Kevin Spacey Net Worth: Fortunes, Fame & Scandals

Kevin Spacey Fowler, more commonly referred to simply as Kevin Spacey, is a famous American actor, singer, director, producer, and screenwriter.

He has played multiple roles throughout his career, but he is best known for his performances in the films American Beauty, Pay It Forward, A Time to Kill, Se7en, as well as The Usual Suspects, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

As of 2020, Kevin Spacey’s net worth was an estimated $100 million; however, given the recent sexual assault allegations against him, many financial experts believe that his net worth will rapidly decline.

Kevin Spacey: The Facts

Kevin Spacey: The Early Years

Kevin Spacey hails from South Orange, New Jersey. He was born on July 26, 1959 to Kathleen (Knuston) Fowler and Thomas Fowler. He has two siblings; a brother, Randy, and a sister, Julie.

When he was four, Spacey’s family relocated to southern California. Kevin graduated from Chatsworth High School, located in Chatsworth, California, in 1977. He was the co-valedictorian.

He always had an interest in drama, and in his senior year of high school, he played Captain Georg von Trapp, a leading role, in his high school’s production of The Sound of Music.

It was at this time that he decided to drop his last name, Fowler, and go by his middle name, Spacey instead (his father’s mother’s last name was Spacey before she was married).

After graduating high school, Kevin Spacey aspired to become a comedian; however, his attempts failed, and eventually, he enrolled in New York City’s the Juilliard School, where he studied drama.

His interest in performing grew, and while he attended college, he continued to perform as a stand-up comedian in many talent contests; however, his attempts, again, failed.

Young Kevin Spacey, taken in the 1980s

Kevin Spacey’s Rise to Fame

In 1981, Spacey landed his first professional gig; he played the part of a spear carrier in Henry VI, Part 1 at Shakespeare in the Park, a theater program that puts on Shakespearean performances at an open-air theater in New York’s Central Park.

Though the part was humble, it grew his love of acting even more.

In 1982, Spacey appeared in his first ever Broadway show, Ghosts, in which he played Oswald. He also performed in Hurlyburly, in 1984, as well as The Seagull. It was in 1986 when he started to attract attention as an actor.

It was then that he was cast as the part of Jamie in Long Day’s Journey into Night. During this performance, he played alongside some very famous actors, including Jack Lemmon, Bethel Leslie, and Peter Gallagher. This trio inspired Spacey, and Lemmon, in particular, became his mentor.

The actor went on to become a very well known name in the theater, and in 1991, he won a Tony Award for his performance as Uncle Louie in Lost in Yonkers, a mega Broadway success.

Though he still loved the theater, Kevin Spacey’s started to set his sights on film. Prior to landing roles in movies, he was cast in LA Law, a TV drama series, and The Murder of Mary Phagan, a two-part TV miniseries; he starred opposite his mentor, Jack Lemmon in the latter production.

In 1989, he landed a role in the comedic film See No Evil, Hear No Evil, which starred the movie legends Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.

It was when he was cast Mel Profit in Wiseguy, another TV series, that he started to attract the attention of fans. It was then that Spacey really started to establish himself and earned much bigger roles, including the films Glengarry Glen Ross, Swimming with Sharks, and The Ref.

In 1995, however, he was launched into stardom when he played Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects. It was this role that earned him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, which was the turning point of his career.

Kevin Spacey, Far Right, in the Iconic Usual Suspects Line-up Scene.

The Growing Fame of Kevin Spacey

After he won the Academy Award, a whole new world of opportunities opened up for Kevin Spacey. Directors, producers, and writers became very interested in the actor and set their sights on him to perform in their films.

In 1995, he was played the part of John Doe, a serial killer, in the gruesome thriller Se7en, which starred Brad Pitt, Moran Freeman, and Gwyneth Paltrow. He was also cast in Outbreak, another 1995 film that was based on the book The Hot Zone by Richard Preston.

The film, a drama, was a huge success, and Spacey starred alongside some of Hollywood’s elite, including Dustin Hoffman, Moran Freeman, Rene Russo, and Cuba Gooding Jr.

He also starred in A Time to Kill, a crime drama film, alongside Sandra Bullock, Samuel L Jackson, and Matthew McConaughey. He was honored with the Best Supporting Actor by the Society of Texas Film Critics Awards in 1995 for his performances in The Usual Suspects and Outbreak.

In 1996, Spacey directed his first movie, Albino Alligator. While the film was a flop, he was praised for his role as a director. In 1997, he started Trigger Street Productions.

In 1999, Kevin Spacey earned two more notable accolades; the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in American Beauty, the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Spacey receiving his Oscar for American Beauty Performance

He was also nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal in Eugene O’Neil’s stage performance of The Iceman Cometh.

In the start of the 21^st century, Kevin Spacey’s success – and wealth – continued to grow. He was cast in the film Pay It Forward, in which he played a lead role, in 2000. In 2001, he stared in K-Pax, a German science fiction film.

He also played the part of Bobby Darin in the biopic musical Beyond the Sea in 2004, in which he sang himself. He received a great deal of praise for his singing, which lead him to perform in several concerts.

Other notable accomplishments include:

• Two time host of Saturday Night Live
• The part of Lex Luthor in Superman Returns
• A lead performance in Edison
• A lead performance in House of Cards, a Netflix exclusive thriller series
• A lead performance in Horrible Bosses
• Executive producer of Captain Phillips, a biographical survival thriller for which he was nominated the Academy Award for Best Picture
• The portrayal of President Nixon in Elvis and Nixon

In 2016, Kevin Spacey received what many would consider his biggest accomplishment; he was awarded an honorary knighthood for his work in the theater. The honor was bestowed upon him by Prince Charles.

Kevin Spacey: Political Activist

In addition to being a mega celebrity, Kevin Spacey is also famous for his political stance and activism. He is a Democrat and a friend of President Clinton.

He actually made a cameo in President Client: Final Days, a satirical short film that was produced for the White House Correspondents Dinner by the Clinton Administration.

He considered himself to be very left-leaning and is not afraid to voice his political views, as well as his stance on important topics that concern the citizens of the world.

In fact, in 2011, he protested against Alexander Lukashenko for his harsh actions on the Belarusian democracy movement, a movement that is against the political views of the Belarusian president.

Kevin Spacey: Scandal

Though Kevin Spacey is one of the most famous actors in the world, in recent years, he has become infamous. In 2017, several people accused Spacey of sexual assault.

The scandal followed the wake of Harvey Weinstein, the producer who was accused of sexual assault by dozens of people, including some of the most famous actresses in Hollywood.

Anthony Rapp, an actor, was the first person to make allegations of sexual misconduct against Kevin Spacey. The actor claims that Spacey made sexual advanced toward him when he was just 14 years old. Rapp said that the actor laid on top of him in 1986 and that he was trying to seduce him.

In response to the allegations, Spacey claimed that he had no recollection of the events; however, he did extend his apologies toward Rapp, stating that if he did act in such a manner, that it was “inappropriate drunken behavior”.

Actor Anthony Rapp

At the same time, Spacey came out to the public, saying that he has engaged in relationships with both men and women, and that he now identifies himself as gay.

Another actor, Roberto Cavazos, also made allegations against Spacey in 2017. The actor said that he had several unsettling exchanges with Kevin Spacey while the two worked at the Old Vic. Cavazos said that the exchanges were “on the verge of being called harassment”.

Tony Montana, an American film maker, alleged that Spacey forcefully groped him at a bar in Los Angeles in 2003. Another man said that while he was sleeping, Spacey laid on top of him in sometime in the mid-1980s and was alarmed to wake up and find the actor on him.

Daniel Beal claimed that in 2010, Kevin Spacey exposed himself to him while he was bartending at a hotel in West Sussex.

Also in 2017, it was reported that the UK police were investigating Kevin Spacey after a man alleged that he sexually assaulted him.

Harry Dreyfuss, son of famed actor Richard Dreyfuss, also alleged that Spacey groped him in front of his father in 2008; however, Harry said that his father did not witness the alleged groping.

Another man, Kris Nixon, claimed that he was also groped by Space when he was attending a party at the actor’s apartment in London in 2008. An American film-maker also said that he was sexually harassed and groped by Spacey when he served as a crew member at the age of 22.

After the Old Vic Theater conducted an investigation, they concluded that they had received testimonies from 20 people, all of whom claimed that Spacey subjected them to lewd behavior while he served as an artistic director of the theater.

While all of these allegations are unsettling, perhaps the biggest bombshell of them all was when the former son-in-law of the King of Norway claimed that Kevin Spacey sexually harassed him in 2007, after a Nobel Peace Prize concert.

Unfortunately for Spacey, the allegations continued to surface. IN 2018, he was brought up on charged for sexually assaulting a teenager in 2016 at a bar in Massachusetts.

The Fallout

As can be assumed, Kevin Spacey has suffered massive fallout following the allegations that have been made against him. He was fired from House of Cards, the Netflix show that he served as an executive producer of and in which he portrayed the main character, Francis Underwood.

His termination from the show will likely have a substantial impact on his net worth, as it is estimated that he will end up losing $6.5 million for any earnings that he would have made in the future.

In addition to losing his position with House of Cards, Kevin Spacey has also been banned from teaching for MasterClass. He was slated to teach an online acting class for the e-learning organization, and while it is reported that he earned the $100,000 upfront feed, Spacey will not be able to cash in on the 30 percent revenue from the classes that he previously taught.

Furthermore, Netflix has also cancelled a biopic of Gore Vidal, in which Spacey was slated to play the role of Vidal. It is presumed that playing this part would have earned Spacey a very handsome salary of seven figures.

In addition to the income streams he has lost, it can also be assumed that the actor will lose millions of dollars as a result of the allegations that have been made against him.

Not only will he be held liable for any legal ramifications, but his name is also tarnished, which means that he will likely have a very difficult time securing positions in the future.

The story of Kevin Spacey, like so many other famous actors in recent years, is indeed unsettling. He could quite possibly go from riches to rags.

Kevin Spacey Quotes

People have different reasons for the way they live their lives. You cannot put everyone’s reasons in the same box.

Sometimes it’s the crazy people who turn out to be not so crazy.

I’m not someone who’s led my life trying to get publicity; I’d rather do my work and go home.

Storytelling helps us understand each other, translate the issues of our times, and the tools of theater and film can be powerful in helping young people to develop communication/collaboration skills, let alone improving their own confidence.

There are ways in which you can make sure that even if people come to the theatre because they know an actor or actress, by the end, they’ve forgotten that, and they leave going, ‘Wow – what an amazing play.’

I became a bit of a jerk. A kind of a nasty jerk.