Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; August 26, 1980 (1980-08-26)) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 2005, he was ranked second on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". In 2023, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Culkin earned recognition for playing Kevin McCallister in the Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990), and reprised the role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He furthered his success with the coming-of-age film My Girl (1991), the psychological thriller film The Good Son (1993), and the comedy films Getting Even with Dad and Richie Rich (both 1994). He took a hiatus starting in 1995, and returned to acting with the biographical drama film Party Monster (2003). Culkin appeared in the independent films Saved! (2004) and Sex and Breakfast (2007), and two projects by Adam Green: The Wrong Ferarri (2011) and Adam Green's Aladdin (2016). He starred in the comedy film Changeland (2019) and the tenth season of the anthology series American Horror Story (2021), and had a voice role in Kid Cudi's television special Entergalactic (2022).

Culkin wrote the autobiography Junior (2006), which describes his experiences with stardom and relationship with his father. From 2013 to 2016, he was a member of the comedy rock band the Pizza Underground, serving as the lead vocalist. In 2018, Culkin became the publisher and CEO of Bunny Ears, a satirical popular culture website and podcast.

Macaulay Carson Culkin was born on August 26, 1980, in the Manhattan borough of New York City. He was named after British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay. Culkin was the third of seven children born to Christopher "Kit" Culkin, a former stage actor, and Patricia Brentrup, a native of North Dakota. The couple met in 1974 while Brentrup was working as a road traffic controller in Sundance, Wyoming. Culkin's six siblings include Shane (b. 1976), Dakota (1979–2008), Kieran (b. 1982), Quinn (b. 1984), Christian (b. 1987), and Rory (b. 1989). He also had a paternal half-sister, Jennifer Adamson (1970–2000). His paternal aunt is actress Bonnie Bedelia. Culkin has German, Irish, and Norwegian ancestry.

During Culkin's early childhood, the family lived together in a small apartment in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, and struggled financially. His mother worked as a telephone operator and his father was a sacristan at a local Catholic church. Culkin was raised Catholic and attended St. Joseph's School of Yorkville for five years before transferring to the Professional Children's School.

Despite Culkin having a good relationship with his mother, Culkin said his father was violent towards him and their family, calling him the "worst person he's ever known." He said he felt that the abuse was caused by jealousy, because "everything [Kit] tried to do in his life [Macaulay] excelled at before [he] was 10 years old". In a 2025 interview, Culkin revealed that he and his father have not made contact in over 30 years. His parents never married; they split during his teens, and his mother filed for custody. Culkin took his parents to court to remove their name from his trust fund, which was reportedly worth between $15 and 20 million, and hired an executor.

Culkin began acting at age four. His early roles included a stage production of Bach Babies at the New York Philharmonic. He continued appearing in roles on stage, television and films throughout the 1980s. He made an uncredited appearance in the television movie The Midnight Hour (1985). Culkin's first credited screen role came in February 1988, as a co-star in "Something Green," an episode of the popular action television series The Equalizer, in which he played a kidnapping victim, Paul Gephardt.

Culkin made his film debut as Cy Blue Black in the drama Rocket Gibraltar (September 1988). He played the role of Billy Livingstone in the romantic comedy film See You in the Morning (1989), starring Jeff Bridges, Alice Krige, Farrah Fawcett and Drew Barrymore. He starred as Miles Russell alongside actor John Candy in the comedy film Uncle Buck (1989).