

(Film debut) Shelley, Clifford's friend, My Bodyguard, Twentieth CenturyFox, 1980.

Cutting Loose, 1980.

Julia, Class, Orion, 1983.

Mary Maine, Grandview, U.S.A., Warner Bros., 1984.

First geek girl, Sixteen Candles, Universal, 1984.

Gina, The Allnighter, Universal, 1987.

(As Joan Cusak) Blair Litton, Broadcast News, Twentieth CenturyFox, 1987.

Irene Stein, Stars and Bars, Columbia, 1988.

Rose, Married to the Mob, Orion, 1988.

Cyn, Working Girl, Twentieth CenturyFox, 1988.

(Uncredited) Constance Dobbler, Say Anything (also known as ... Say Anything ... ), Twentieth CenturyFox, 1989.

Hannah Stubbs, My Blue Heaven, Warner Bros., 1990.

Jody, Men Don't Leave, Warner Bros., 1990.

Cathy, The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez, 1991.

Alsatia Zevo, Toys, Twentieth CenturyFox, 1992.

Evelyn Laplante, Hero (also known as Accidental Hero ), Columbia, 1992.

Debbie Jelinsky, Addams Family Values, Paramount, 1993.

Jonesy, Corrina, Corrina, New Line Cinema, 1994.

Gail Dwyer, Nine Months, Twentieth CenturyFox, 1995.

Inga Gunther, Mr. Wrong, Buena Vista, 1996.

Gloria, Two Much (also known as Loco de Amor ), Buena Vista, 1996.

Emily Montgomery, In and Out, Paramount, 1997.

Marcella, Grosse Pointe Blank, Buena Vista, 1997.

Nancy Tellen, A Smile Like Yours, Paramount, 1997.

Hazel Huffman, The Cradle Will Rock, Buena Vista, 1999.

Cheryl Lang, Arlington Road, Screen Gems, 1999.

Peggy Flemming, Runaway Bride, Paramount, 1999.

Voice of Jesse the Cowgirl, Toy Story 2, Buena Vista, 1999.

Liz, High Fidelity, Buena Vista, 2000.

Ruth, Where the Heart Is, Twentieth CenturyFox, 2000.

Rosalie Mullins, School of Rock, Paramount, 2003.

Mother, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Warner Bros., 2003.

Jenny, Raising Helen, Buena Vista, 2004.


Television Appearances; Series:

Saturday Night Live (also known as NBC's Saturday Night, Saturday Night, and SNL ), NBC, 19851986.

Mrs. Bean, Mrs. PiggleWiggle, Showtime, 1994.

Joan Gallagher (title role), What about Joan, ABC, 20012002.


Television Appearances; Movies:

Rachel Bitterman, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, NBC, 2002.


Television Appearances; Pilots:

Linda Parker, All Together Now, NBC, 1984.


Television Appearances; Specials:

Herself, The Making of "Class, " 1983.

Herself, Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary, 1989.

Annie, "Paddy Chayefsky's 'The Mother'" (also known as "The Mother"), Great Performances, PBS, 1994.

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, 1998.

Herself, Hidden Vulnerability: A Look into the Making of "Arlington Road, " 1999.


Television Appearances; Pilots:

Linda Parker, All Together Now, NBC, 1984.


Television Appearances; Episodic:

Late Night with David Letterman, NBC, 1988.

Late Show with David Letterman, CBS, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2001.

The View, ABC, 2001.


Stage Appearances:

Louise and Clare, Road, Annex, La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theatre, New York City, 1988.

The Myth Project: A Festival of Competency, Mann Theatre, New York City, 1989.

Rosannah DeLuce, Brilliant Traces, Circle Repertory Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City, 1989.

Imogen, Cymbeline, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public/Newman Theatre, New York City, 1989.

The Celestial Alphabet Event, One Dream Theater, New York City, 1991.


Also appeared as Putana, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL; and in Aesop's Greatest Hits, Bits and Pieces, and Connections, all Piven Theatre, Chicago; also appeared in A Midsummer Night's Dream.


WRITINGS


Screenplays:

The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez, 1991.


OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

Interview, November, 1988, p. 80.

Mademoiselle, August, 1989, p. 86.