Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and films. He is known for his roles in the 2009 indie film (500) Days of Summer (for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination), a supporting role in the 2010 science fiction film Inception, and for starring in the 2011 drama 50/50 (for which he earned his second Golden Globe nomination).
Background
Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California, and was raised in its Sherman Oaks neighborhood. He is Jewish, though his family is "not strictly religious"; his parents were among the founders of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.
His father, Dennis Levitt, was once the news director for the Pacifica Radio station, KPFK-FM. His mother, Jane Gordon, ran for the United States Congress in California during the 1970s for the Peace and Freedom Party; she met Dennis Levitt while she was working as the program guide editor for KPFK-FM. Gordon-Levitt's maternal grandfather, Michael Gordon, was a Hollywood film director between the 1940s and 1970s, who directed the 1959 Doris Day/Rock Hudson film Pillow Talk.
Gordon-Levitt had an older brother, Dan (1974–2010), a photographer and fire spinner.
Career
Beginning in commercials as a young child, he made his film debut in 1992's Beethoven. Gordon-Levitt subsequently co-starred in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001) as the young Tommy Solomon. After a hiatus during which he attended Columbia University, Gordon-Levitt left television for film acting, appearing in films like 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Manic (2001), followed by critically acclaimed performances in 2004's Mysterious Skin, 2005's Brick, and 2007's The Lookout. He runs an online collaborative production company titled HitRECord.
Gordon-Levitt has owned hitRECord.org, an online collaborative production company that shares its profits with contributing artists, since 2004. At its onset, it hosted six videos and short films.
Beginning in 2009, he opened the website to host films by others. In a 2007 interview in Salon, he described the website as "[an] alternative outlet of where [he] get[s] to be a little less professional and just freak out a little bit." The site has since expanded with more than 10,000 participants collaborating to make songs, images, stories, and short films. According to a 2010 article in Details magazine, Gordon-Levitt oversees the site from a bank of computers in his home studio.
RECollection, the first anthology of work from hitRECord, was released in 2011 as a book/CD/DVD package.
Actor: (TV films) Stranger on My Land, 1988, Settle the Score, 1988, Dark Shadows, 1990, Changes, 1991, Hi Honey - I'm Dead, 1991, Plymouth, 1991, Partners, 1993, Gregory K, 1993, The Great Elephant Escape, 1995; (TV series) Dark Shadows, 1991, The Powers That Be, 1992—93, Roseanne, 1993—95, 3rd Rock from the Sun, 1996—2001 (Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Series, YoungStar Awards, 1997, 1998); (films) A River Runs Through It, 1992 (Best Actor Under 10 in a Motion Picture, Young Artist Awards, 1993), Holy Matrimony, 1994, The Road Killers, 1994, Angels in the Outfield, 1994, The Juror, 1996, Sweet Jane, 1998, 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999, Picking Up the Pieces, 2000, Forever Lulu, 2000, Manic 2001, (voice) Treasure Planet, 2002, Latter Days, 2003, Mysterious Skin, 2004 (Golden Space Needle award, Seattle International Film Festival, 2005), Brick, 2005, Havoc, 2005, Shadowboxer, 2005, The Lookout, 2007, Stop-Loss, 2008, Miracle at St. Anna, 2008, Uncertainty, 2008, Killshot, 2008, Big Breaks, 2009, Women in Trouble, 2009, (500) Days of Summer, 2009, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, 2009, Inception, 2010; director, producer, writer, composer (films) Spark
Religion
His family is Jewish, though "not strictly religious", and his parents were among the founders of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.