Keanu Reeves

From Academic Kids

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Charles Reeves (born Wednesday, September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon) is an Anglo/Canadian Hollywood film actor. Although currently working in the United States, Reeves is a Canadian citizen and an avid ice hockey player/fan who was his high school team's MVP. His first name literally means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian. The deeper meaning is "one who is constantly absorbed in God consciousness," while the magazine Time refers to him as the embodiment of "freon-cool satori." His father is Asian American of Chinese and Hawaiian descent and his mother is British.

Reeves gained the notice of the critics in 1986's River's Edge, but his first major film role was in 1986, in the hockey movie Youngblood, starring Rob Lowe. Reeves's first popularly successful film was Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, in 1989. Indeed, and perhaps unfortunately for Reeves, much of his subsequent portrayal in the press has been influenced by his comically airheaded character Ted in that film.

His work in diverse roles span from small independent movies such as My Own Private Idaho has earned him critical acclaim. Reeves has become a major box-office draw, and several of his films have become extremely popular. Speed, released in 1994, was a tremendous success for Reeves, surpassed in 1999 by the sci-fi hit The Matrix. Reeves reprised his starring role from that movie for the sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both box-office hits.

In December of 1999, Reeves had a daughter with actress Jennifer Syme. Eva Archer Syme-Reeves was stillborn and in April of 2001, Jennifer Syme was killed in an automobile accident. She was buried next to their daughter in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Keanu is reported to be very generous with his time and money, lending both to a variety of causes. He took a significant amount of the profits from his Matrix series and treated the 12 hard-working stuntmen to motorcycles, among other things. He does not have (by 'Hollywood' standards) many possessions and keeps his life uncluttered. He began playing bass with the rock band Dogstar, who have now gone "into hibernation". He currently plays bass in a band called Becky (http://beckymusic.com) with former Dogstar drummer Rob Mailhouse, guitarist Paulie Kosta and singer Rebecca Lord, although in recent interviews he's announced he has left the band and his musical career for good.

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