BWW Profiles: The Two-Time Oscar-Winning, Emmy-Nominated, Kevin Spacey

Today we are looking at the storied career of Kevin Spacey from stage to screen. Known primarily in the film world for his extraordinary work, this year is his third consecutive nomination for his portrayal as Francis Underwood on Netflix's smash hit, HOUSE OF CARDS.

Spacey was born in South Orange, New Jersey in 1959, but graduated from Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles as valedictorian. He headed toward being a standup comedian in the late 1970's before finally studying at Juilliard. He began his career in theatre performing his first Broadway performance in GHOSTS by Henrik Ibsen in the early 1980's. His Broadway career took off when he was cast in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT in 1986 opposite Jack Lemmon and Peter Gallagher. In 1991 he won a Tony Award for his performance in LOST IN YONKERS as Uncle Louie.

He began playing bit parts in television and films, but it was his role in the the film GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS in 1992 that finally garnered him some attention. 1995 turned out to be a big year in his career as he appeared in both THE USUAL SUSPECTS and SE7EN, the first garnering him his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Many hit roles followed in such films as OUTBREAK, A TIME TO KILL, MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL and L.A. CONFIDENTIAL just to name a few. It was 1999's AMERICAN BEAUTY that finally won him the Best Actor Academy Award as his turn as the doomed Lester Burnham.

Spacey took his talents behind the camera as Director, Writer and Producer in the Biopic about the life of Bobby Darin in BEYOND THE SEA. A critical and box office bomb, but the audience got to see the vocal talents of Spacey. The film was produced with the consent of Darin's wife, Sandra Dee and son Dodd Darin and despite bad reviews about the film itself, the reviews of Spacey as Darin were mostly positive.

Spacey also kept his theatre roots close to him. In 2003, he took over as artistic director at the Old Vic theatre in London. During his tenure, he portrayed the title role in RICHARD II as well as performed in SPEED-THE-PLOW and INHERIT THE WIND.

HOUSE OF CARDS, is based on a British TV series of the same title (aren't they all?). In the first three seasons, we have seen South Carolina Democratic Senator Frank Underwood rise to Vice President to President through a series of unspeakably corrupt, yet gripping actions. HOUSE OF CARDS kicked off Netflix's success being one of the network's first original programs back in February of 2013 bringing immediate credibility to their new venture. The series was renewed for Season Four in April and will be launching in 2016.

Francis Underwood has turned out to be one of the most significant roles not only in Spacey's decorated career, but also in Netflix's ever-expanding drama category. Spacey has lost the Emmy the previous two years to Bryan Cranston. Will he be able to upset Jon Hamm's last grab for the trophy?

Here are 5 video examples of Spacey's work. First his Oscar Winning performances in THE USUAL SUSPECTS and AMERICAN BEAUTY respectively, followed by his Emmy nominated performance in HOUSE OF CARDS. Next is his turn as Hickey in the 1999 production of THE ICEMAN COMETH and finally, we can't leave out his sense of humor as he plays "Wheel of Impressions" with Jimmy Fallon on THE TONIGHT SHOW.

Will you be cheering on Kevin Spacey during Sunday's Emmy telecast? Stick with BWW TV all week for in-depth Emmy coverage, features, predictions, and results. Let me know your thoughts on Kevin Spacey's nomination and the Emmys in general in the comments below, or on Twitter @eponineq and #BWWEmmys.

The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards telecast will air live coast-to-coast on Sunday, September 20th (8 PM ET/5 PM PT) on FOX from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Make BroadwayWorld your home for live coverage at BWW TV and on Twitter@BWWTVWorld.

Photo Credit: Netflix and Gotham Magazine.