Aidan Quinn

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Date of Birth : Mar 8th 1959

Born in Chicago on 8 March 1959, Chicago spent most of the first two decades of his life living on both sides of the Atlantic; his parents – his dad a literature professor, his mum a housewife – had emigrated from Ireland to the States in the 1950s, where Aidan, as well as his sister and three brothers were born. Artistic blood obviously runs in the family, with his older brother Declan having made a name for himself as cinematographer in films such as Leaving Las Vegas and Vanya On 42nd Street, younger sister Marian working as an actress, and younger brother Paul having recently ventured into the world of writing/directing for their joint family effort This Is My Father in addition to working as an actor. Only one of the five siblings, another younger brother, James, has stayed away from the limelight and is making a living as a landscaper in LA.

Although a roofer by trade, Aidan discovered his love for acting around 1978 when he was about 19 and living in Dublin. Once the decision was made and it became obvious that work wasn’t so easy to come by in Ireland, he returned to Chicago, where he made his stage debut in The Man in 605. Some of his early stage experience includes plays such as Scheherazade and The Irish Hebrew Lesson. Moving on to New York, he made his stage debut there in a production of Fool for Love, followed by roles in A Lie of the Mind as well as the title role in a modern-day Hamlet directed by Robert Falls.

In 1984 he made his cinema debut starring opposite Daryl Hannahin Reckless. His breakthrough however came a year later in the role of Dez alongside Rosanna Arquette and Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan. He also starred in several television productions, including The Lies of The Twins opposite Isabella Rossellini(a double dose of Aidan – excellent!) and the NBC drama An Early Frost, the latter being the first film addressing the issue of AIDS & HIV. His portrayal of a gay man in this film earned him an Emmy nomination.