On this date in 1964, actor Matthew Raymond Dillon was born into an Irish-Catholic family in New Rochelle, N.Y. Still a teenager, he began acting in 1979 and quickly elevated into teen heartthrob status. In his first 10 years in show business, Dillon had roles in such popular films as “The Outsiders” (1983), “Rumble Fish” (1983), “The Flamingo Kid” (1984), “Rebel” (1985), “Native Son” (1986) and “Drugstore Cowboy” (1989).
He transformed into a serious and often comedic actor, with successful parts in “A Kiss Before Dying” (1991), “Mr. Wonderful” (1993), “To Die For” (1995), “Beautiful Girls” (1996), “In and Out” (2001), “Wild Things” (1998), the popular Ben Stiller movie “There’s Something About Mary” (1998), “One Night at McCool’s” (2001), “Loverboy” (2005) and “You, Me and Dupree” (2006), among others.
Dillon co-starred in the 2005 Oscar-winning film “Crash” and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Dillon directed, wrote the screenplay and starred in “City of Ghosts” (2002), a film infused with Buddhist ideas. “I’m not a Buddhist, or a card-carrying member of any religion,” Dillon told Beliefnet.com in a 2003 interview about “City of Ghosts” (“Buddhism and ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’ “). The article described Dillon as a lapsed Catholic and quoted him saying, “I have trouble believing — I’m skeptical.”
In 2018 he played the lead role of a serial murderer in the Lars von Trier thriller “The House That Jack Built.” Dillon dated actress Cameron Diaz from 1995-98 and has led an active dating life but has never married.
