Joseph Gordon-Levitt (born 17.02.1981) Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an American actor best known for his work on '(500) Days of Summer', 'Inception', '50/50', 'The Dark Knight Rises' and TV series '3rd Rock From The Sun'. Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Childhood Joseph Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California in the Sherman Oaks neighbourhood. His parents are Dennis Levitt, a former news director for a radio station, and Jane Gordon, a former US Congress runner for the Peace and Freedom Party. Both were co-founders of the Progressive Jewish Alliance. His grandfather, Michael Gordon, directed the 1959 rom com 'Pillow Talk'. Joseph joined a theatre group when he was four and subsequently appeared in several TV commercials. He later made appearances in TV, including on 1991 vampire series 'Dark Shadows' and 1992-93 sitcom 'The Powers That Be'. Whilst attending Van Nuys High School, he portrayed the alien Tommy Solomon on '3rd Rock From The Sun'. He attended Columbia University School of General Studies in 2000 where he studied history, literature and French poetry and became fluent in French. Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Acting Career In his later acting career, Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrayed a variety of different characters. In 2001, he played a boy in a mental institution in 'Manic', he was a gay male escort in 2004's 'Mysterious Skin' and was the boyfriend of a murdered drug addict in 'Brick' in 2005. 'The Lookout' was another of his big movies in 2007, and two years later he had a leading role opposite Zooey Deschanel in '(500) Days of Summer' for which he was nominated a Golden Globe award. Also in 2009, he was a villain in 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra' and in 2010 he appeared with Leonardo DiCaprio in Christopher Nolan's 'Inception'. He worked with Nolan again in 2012's 'The Dark Knight Rises' and played a young version of Bruce Willis' character in 'Looper' in the same year. In 2012, he also had a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln'. Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Other career ventures Joseph Gordon-Levitt has directed several short films including a movie adaptation of 'Sparks' which was selected for the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Another short, 'Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo', appeared at Texas' South by Southwest festival in 2010.
Biography by Contactmusic.com