Vince Vaughn
Vaughn at the Liberty Political Action Conference, September 2011
Born	Vincent Anthony Vaughn (1970-03-28) March 28, 1970 (age 42) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Residence	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, comedian, producer, screenwriter, political activist
Years active	1988–present
Spouse	Kyla Weber (2010–present)

Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian and activist. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers. He has since appeared in a number of films, including The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Return to Paradise, Old School, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Couples Retreat, The Break Up, and Wedding Crashers. Vaughn is also a close friend to actor/director Jon Favreau.

Early life[link]

Vince Vaughn was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His mother, Sharon Eileen (née DePalmo), a native of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is a real-estate agent and stock broker who was once ranked as one of the United States' top money managers by Bloomberg Wealth Manager magazine. His father, Vernon Lindsay Vaughn, worked as a salesman for a toy company.^[1][2] His parents divorced in 1991. Vaughn is their only son and the youngest of their three children; he has two older sisters, Victoria and Valerie. As a child he was raised "both Protestant and Catholic" by his Catholic mother and Protestant father,^[3][4][5] and has English, Irish, German, Lebanese, and Italian ancestry.^[6]

Vaughn grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, where he played football, baseball and wrestled, although he has called himself unathletic and "very average" at sports in high school.^[7] He then moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, where he graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1988. He was introduced to musical theater at a young age and decided to become an actor in 1987. He has credited his mother as the inspiration behind his career, saying, "I saw her overcome stuff, and I thought if you worked hard at something you'd give yourself a chance."^[8]

Career[link]

In 1988, Vaughn was cast in a Chevrolet television commercial and subsequently moved to Hollywood. Although he appeared in the 1989 season of the television series, China Beach and in three CBS Schoolbreak Specials (in 1990), he was a struggling actor and faced many rejections.

His first film role was 1993's Rudy playing Jamie O'Hare, where he also struck up a friendship with featured Jon Favreau. Two years later, he was cast a lead role in a proposed revival of 77 Sunset Strip that was to air on the fledgling WB Television Network, but the project ceased development after initial testing. Vaughn did not receive wider success until his role in 1996's Swingers with Jon Favreau. Swingers was released in July 1996 and became a successful independent film. Vince's father Vernon also did a cameo in this film.

Afterwards, director Steven Spielberg cast Vaughn in the blockbuster The Lost World: Jurassic Park which gave him increased exposure. In 1998, he starred in the critically acclaimed drama Return to Paradise with Anne Heche. In 2000, he starred in The Cell with Jennifer Lopez and in 2001, appeared in Made, another film penned by Favreau. Vaughn also appeared in Dwight Yoakam's directorial debut movie South of Heaven, West of Hell.

Vaughn's role in the successful 2003 comedy Old School sky-rocketed his popularity. In 2004, he appeared alongside Ben Stiller in the hit films Starsky & Hutch and Dodgeball, Anchorman, and had roles in 2005's Be Cool, Thumbsucker and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Vaughn in Fairbanks, Alaska at the Liberty Political Action Conference in September 2011.^[9]

Also in 2005, Vaughn starred alongside Owen Wilson in the comedy Wedding Crashers, which grossed over $200 million at the United States box office. After this series of roles, Vaughn was dubbed one of the Hollywood Frat Pack, a group of actors who frequently co-star in film comedies. In 2006, Vaughn starred with Jennifer Aniston in the comedy-drama The Break-Up (also with Favreau and his father).

In 2007, Vaughn also starred in a comedy called Fred Claus, in which he played the sarcastic, wild-at-heart older brother of Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti). Fred Claus was directed by David Dobkin, who previously directed Vaughn in Wedding Crashers, and co-starred Elizabeth Banks and Kevin Spacey. Next, he momentarily moved from comedy to drama in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed film Into the Wild, a film about the adventures of Christopher McCandless, which was also a best-selling book by Jon Krakauer. He played the role of Wayne Westerberg opposite Emile Hirsch as McCandless.

In 2009, Vaughn starred in Couples Retreat, a comedy chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort. Malin Åkerman played his wife.^[10] Vince's father Vernon portrayed his father in this film.

In February 2010, Vaughn was among the nearly 80 musicians and actors to sing on the charity-single remake of We Are the World.^[11]

Vaughn's most recent film was Ron Howard's comedy, The Dilemma, released in January 2011.^[12]

Personal life[link]

Family and relationships[link]

Vaughn dated Jennifer Aniston, his co-star in The Break-Up, between 2005 and 2006 in a relationship that became a subject of tabloid speculation. In the fall of 2006, Vaughn filed a lawsuit against three tabloid magazines accusing them of falsely claiming that he had been unfaithful to Aniston.^[13] In December 2006, both Vaughn and Aniston's reps confirmed that they had broken up.